Nina Simone – Pastel Blues (1965/2013) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Nina Simone – Pastel Blues (1965/2013)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 35:54 minutes | 1,52 GB | Genre: Jazz, Blues, Folk
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Verve Reissues

Nina Simone was one of the best Blues singers of the 20th century. Only someone the likes of Billie Holiday and Bessie Smith had the power to lay a soul bare like she could, as her stripped-down ‘Be My Husband’ shows. Naked like a field-holler, this song would later capture the imagination of Jeff Buckley and Antony Hegarty.
Also on this record are classics such as ‘Nobody Knows When You’re Down And Out’, originally sung by Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday’s signature song ‘Strange Fruit’, as well as a Nina Simone favorite: ‘Sinnerman’. There are few songs that capture the Spirit of religion, redemption and the fear of God as much as this ten-minute race of a song about a man trying to outrun the Devil. It’s no wonder it was used in the key-scene of ‘The Thomas Crown Affair’ and sampled by the likes of Kanye West, Talib Kweli and Felix da Housecat.

If this is blues, it’s blues in the Billie Holiday sense, not the Muddy Waters one. This is one of Nina Simone’s more subdued mid-’60s LPs, putting the emphasis on her piano rather than band arrangements. It’s rather slanted toward torch-blues ballads like “Strange Fruit,” “Trouble In Mind,” Billie Holiday’s own composition “Tell Me More and More and Then Some,” and “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out.” Simone’s then-husband, Andy Stroud, wrote “Be My Husband,” an effective adaptation of a traditional blues chant. By far the most impressive track is her frantic ten-minute rendition of the traditional “Sinnerman,” an explosive tour de force that dwarfs everything else on the album. –Richie Unterberger

Tracklist:
01. Nina Simone – Be My Husband (03:22)
02. Nina Simone – Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out (02:41)
03. Nina Simone – End Of The Line (02:57)
04. Nina Simone – Trouble In Mind (02:43)
05. Nina Simone – Tell Me More And More And Then Some (03:10)
06. Nina Simone – Chilly Winds Don’t Blow (04:05)
07. Nina Simone – Ain’t No Use (03:03)
08. Nina Simone – Strange Fruit (03:31)
09. Nina Simone – Sinnerman (10:19)

Personnel:
Nina Simone – piano, vocals, arranger
Al Schackman – guitar, harmonica
Rudy Stevenson – guitar, flute
Lisle Atkinson – bass
Bobby Hamilton – drums

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