Remembering Nina Simone on her birthday.

[Skidmore]

This song would work today too. Add more groups. The struggle for civil rights continues.

Mississippi Goddam

[xchrom]

1. in a century that produced truly remarkable women singers and performers

she was one of the real stand outs.

just wonderful.

[malaise]

9. +1,000

Nina was born to sing

[clarice]

2. Loves me some Nina...

Has anyone heard her version of "Here comes the sun" ?
It was in that Bridgette Fonda film, take off on La Femme Nikita.

[Skidmore]

3. Yes. She offers you the hope of brightness and joy.

What a great talent. Some singers just deliver melodies. Great singers deliver messages.

[clarice]

5. exactly IE: Marva Staples...nt

[Skidmore]

7. Mmmmhmmmm. She took us there

and we are made better because of the journey.

[clarice]

11. Skid...have you ever seen

"The Last Waltz?" it's the movie of the last performance of "The Band"
anyway.... The Staple Singers join "The Band" for a version of "The Weight"
Now THAT"S how that song is supposed to be done. I'll post a link if you haven't heard it.

[Skidmore]

13. I would love to have the link.

We invested in a smart tv and can watch a lot of great stuff now. We'll be icec in again this weekend.

[clarice]

16. Here it is song I was talking about....let me know what you think. nt

[link:http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=last+waltz+the+weight&vid=411784b4a3e8fba1a697cee66ac7654b&l=4%3A28&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DV.4992149094990102%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.totallyfuzzy.net%2Fourtube%2Fthe-band%2Fthe-weight-last-waltz-version-video_9a7872f10.html&tit=The+Band+-+The+Weight+%28Last+Waltz+version%29&c=0&sigr=12v76po6q&sigt=11a3ugboc&ct=p&hsimp=yhs-fullyhosted_003&hspart=ironsource&type=dsites0103&tt=b|

[cordelia]

4. Yes, indeed.

Her cover of "Here Comes the Sun" is my personal favorite.

[clarice]

6. Magnificent isn't it?? nt

[whathehell]

8. I've heard it, and

love it...In fact I have entire soundtrack of the film on CD.

[malaise]

10. We have that version on one of her CDs

[kelliekat44]

12. This one is more gripping!

[bettyellen]

14. I knew this group of caberet performers that had known her, they told stories about her

and I stayed with one that showed me a photo album of pics he'd taken of her playing and goofing around with them. It was cool to see candid pics of her looking very happy.

[Le Taz Hot]

15. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Nina Simone.

Good goddess, her body of work is amazing. She could have easily have been a concert pianist her piano is that good. You can hear Bach, Mozart and others in all of her arrangements. Some others of Nina Simone I love:

"Four Women"
her rendition of "Little Girl Blue" in which she sings "Little Girl Blue" while simultaneously playing "Good King Wenceslaus" on the piano.
her rendition of "I Put a Spell On You" rivals Screamin' Jay Hawkins' version
"Pirate Jenny" from Kurt Weill's "Three Penny Opera"

I don't want to post them here because it will slow up the thread but I encourage anyone reading this to go look them up on Youtube.

[Bluenorthwest]

19. Her 'I Put A Spell' is my favorite, 'Pirate Jenny' is the best version ever, ever, ever.

A great, profound artist and your picks are good picks.

[klook]

17. I've visited her birthplace in Tryon, NC

Unfortunately the house is not well maintained, but the city does have a nice statue of her playing piano on the main street through town - thanks to the efforts of a local pharmacist who's been collecting donations for the effort.

She was an incredible genius and a very moving performer. Thanks for posting this!

[joshdawg]

18. goddamn, I love Nina Simone.

Thanks for posting this!

[alfredo]

20. The sexiest song ever

[Arugula Latte]

21. She was great.

This one isn't about civil rights, but is a jazz classic:

[madrchsod]

22. she`s on my must have vinyl..

there`s a whole lot of her on youtube.

[noiretextatique]

23. i love every thing she did, but Ne Me Quitte Pas

is my favorite. Happy Birthday, Nina!