Nina Simone Sings the Blues

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]
All About Jazz	(Highly favorable)^[2]
Pop Matters	(Favorable)^[3]
Tom Hull	B^[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[5]

Sings the Blues is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. This was Simone's first album for RCA Records after previously recording for Colpix Records and Philips Records. The album was also reissued in 2006 with bonus tracks, and re-packaged in 1991 by RCA/Novus as a 17-track compilation under the title The Blues.

Song information

"My Man's Gone Now", from the opera Porgy & Bess by George Gershwin.
"Backlash Blues", one of Simone's civil rights songs. The lyrics were written by her friend and poet Langston Hughes.
"I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl", based on a song by Simone's great example, Bessie Smith, but with somewhat different lyrics.
"The House of the Rising Sun" was previously recorded live by Simone in 1962 on Nina at the Village Gate. After its cover by The Animals became a hit, she recorded it in studio. The fast-paced version on this album is very different from the slow, intimate version on Nina at the Village Gate.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Do I Move You?"	Nina Simone	2:46
2.	"Day and Night"	Rudy Stevenson	2:35
3.	"In the Dark"	Lil Green	2:57
4.	"Real Real"	Nina Simone	2:21
5.	"My Man's Gone Now"	George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward	4:16
6.	"Backlash Blues"	Langston Hughes, Nina Simone	2:31
7.	"I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl"	Nina Simone	2:32
8.	"Buck"	Andy Stroud	1:52
9.	"Since I Fell for You"	Buddy Johnson	2:52
10.	"The House of the Rising Sun"	Traditional	3:53
11.	"Blues for Mama"	Nina Simone, Abbey Lincoln	4:00

Bonus tracks on 2006 reissue
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"Do I Move You?" (Second version)	Nina Simone	2:17
13.	"Whatever I Am"	Willie Dixon	2:35

Additional tracks on *The Blues* (1991)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"The Pusher" (from It Is Finished)	Hoyt Axton	4:50
13.	"Turn Me On" (from Silk & Soul)	John D. Loudermilk	2:24
14.	"It's Nobody's Fault But Mine" (from Nina Simone and Piano)	Blind Willie Johnson	2:59
15.	"Go to Hell" (from Silk & Soul)	Morris Bailey, Jr.	2:46
16.	"I Shall Be Released" (from To Love Somebody)	Bob Dylan	3:51
17.	"Gin House Blues" (from 'Nuff Said!)	Fletcher Henderson, Henry Troy	3:08

Personnel

Tracks 1-12

Nina Simone - vocals, piano
Eric Gale - guitar
Rudy Stevenson - guitar
Ernie Hayes - organ
Bob Bushnell - bass
Bernard Purdie - drums, timpani
Buddy Lucas - harmonica, tenor saxophone

Track 13

Nina Simone - vocals, piano
Eric Gale - guitar
Everett Barksdale - guitar
Weldon Irvine - organ
Richard Tee - organ
Jerry Jemmott - bass
probably Bernard Purdie - drums
Gordon Powell - vibes, percussion
Montego Joe - percussion
George Devens - percussion
Joe Shepley, Jimmy Nottingham, Harold Johnson, Wilbur Bascomb - trumpets
Jimmy Cleveland, Richard Harris - trombones
Seldon Powell, George Coleman, Norris Turney, Haywood Henry - saxophones
Ralph H. Fields, Eileen Gilbert, Jerome Graff, Milt Grayson, Hilda Harris, Noah Hopkins, Maeretha Stewart, Barbara Webb - vocals
Arranged and conducted by Weldon Irvine

References

^ Allmusic review
^ http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=20277
^ http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/nina_simone_sings_the_blues_and_others
^ Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Jazz/Pop Vocals (1950s-70s)". tomhull.com. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.

External links

[1] Allmusic review

[2] ttp://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=20277

[3] ttp://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/nina_simone_sings_the_blues_and_others

[4] Hull, Tom (n.d.). "Jazz/Pop Vocals (1950s-70s)". tomhull.com. Retrieved June 18, 2020.

[5] Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.

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