nina simone - search and destroy

Roberta Flack I def have time for and noted the similarities.

Roberta and Nina are birds of a feather, altho Roberta def skews more "pop". Lots of invisible quotes when it comes to these two as they epitomize blurred boundaries.

Made a playlist with (almost) all the songs from the doc

https://open.spotify.com/user/shinsuzuki/playlist/2pSd5HTO74qm758slQQu5E

one thing i really like about nina simone is that, at her best, she could transfigure kitsch, through delicate, often austere arrangements and vocal approach

one of my favorite of her albums is "nina simone at carnegie hall": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nina_Simone_at_Carnegie_Hall

..partly because it's the best example of this. she does a number of movie themes whose "original" versions verged on the saccharine , as well as some hoary pseudo-folk songs that had long since been reduced to cliche ("cotton-eyed joe"), but she redeems it all through offbeat, spare renditions

see e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EMjeEFPZlc

in a way her approach anticipates that of jimmy scott (who was actually a contemporary)

actually "black swan" is an out-and-out art song, so it's not the best example of what i'm trying to get at

better example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyUmBFQSY78

If you still don't like the music after seeing all the clips, I don't think any amount of talking heads analyzing the tunes is gonna change your opinion.

i am *so glad there was a minimal amount of talking heads in this, beyond her family and musicians.

As much as I appreciated the archival footage and honesty from the sources, there's no explication of her art.

^^^this. it's weird how incidental her music seemed to the movie (and I was willing to be convinced, not hugely familiar with or a fan of her ouevre)

with Alfred in general re: her music too - there is a studied, overly formal rigor to everything (except her voice, which is remarkably expressive) that leaves me a little cold. I like some songs here and there but idk

see i think i like the tension between the formality/rigor you speak of and the deep wells of emotion in her voice. it works for me!

did she ever do Compared to What (or any Eugene McDaniels?) seems tailor-made for her

don't know!
weird, there is a different doc coming out? http://www.amazingnina.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7awW5nrDHk

This is the ultimate, for me.

The anger and triumph and sadness of it. The little chuckle she does after "And you see me lookin' nice/ With a ribbon in my hair". The way her voice is so harsh and chiding all the way through until the last line, when she hits that heart-breakingly pure tone.

And of course...

THAT'LL LEARRRRN YA!

xp I guess a different doc could conceivably focus more on the music itself than What Happened, Miss Simone? did. The Netflix one was exec produced by her daughter, so her portrait of her was probably always going to be more about the person and less about the musician. I'd definitely watch another one that focuses on her music.

http://www.straight.com/movies/727951/amazing-nina-simone-celebrates-skilled-singer

http://pitchfork.com/news/64247-nina-simone-documentary-director-slams-ugly-and-inaccurate-zoe-saldana-biopic/

I want to see this second Nina S doc, The Amazing Nina Simone

from the review of it: The better-known doc, Liz Garbus’s What Happened, Miss Simone?, made with the involvement of Simone’s estate, had access to her diaries and tapes. The Amazing doc, written, shot, and directed by Jeff L. Lieberman, a Vancouverite now based in New York, is far less polished than that Netflix production, although his rough assemblage, even with its notably bad graphic design, does illuminate a lot of what went right for Miss Simone.

There are many performance and audio clips, including very early stuff and key songs the other effort missed. His straightforward chronology allows fans to see how quickly things happened for Eunice Waymon, a North Carolina piano prodigy who attended Juilliard and fell into jazz almost by accident. Pushed by a club owner to sing to her own accompaniment, she took a new name so her church-preaching mother wouldn’t find out.

Lieberman uses two of the singer’s brothers and Vancouver guitarist Henry Young, among many others, to paint clear pictures of the transformation, while ignoring some obvious questions, like if and how the Waymons reacted when Eunice shot up the charts with her definitive version of “I Loves You, Porgy” in 1958.

The film is light on information about the mental disturbances that gradually consumed her career and private life. It misses her own voice, and while Lieberman’s narration isn’t bad, it lacks an authoritative stamp to match his subject’s magnitude. Still, as with Simone herself, there’s more here to celebrate than regret.

Still haven't checked to see whether this 2nd Simone doc, The Amazing Nina Simoneis available via online sites

I like her version of “Feeling Good” better than the one John Legend did tonight at the Biden inauguration tv event

I mean... it’s pretty much set in stone that her version is the essential version of it.

i thought john legend did a great job w it
ninas is undeniable obv

off-topic but I wish John Legend would record the version of MJ's I Can't Help It that he performed on Master Of None a few years ago

also Nina's versions of Bee Gees songs are definitive for me

I think the only cover/interpretation she doesn't totally nail is "Everyone's Gone To The Moon" - not even she can save that one.

This could also go on 'What can't you find on the internet' but let's try here.

Seeing if anyone knows which live compilation album includes the only song released from her 'Meltdown' performance ('See-Line Woman'). It's referred to in Warren Ellis's book in a conversation he had in 2020 with the guy who had been the sound engineer on the night, and recorded the performance on a DAT through the mixing desk. "I know it's my recording as the bongos are so fucking loud".

She was at Meltdown in 1999.

She was at Meltdown in 1999.

This came out in 2000, the back half are live tracks, though no info on if those live tracks are from the 1999 Meltdown (but See Line Woman is one of the live tracks)

https://www.discogs.com/release/446459-Nina-Simone-Nina-The-Essential-Nina-Simone

https://www.discogs.com/release/446459-Nina-Simone-Nina-The-Essential-Nina-Simone

― impostor syndrome to the (expletive) max (stevie), Tuesday, January 16, 2024 11:24 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

thanks stevie! i'll check that one out. according to the book no other tracks from the meltdown performance have been released - the sound engineer said that someone from her entourage came up after the concert and asked for the DAT, that was the only copy. there's no way to be certain that the version of 'see-line woman' referred to is actually from that performance...

i picked this up in oxfam at the weekend which rekindled my interest in finding the particular track. the second CD is also live tracks, with no information on where recorded. the version of 'see-line woman' has some prominent percussion but since i don't know how fucking loud the 'fucking loud' bongos are, i don't know if it's the version i'm looking for (on first listen I think maybe not, doesn't sound raw enough).

https://www.discogs.com/release/5843202-Nina-Simone-The-Essential-Collection

same version on both those CDs

Fantastic article about Nina’s childhood in western North Carolina

https://eu.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2024/03/02/wnc-history-nina-simones-talent-apparent-while-growing-up-in-tryon/72763687007/