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I Loves You, Nina.


ElmerJFudd

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Nina. How not to love her.
When I was a young teenager and trying to learn jazz, I got a little demo record about a "History of Jazz" series of LPs I was interested in. The very first song on that record was "Black is the Color", sung by Nina with a *very* sparse piano comping. It was a moving, even shocking experience; I had never heard anything like that.

I was a Nina Simone addicted aver since, still am.

As a side note, just a few days later I read an interview with Peter Gabriel, then in full steam with early Genesis - and he said that one of is main singing influences was Nina Simone, "a black American singer". Ha.

 

 

When I learned that this song didn't come from the blues tradition, I was very surprised. It seems it has British/Scottish origins... but Nina certainly makes it sound like a blues.

 

 

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Love the posts about Nina Simone.

 

I came to her late. There was a remake of the Thomas Crown Affair movie which had "Sinner Man" running behind one of the scenes. It blew away everything else in the movie and I had to track it down.

 

It was then I came to admire her other work  ... and the beautiful arc of a courageous life well lived. 

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Long ago, I was hanging out with a friend and he had just gotten a compilation of Nina Simone. 

Everyone's Gone To The Moon came on and it hit me. I remembered the one hit wonder by Jonathan King, a happy snappy pop song.

 

Not Nina's version, it was stark and bleak and wonderful. I learned the song shortly thereafter. 

I play it slow and low, accompanied by an acoustic 12 string guitar. 

 

Nina was awesome.

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It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is.
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On 1/26/2022 at 10:58 AM, marino said:

"As a side note, just a few days later I read an interview with Peter Gabriel, then in full steam with early Genesis - and he said that one of is main singing influences was Nina Simone, "a black American singer". 

 

 I never knew.  Interestingly, PG did his own version of LC's Suzanne in 1995. The influence of LC, or the influence of NS? 😁

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One of a kind. "Do I Move You"--perfect. I still love that "gang vox from anywhere in the room" effect, even now.

There was a sort of weariness in her voice that made everything feel CRUCIAL when she said it. And yes, she sang sort of "flat" to the pitch--but not to the emotion. She was dead-on-pitch for the feeling conveyed, and "perfection" would just have undermined it.

Now out! "Mind the Gap," a 24-song album of new material.
www.joshweinstein.com

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She was very serious about her Piano playing and continued to study classical with prominent teachers long after she became well known. She was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018 mainly for her influence on many rock and soul performers. Apparently was an influence on The Animals as they had hits with songs Nina did first.

Gibson G101, Fender Rhodes Piano Bass, Vox Continental, RMI Electra-Piano and Harpsichord 300A, Hammond M102A, Hohner Combo Pianet, OB8, Matrix 12, Jupiter 6, Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, CS70M, CP35, PX-5S, WK-3800, Stage 3 Compact

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On 1/28/2022 at 7:17 PM, analogika said:

This performance had me openly weeping. What unfiltered sheer… energy

God, that's devastating - I had never watched it.

It feels like she's making up the entire first part on the spot (or is it an actual song?!), thinking out loud thoughts of a dry, absolute melanchony. Then the famous song coming afterwards, sung in an almost childish/mechanical fashion, makes the whole thing even more unconfortable and alienating.

She's opening a door on the darkest corner of her soul... I wonder in what spirit the audience applauded so enthusiastically. I also wonder if this disturbing number was prepared in advance, or improvised on stage.

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Ok, so I found that "Stars" is a song by Janis Ian - another great artist with a strong personality and great talent which showed early. Nina certainly makes the song her own, giving the definite impression that she's singing about herself. She also plays a bit with the lyrics (even including Janis herself), and creating that emotional crescendo in the end.

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I guess everyone with a good taste in music love Nina Simone, both as a musician and as an advocate of human rights

 

She could be a hard lady to deal with, but i can understand why...

 

Be grateful for what you've got - a Nord, a laptop and two hands
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