Silk & Soul

Read About This Recording

More than most performers, Nina Simone fit into her own category. Trained as a classical pianist, in her career she explored folk music, jazz, blues, soul, R&B, pop and spirituals, and sang lyrics that were both topical (often connected with the civil rights movement) and timeless. While some of her recordings were projects that emphasized a particular idiom or theme, much of the time she mixed together different styles, playing whatever came to mind and most interested her at the moment.

While she originally worked to become a classical pianist, Nina Simone soon found that in the mid-1950s there was no great need for black classical performers (a slight she never forgot). Needing to make a living while a student at Juilliard, she gained a job playing piano in a nightclub on the condition that she also sing. Soon her classical studies stopped and, after making her first album (which had a hit recording of "I Loves You Porgy"), she was on her way to becoming famous.

Rather than playing it safe and raking in money, Nina Simone included groundbreaking songs in her repertoire that protested the racial situation including "Mississippi Goddam" and "Old Jim Crow." However, she was never just a protest singer although that gained her the most notoriety. During the 1960s, which were really her prime years, she made many memorable sessions in a wide variety of idioms while always sounding like herself.

Silk & Soul, from the late 1960s, features Nina Simone singing both soul music and a few protest songs. Her anguished yet confident voice was perfect for the soul music of the time as she shows on a wide-ranging set that spans from "The Look of Love” to "Go to Hell," from a different version of "I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free" to "Turn Me On."

This CD shows today's listeners just how powerful and influential Nina Simone was during her career.

—Scott Yanow

Quotes

"The re-release of Silk and Soul is an opportunity for those who missed it the first time, as well as those who've forgotten, to enjoy the unmistakable, unique style that is my mother, Nina Simone." —Lisa 'Simone' Kelly

Extended Article

Nina Simone has successfully woven a group of tunes into a specter of silky but soulful interpretations. The result is another example of superb magnificence that befits a “High Priestess of Soul.” The more the grooves smoldered, the harder Nina burned. Shrewd, ironic, pointed and political, the material - including Go to Hell, It Be's That Way Sometimes, I Wish I Knew Hot it Would Feel to Be Free and stunning bonus tracks, such as the hard-to-find Why Must Your Love Be So Dry — was a perfect match for Nina's hard 'n' honeyed voice.

Contents

It Be's That Way Sometime; The Look of Love; Go to Hell; Love O' Love; Cherish; I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free; Turn Me On; Turning Point; Some Say; Consummation; Why Must Your Love Well Be So Dry*; Save Me*.

Nina Simone, Vocals/Piano; Eric Gale, Everett Barksdale, Guitar; Weldon Irvine, Richard Tee, Organ; Jerry Jemmott, Bass; Bernard Purdie, Drums; Gordon Powell, Vibes/Percussion; George Devens, Percussion; Joe Shepley, Jimmy Nottingham, Harold Johnson, Wilbur Bascomb, Trumpets; Jimmy Cleveland, Richard Harris, Trombones; Seldon Powell, George Coleman, Norris Tunney, Haywood Henry, Saxes; Ralph H. Fields, Eileen Gilbert, Jerome Graff, Milt Grayson, Hilda Harris, Noah Hopkins, Maeretha Stewart, Barbara Webb, Vocals.

(*Bonus tracks.)

CD Special Features

• A buried treasure from 1967 with 2 rare bonus tracks
• Discover the grit and groove of Go to Hell, It Be's That Way Sometime and I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to Be Free