Pastel Blues Nina Simone Rar
If this is blues, it's blues in the sense, not the one. This is one of 's more subdued mid-'60s LPs, putting the emphasis on her piano rather than band arrangements.
It's rather slanted toward torch-blues ballads like 'Strange Fruit,' 'Trouble in Mind,' 's own composition 'Tell Me More and More and Then Some,' and 'Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out.' 's then-husband, wrote 'Be My Husband,' an effective adaptation of a traditional blues chant. By far the most impressive track is her frantic ten-minute rendition of the traditional 'Sinnerman,' an explosive tour de force that dwarfs everything else on the album.
The word 'legend' is used far to casually at the best of times. But when it comes to Nina Simone, it's a descriptor that really does fit. Simone’s is a vocal and musical talent like no other, and Pastel Blues captures her at the height of her powers.Raised on blues and southern gospel, it was said that people would come to church just to hear Simone play. Yet, her first love was classical music.
Simone was famously refused entry to the prestigious Curtis Institute because she was black. She thus had to fund her classical lessons by playing 'the devils music' in and around the clubs of New York and Atlantic City.Simone sold the rights to her first album for just $3000. Tucked away on that recording was a song called 'My Baby Just Cares for Me', which went on to become one of the most recognisable recordings in popular music history.Pastel Blues came a few years later, presenting a group of songs that on the surface seem to share nothing more in common than they occupy the same piece of vinyl. If you believe great albums should have some sort of overall narrative then you might be disappointed.The album opens with the astonishing 'Be my Husband', the writing credits of which were attributed to then husband and manager Andrew Stroud.
It is a case of less is more - beautifully sparse with a simple high-hat and a foot stomp to showcase the most stirring of voices. The song has been covered countless times since its release, though Simone’s version remains unsurpassed. Then follows a Bessie Smith classic, 'Nobody knows you when you're down and out'. Bright and optimistic in tone despite the lyric, it has the feel of the prodigal returning.
Nina Simone Vinyl
Better still is 'End of the Line', showcasing Simone in her classical light. She sings over what could be a piano concerto from the romantic period - a lament for a love gone cold and the memory of happier times. It’s a standout track. “Trouble in Mind' is a bright, optimistic eight-bar blues chug; and 'Tell me more and then some' brings in a droning southern blues harp.
Pastel Blues Nina Simone Rar Music
'Sinnerman' takes us back to her gospel roots. Suddenly you're there in church somewhere in the Deep South.
Simone is on piano and her pastor mother is calling the brethren to repentance. It’s breathless and twitchy. The words tumble out of her at a run, but there is nowhere for the sinner man to run to. At 10:19 mins. It is an epic track driven along by high-hats, cymbals and hand clapping. Billboard said that 'Sinnerman' was 'worth the price of the album alone,' and it is. An often covered song - this is the definitive version.Pastel Blues is a timeless album.
Pastel Blues Nina Simone Rar Download
It could have been recorded anytime but it was recorded in America in the middle of perhaps the most tumultuous of twentieth-century decades. Through it all, Simone stares out from the album cover painted in a light grey-blue wash. Is she haunted? Please support Gaslight Records.Here at Gaslight Records we’re trying shine a light in the dark, to reanimate a bygone era of musical brillianceof peculiarity and independence.And we’re trying to maintain that same peculiarity and independence ourselves. That ain’t easy. We believe that Mr Dylan summed it up nicely back in 1964: that ‘Advertising signs they con’ So we’re keeping the Gaslight distraction free.But hey, we’re working hard blowin’ our thumbs out for no dollars a day, so consider this the cap on the road. Any little bit helps.Whatever you can contribute - from wherever you are - it helps us get more articles written by more writers, and more ‘Live at the Gaslight’ recorded by more bands.But first and foremost we’re here for you to enjoyso it’s alright, ma, if you’re only reading.
Comments are closed.