To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story DELUXE 4-disc box set (w/ DVD) + rare footage

Truly one of of the greatest African-American female vocalists of the 20th century Nina Simone (1933-2003) holds a special position of honor for the fearless role she played as an uncompromising ambas­sador of cultural pride at the height of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements from the late 1950s to the 1970s.

Under­pinning her status as one of the outspoken voices of that tumultuous period in history was Nina Simone's fascinating and wide-ranging musical taste. Her palette ranged from the 1920s blues and jazz of Duke Ellington and Miles Davis, to the standard songbook of Irving Berlin and the Gershwins, from traditional American balladry and the poetry of Langston Hughes, to the folk and folk rock of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Randy Newman, Richie Havens, Sandy Denny, Jimmy Webb (and many others). Her song choices further spanned the repertoire of the Beatles, the Byrds, the Bee Gees, and Hair, to Olatunji and the exciting new strains of Afro-pop and World Music before the genre even had a name - and much more.

All these musical roots and branches of Nina Simone's life are explored in depth on TO BE FREE: THE NINA SIMONE STORY, a deluxe new four-disc (three CDs + DVD) box set that is the most comprehensive and wide-ranging collection of Nina Simone's music ever compiled.

To Be Free: the Nina Simone Story/+DVDon amazon.co.uk

To Be Free-the Nina Simone Story amazon.com

Containing 51 audio tracks - eight of them previously unreleased - covering her recording years from 1957 to 1993 for the Bethlehem, Colpix, Philips, RCA (for whom she cut nine LPs that are considered the pinnacle of her output), CTI, and Elektra record labels, plus another nine performances on the 23-minute documentary DVD.

The box set will be available through SONY BMG.

The Sony BMG archives are the source for all eight previously unreleased tracks, all from Nina's recordings for the Colpix and RCA labels, spanning 1963-73: "When Malindy Sings/Swing Low Sweet Chariot" (live at the Newport Jazz Festival, 1963); "Ain't Got No-I Got Life" (alternate version of her cover hit of the Hair song, from the 1968 'Nuff Said! sessions); Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" and Richie Havens' "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" (both live at New York's Philharmonic Hall, October 1969); "Tanywey" (a newly discovered original, from the 1971 Here Comes The Sun LP sessions); Gilbert Becaud's (via the Everly Brothers) "Let It Be Me" (live at the Fort Dix military base, 1971); and "Nina" (a free-form jam) and Olatunji's "Zungo" (both live at New York's Philharmonic Hall, July 1973).

Among the 51 tracks on TO BE FREE are:

* "I Loves You, Porgy" (recorded for Bethlehem, 1957, from Porgy & Bess; Nina's first single and first chart record, inspired by Billie Holiday's version);

* "My Baby Just Cares For Me" (Bethlehem, 1957; Nina's version of the Tin Pan Alley chestnut was revived in 1985 for a Chanel perfume tv spot, jumped onto the UK chart as a #5 smash, and inspired George Michael's 1999 version);

* "Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out" (Colpix, 1959; the Bessie Smith Depression-era classic of 1929, issued as a rare non-LP single by Nina three decades later);

* "Trouble In Mind" (Colpix, June 1960; live at the Newport Jazz Festival, also a classic 1920s blues, associated with Chippie Hill and Louis Armstrong);

* "I Put A Spell On You" (Philips, 1965; the Screamin' Jay Hawkins rock staple, Nina's first UK chart single, which enabled her to tour there and in Europe, the market that eventually eclipsed her commercial popularity in the U.S.);

* "Feeling Good" (Philips, 1965; from the Anthony Newley-Leslie Bricusse musical The Roar Of The Greasepaint, The Smell Of The Crowd, with a message of freedom that resonated with Nina; revived for a Volkswagen commercial in 1994 that spurred it onto the UK chart, then the six-minute Verve Remixed version in 2002, and on Sony Music TV’s Sex & The City double-CD of 2004);

* "Ain't Got No-I Got Life" (1968, from Hair; previously unreleased alternate version, with improvised, altered lyrics, different than her studio version with over­dubbed 'live' applause, which exploded her career in the UK as a #2 hit);

* "Do What You Gotta Do" (RCA, 1968; chosen as the B-side of "Ain't Got No" in the UK, where it hit #7, a lesser-known Jimmy Webb song that inspired a rare non-Jobete cover by the Four Tops the following year);

* "To Love Somebody" (RCA, 1968; one of several Bee Gees songs recorded by Nina, did not chart as a U.S. single, but was chosen as the follow-up to "Ain't Got No" in the UK, where it hit #5);

* "Revolution" (PM, April 1969; live in Germany, full-length concert recording of the song whose "Part 1" RCA studio version was an R&B chart hit the same month, Nina's first original compo­si­tion to chart, with lyrics by her organist and music director Weldon Irvine); and finally,

* "To Be Young, Gifted And Black" (RCA, 1969).

It was onstage that Simone's special magic shined - in fact, it was a live performance demo that led to her first record deal at age 24, with Syd Nathan's jazz label Bethlehem. Even her 1957 debut LP, a studio date with bassist Jimmy Bond and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath, was given the live-sounding title Jazz As Played In An Exclusive Side Street Club (though it was also known as Little Girl Blue). Three standards from that album, Duke Ellington's "Mood Indigo," "I Loves You, Porgy," and "My Baby Just Cares For Me," provide the opening trifecta of TO BE FREE.

24 live performances comprise nearly half of TO BE FREE's 51 tracks, includ­ing a couple that were studio tracks with overdubbed applause, an all-too common practice back in the day: 1959's "Wild Is the Wind," and a '70s cover of Tina Turner's "Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter."

TO BE FREE is the ultimate Nine Simone release. Aside form the 3 discs & dvd, it comes complete with previously unseen photography from Simone's family archives, photos from the personal collection of Nina Simone historian Sylvia Hampton as well as meticulously researched track-by-track annotations written by David Nathan.

Nina Simone Official Website

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