My friend Michael Lally has done many, many wonderful things for me over the years, and one of the best was introducing me to Nina Simone. It was very early in our long friendship, around 1964, in Spokane, Washington. He had a basement apartment and record player of some sort, and a lot of LP’s. I remember when he first played Nina for me – I was dumbstruck. He had her first recording for Bethlehem Records, "Jazz As Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club a.k.a. Little Girl Blue." It is still my favorite with songs like “Mood Indigo,” (which has her killer piano solo), “Don’t Smoke in Bed,” “Plain Gold Ring,” “I Loves You Porgy” (undoubtedly the definitive version), and of course “Little Girl Blue.” I recorded the album from the Lal (reel to reel in those days, baby), somewhere along the line lost the tape, and eventually ended up buying a foreign CD version of it (you can’t get the Bethlehem album anymore in the US), which is what I have today. I saw her perform live three times, all of which were great.
Anyway, what brought all this on was this review in today’s SF Chronicle. Geez, I just finished the Patti Smith book and now it looks like I’m gonna have to shell out for the “Princess Noire” bio.
Oh, if you have not heard the Bethlehem songs, or you haven’t ever heard Nina here is a foreign release that you can get from Amazon that has virtually all of the old Bethlehem cuts and some later stuff also included. Give your ears a treat and your soul some nourishment.
~ Tom
1 comment:
Hey man, I not only remember that lp, I still have it! I saw where that bio had come out and plan on reading it. Right now I'm deep into the Thelonious bio and it's one of the best I've read. For me, early Nina is best, just as I prefer pre-electric Miles. But since I don't have my turntable anymore, I'm gonna try and score that "foreign" CD version of that Nina lp.
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