CD Details
- Number of Discs: 2
- Released: March 14, 2006
- Originally Released: 2000
- Label: Collectables Records
Description by OLDIES.com:
Incredibly versatile, Nina Simone was comfortable singing Jazz, Blues, Gospel, R&B and Pop music. An exhilarating live performer, Simone recorded many live albums including "Town Hall" and "At Newport" which are teamed here with the studio recordings "The Amazing Simone" and "Forbidden Fruit", originally recorded in the late 50s-early 60s. This 2-CD 40 song set contains over 2 1/2 hours of intoxicating music.
Tracks on Disc 1:
- 1.Blue Prelude
- 2.Children Go Where I Send You
- 3.Tomorrow (We Will Meet Once More)
- 4.Stompin' At The Savoy
- 5.It Might As Well Be Spring
- 6.You've Been Gone Too Long
- 7.That's Him Over There
- 8.Chilly Winds Don't Blow
- 9.Theme From "Middle Of The Night"
- 10.Can't Get Out Of This Mood
- 11.Willow Weep For Me
- 12.Solitaire
- 13.Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair
- 14.Exactly Like You
- 15.The Other Woman
- 16.Under The Lowest
- 17.I Don't Want Him (Anymore)
- 18.Summertime (Instrumental)
- 19.Summertime (Vocal)
- 20.Cotton-Eyed Joe
- 21.Return Home
- 22.Wild Is The Wind
- 23.Fine And Mellow
Tracks on Disc 2:
- 1.Rags And Old Iron
- 2.No Good Man
- 3.Gin House Blues
- 4.I'll Look Around
- 5.I Love To Love
- 6.Work Song
- 7.Where Can I Go Without You
- 8.Just Say I Love Him
- 9.Memphis In June
- 10.Forbidden Fruit
- 11.Trouble In Mind
- 12.Porgy
- 13.Little Liza Jane
- 14.You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
- 15.Flo Me La
- 16.Nina's Blues
- 17.In The Evening By The Moonlight
Product Description:
THE LEGEND AT HER BEST contains 4 LPs on 2 CDs: THE AMAZING NINA SIMONE (1959)/NINA SIMONE AT TOWN HALL(1959)/FORBIDDEN FRUIT(1961)/AT NEWPORT(1960).
Also available on Collectables as two separate 2-for-1 CDs.
Collectables dishes up four Nina Simone recordings from the late '50s and early '60s on a double-disc set. The first two -- The Original Nina Simone and Nina Simone at Town Hall -- were issued on the respected jazz and blues label Bethlehem in 1959, and the latter two -- Nina Simone at Newport (1960) and Forbidden Fruit (1961) -- were released on Colpix. The quality of these fairly early recordings, done in the first half-decade of Simone's recording career, cannot be overestimated. She was already in charge of her game, recording everything from big-band jazz arrangements and blues to more dramatic concert hall folk and popular material. Her piano playing was already in place and her control -- check "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair," "It Might as Well Be Spring," or Oscar Brown's "Forbidden Fruit" for evidence -- is already otherworldly. Arrangements are from the simple to the sophisticated, and the soulful, dramatic, and slow intense smoldering in her contralto is simply stunning. For those who want to investigate Simone's material beyond the usual compilations, this is a great start. ~ Thom Jurek
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