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Nina: The Essential Nina Simone | 
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| Artist: Nina Simone
Label: Metro Music
Category: Music
List Price: $24.98
Buy New: $4.95
You Save: $20.03 (80%)
New (27) Used (11) Collectible (1) from $4.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 12615
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.8 x 0.4
MPN: 10
UPC: 698458101020
EAN: 0698458101020
ASIN: B00004RIMQ
Release Date: May 12, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | My Baby Just Cares For Me | | • | Mood Indigo | | • | He's Got the Whole World in His Hands | | • | Don't Smoke in Bed | | • | Love Me or Leave Me | | • | He Needs Me | | • | Little Girl Blue | | • | Plain Gold Ring | | • | House of the Rising Sun | | • | Ain't Got No/I Got Life | | • | Gin House Blues | | • | Ain't No Use | | • | Mississippi Goddam | | • | See Line Woman | | • | Four Women | | • | I Sing Just to Know That I'm Alive | | • | Fodder on her Wings | | • | I Loves You Porgy |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
18 of the finest by the original African power diva, all at a fantastic low price! Featuring a varied repertoire that includes both classic songs and well-known hits, this collection is ideal introduction to anyone that's ever been curious about Simone, as well as an ear-opener for those that were of the opinion that Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill weren't influenced by anyone of their predecessors. Includes 'My Baby Just Cares For Me', 'He's Got The Whole World In His Hands', 'Don't Smoke In Bed' and 'I Loves You Porgy'. 2000 release standard jewel case.
Album Details
Poised and Passionate, Haughty and Vulnerable, Nina Simone Has Collapsed the Boundaries Between Classical, Jazz, and Pop, to Create a Timeless Musical Legacy. This is Nina's Greatest Work on One Album which Roams Across all of Popular Song, from Showtunes to Jazz and Blues to Dark Protest and Delves Deep Into the Reservior of Musical History and Memory.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
wow September 13, 2008
I had not ever heard of Nina Simone before. I ran across her name and then, by chance, someone gave my husband this CD and he brought it home. I listened to it and could not believe how, yes, mesmerizing her voice and interpretations are. The other reviewers express this very well, and I didn't want to read too many of those reviews before adding my own, so as not to lose all words for it. Simone's voice is completely "other" and completely known at the same time. She is in complete command, and yet does not sound too distant or at all cloying, and not over-powering. Her interpretation of each song as well as her voice are both multi-dimensioned in a way that I have not ever heard, and unique. It's a wonderful experience to listen to this CD in full, with each track wonderful to listen to.
 nina's got soul October 2, 2007
I was not familiar with nina before this album. I definitley like her groove. Very powerful singer. A couple of tracks are a little hokey for my taste, but overall a great listen.
Soulfully Pleasing!! April 3, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
In this album, Nina Simone touches the soul. Actually all of her albums do, thanks to her unique voice. She keeps things interesting by switching from slow tempo ballads to up-beat funky jams. I recommend this album to anyone who appreciates a strong, sensual and soulful woman = Nina Simone.
Quintessential PowerVoice February 10, 2007
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
Ten or so years ago, when I lived in wild and wikkit El Lay, I was having drinks with a client at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons (which as we all know, is NOT in Beverly Hills proper, but just across the street on Doheny). As we sat there, my client and I heard a woman (man?) talking just out of eyesight. The voice, while not loud, cut through the pre-cocktail hour buzzle like a small frigate---clean, strong, and distinctive. She wasn't being loud, it was just that that voice...that voice. My client persuaded me to go find out who was speaking, as we were mesmerized. I went into the next little salon off the bar area and saw an elegant black woman talking with an earnest young white man in his first grown-up suit, in his first grown-up A&R job (probably fresh from USC business school). She was talking and he had the most incoherent look on his face. In retrospect, I think he had never met someone like her, and of course, he never will again. I hope he appreciated her. I asked, "Excuse me, but your voice is so distinctive---it sounds very familiar. Do I know you?" She stopped her narrative, languidly looking up at me, extended her hand in a regal but not royal way, and simply said, "I am Nina Simone."
I have to admit that I had heard of her, but couldn't have named one song she'd recorded. Even in the hip 80's and 90's, she was radically underappreciated and heard in the States. Needless to say,(and this was way before amazon.com et al)I raced to Tower and bought several of her recordings. This recording is a favorite, and the more I listen to this amazing singer, the more I wonder why she never had a wider American audience. Her singing, like her speaking, was so very distinctive and mesmerizing. You may not want to, but you cannot help yourself from stopping to listen. I have had more people ask me "Who's playing?" when one of her songs comes up in the mix.
Her take on any song is memorable. Her voice has a resonant quality unlike the thin, reedy, over-produced songbirds on the charts today. Most modern singers in any genre seem hell-bent on showing off what their voices CAN do. It's like nude scene in a movie: gets your attention, but does nothing to move the plot along. Same with all the vocal melisma of current artists---all the shrieking does nothing to sell the song. With La Nina, it is just pure singing, straight out and true.
Try this album. You may not like it at first. Her voice is unique and requires attentive listening. But like dark chocolate, which might taste bitter at first, somehow seduces you and milk chocolate becomes a little ho-hum. So it is with Nina Simone. You may not want to play her for your next rave, but with friends over for drinks or dinner, Nina playing in the next room, soon everyone will be asking, "Who's playing?" And you can turn on a new audience to an incomparable, unique voice.
A great CD for what it was February 8, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Nina Simone is someone that put out so many albums, it would not be financially practical to try to collect them all. This compilation CD does show her wearing many different hats through different eras of music. For example, she does some good Blues work on "Do I Move You?" and a good live performance on "Mississippi Goddamn."
Some pieces are more vocal, and others are more piano driven/ instrumental, and that versatility is enjoyable.
For me, this has been a good introduction to Nina Simone and likely all of her that I will need to buy. I believe that this compilation has been sufficiently broad to stand on its own in a CD collection.
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