Nina Simone in Concert

Nina Simone in Concert is an album by jazz singer Nina Simone. It was her first album for the record label Philips and consisted of three live recordings made at Carnegie Hall, New York City, in March and April 1964. She recorded Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall in 1963 for Colpix. This album marked the beginning of "Nina Simone, the Civil Rights singer" in her recording career; she had already incorporated the civil rights message in her performances. Included on the album are political songs, such as "Mississippi Goddam", released as a single at the time. "Old Jim Crow", "Go Limp", and "Pirate Jenny" contributed to the message in a covert or metaphorical way. The album was rated 94th best album of the 1960s by Pitchfork.[3]

Nina Simone in Concert
Live album by
Nina Simone
Released1964
RecordedMarch 21, April 1 & 6 1964
VenueCarnegie Hall, New York City
GenreVocal jazz[1]
Length35:58
LabelPhilips
ProducerHal Mooney
Nina Simone chronology
Nina Simone with Strings
(1966)		 Nina Simone in Concert
(1964)		 Broadway-Blues-Ballads
(1964)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Pitchfork10/10[2]

Background
  • Simone recorded "I Loves You, Porgy", "Plain Gold Ring", and "Don't Smoke in Bed" on her debut album Little Girl Blue (1958).
  • "Pirate Jenny" was from The Threepenny Opera by Kurt Weill and Bertold Brecht. Simone used the story within the song as a metaphor for the civil rights situation at that time. She performed it rarely, though the theatrical piece became one of her signature tunes.[4]
  • "Old Jim Crow" was a protest song against Jim Crow laws.
  • "Go Limp" was a humorous folk song about a girl who is warned by her mother not to join the NAACP because it would cost her virginity. Halfway through the song Simone forgot the lyrics and invented some. At the end she received a standing ovation.
  • "Mississippi Goddam" is a protest song written by Simone after the Alabama Church Bombing[5]. A minute into the performance she addresses the audience, saying "This is a show tune, but the show hasn't been written for it yet..." This is met with nervous laughter as the primarily white audience has realized they're hearing a caustic Civil Rights protest song.

Track listing
  1. "I Loves You Porgy" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, DuBose Heyward) – 2:18
  2. "Plain Gold Ring" (Earl Burroughs) – 5:30
  3. "Pirate Jenny" (Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht, Marc Blitzstein) – 6:42
  4. "Old Jim Crow" (Nina Simone, Jackie Alper, Ron Vander Groef) – 2:10
  5. "Don't Smoke in Bed" (Willard Robison) – 5:30
  6. "Go Limp" (Alex Comfort, Simone) – 6:55
  7. "Mississippi Goddam" (Simone) – 4:45

Personnel
  • Nina Simone – piano, vocals, arranger
  • Rudy Stevenson – guitar
  • Lisle Atkinson – bass
  • Bobby Hamilton – drums

Production

Charts
Chart (1964) Peak position
Billboard 200[6] 102
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References
  1. Unterberger, Richie. "Nina Simone in Concert". AllMusic. Retrieved 30 September 2018.
  2. Wallace, Carvell (30 July 2016). "Nina Simone : Nina Simone in Concert". Pitchfork. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  3. "The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  4. Hampton. Break Down And Let It All Out. pp. 196–197.
  5. full lyrics of "Mississippi Goddam" at boscarol.com
  6. "Nina Simone". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-01-07.
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