Nina Simone

[Stone]

I've seen her name bandied about a lot (both in these parts and elsewhere), but never until yesterday did I listen to her. I bought Silk & Soul because I learned it, among other of her records, was reissued. And I must say, Damn, it's good.

Soul is a genre that I really like but haven't dug into too deeply (I have some Otis Redding, some Sam Cooke, some Solomon Burke, etc.). Do any of you have other Nina Simone recommendations (I'd like to stick to records that are primarily soul) or other soul recommendations?

[BarryL]

Simone:

I saw some romantic comedy years and years ago that featured her music and the fact that the kid's mom liked Nina Simone. I had never heard of her, and thought it was a fictional singer. I looked her up at the record store, and there she was.

She's a unique singer with a unique style. A true original. I don't think that I could handle too much of her, but I do enjoy the couple of CDs I do have, and listen to her on occasion.

You could try Isaac Hayes. A two CD best of set was just released last year that includes a live DVD for a really reasonable price. I've been meaning to pick this up (birthday hint - very cheap at HMV). It has a white cover with his face on it.

[Stone]

Simone:

I saw some romantic comedy years and years ago that featured her music and the fact that the kid's mom liked Nina Simone. I had never heard of her, and thought it was a fictional singer. I looked her up at the record store, and there she was.

She's a unique singer with a unique style. A true original. I don't think that I could handle too much of her, but I do enjoy the couple of CDs I do have, and listen to her on occasion.

You could try Isaac Hayes. A two CD best of set was just released last year that includes a live DVD for a really reasonable price. I've been meaning to pick this up (birthday hint - very cheap at HMV). It has a white cover with his face on it.

Thanks. I do have Hot Buttered Soul and I should spend more time with it. I was kind of turned off by it due to the length of the songs, and probably never gave it a fair shake.

[newtrix1]

That's where I usually go to explore classic artists like this. My limited exposue to Nina Simone comes from several jazz compilations from the 40's, 50's & 60's decades, so I don't have any specific album rec's.
Nice to see her name pop up here at RR tho.

[JohnMichael]

There is so much great Nina Simone material available. Congratulations on discovering a great artist. She covered a lot of great songs and wrote some of her own. Some people do not enjoy her more political songs. I have several I would like to recomend to you. One of her albums titled Baltimore is considered one of her best. The title song is by Randy Newman and she covers Judy Collins and Hall and Oates with a few spirituals thrown in for good measure. Another good album is Here Comes The Sun. On this she covers Harrison, Dylan and Walker hits. Another favorite is Little Girl Blue which I think is one of her first releases. Her version of I loves You Porgy is incredible. A boxed set that is good and covers a lot of her music is titled The Very Best Of Nina Simone Sugar In My Bowl 1967-1972. I hope this helps. Enjoy

[3-LockBox]

Jamiroquai- sure, he's a little on the dance/pop side, but in a Motown groove fashion, not techno (I think the German word for it is Farkingroovin). I heard a few songs via download and was very impressed. He had a hip video some 8 years ago on MTV but doesn't seem to get vamped in American press the way you'd think he would.

You might try Jill Scott. Very fine voice and a throwback as well.





FWIW: I like soul acts that don't employ rap or feature guest rappers (and its not because I hate rap)

[3-LockBox]

And how could I forget...Erykah Badu. She's been around for a while and was compared to a lot of older soul artist and was even described as a modern version of Billie Holliday. I remember her first album from years back...I should look her up again.

[nobody]

I'm no Nina Simone expert, but I do really like Nina Simone Sings the Blues and High Priestess of Soul, a couple albums from the mid 60s. I've also got a compilation CD of her earlier work called Anthology: The Colpix Years that has some great stuff on it as well.

Other soul suggestions are kinda hard to say since its a HUGE genre. Another great female singer I'll toss out there would be Etta James. I've got a compilation called The essential Etta James that has a ton of fantastic songs on there.

Also...if you like the neo-soul stuff that was big in the 90s and still lingers on, I gotta agree with Erakay Badu. She's fantastic and all her stuff is great to me. Baduzium is a classic. Then there's D'Angelo from the male side of things, either of his albums are great, and for something really laid back, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite has a relaxed vibe that I really like when in the right mood. Another more current artist that may be getting too pop/hip-hop would be Mary J. Blige. She ain't known as the queen of hio hop soul for nothin'.

Going back again, I'm a big fan of the 50s/60s vocal soul groups like the Drifters, the Platters, Frankie Lyman and the Teenagers, and others. Just a bit after them came Curtis Mayfield's first band The Impressions. Just grab a hits collection of theirs and prepare to love 'em.

Classic male sould singers would be guys like Marvin Gaye, whose What's Goin' On is a classic, but I'd also strongly recommend his early compilation called Superhits. Then there's Al Green whose greatest hits is about as esential as a hits collection gets.

Almost forgot a massive name is soul. SAM COOKE. The man could flat out sing. If you take one suggestion from this post, I'd say to grab a copy of The Man and his Music if you can find one as I think its out of print. I unfortunately lost mine or I'd offer to burn you a copy. I'm sufficing with Greatest Hits, which annoys me since it left off Another Saturday Night, and some old vinyl I've picked up over the years.

I'm starting to reach full on ramble mode here, so I'll stop. Have fun listening...tons of great soul music out there.

[nobody]

I'm no Nina Simone expert, but I do really like Nina Simone Sings the Blues and High Priestess of Soul, a couple albums from the mid 60s. I've also got a compilation CD of her earlier work called Anthology: The Colpix Years that has some great stuff on it as well.

Other soul suggestions are kinda hard to say since its a HUGE genre. Another great female singer I'll toss out there would be Etta James. I've got a compilation called The essential Etta James that has a ton of fantastic songs on there.

Also...if you like the neo-soul stuff that was big in the 90s and still lingers on, I gotta agree with Erakay Badu. She's fantastic and all her stuff is great to me. Baduzium is a classic. Then there's D'Angelo from the male side of things, either of his albums are great, and for something really laid back, Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite has a relaxed vibe that I really like when in the right mood. Another more current artist that may be getting too pop/hip-hop would be Mary J. Blige. She ain't known as the queen of hio hop soul for nothin'.

Going back again, I'm a big fan of the 50s/60s vocal soul groups like the Drifters, the Platters, Frankie Lyman and the Teenagers, and others. Just a bit after them came Curtis Mayfield's first band The Impressions. Just grab a hits collection of theirs and prepare to love 'em.

Classic male sould singers would be guys like Marvin Gaye, whose What's Goin' On is a classic, but I'd also strongly recommend his early compilation called Superhits. Then there's Al Green whose greatest hits is about as esential as a hits collection gets.

Almost forgot a massive name is soul. SAM COOKE. The man could flat out sing. If you take one suggestion from this post, I'd say to grab a copy of The Man and his Music if you can find one as I think its out of print. I unfortunately lost mine or I'd offer to burn you a copy. I'm sufficing with Greatest Hits, which annoys me since it left off Another Saturday Night, and some old vinyl I've picked up over the years.

I'm starting to reach full on ramble mode here, so I'll stop. Have fun listening...tons of great soul music out there.

[nobody]

Oops just realized you're already good with the Sam Cooke. Glad to see it.