To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story (W/Dvd) [Box set]

Nina Simone | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 30, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Sony Legacy
• ASIN: B001D52XO2
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,506 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #40 in Music > Broadway & Vocalists > Cabaret

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Mood Indigo

2. I Loves You, Porgy

3. My Baby Just Cares For Me

4. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out

5. You Can Have Him (Live)

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Mississippi Goddam (Live)

2. In The Morning

3. Ain't Got No-I Got Life [previously unreleased in the U.S. - alternate version]

4. Do What You Gotta Do

5. Seems I'm Never Tired Loving You

See all 17 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (Live) [previously unreleased]

2. Just Like A Woman

3. Here Comes The Sun

4. Tanywey [previously unreleased]

5. Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter (Live)

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. Ain't Got No-I Got Life (DVD content)

2. Pirate Jenny (DVD content)

3. Don't You Pay Them No Mind (DVD content)

4. Milestones(DVD content)

5. Go To Hell (DVD content)

See all 9 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Nina Simone was one of those controversial figures American pop music puts forward from time to time, with the notable exception that she started her controversy earlier in the 1960s than, say, Bob Dylan. To see this African-American woman get angry about the racial situation in her country, right there on stage, was a shock to people who'd come to hear her sing "I Loves You, Porgy." Not that she cared; she figured that it was the artist's job to deliver the truth, and if the truth hurt, so be it. Of course, events wound up proving her right, but she never stopped being prickly about one thing or another. It was just part of who she was, and part of why her music has endured while that of some of her contemporaries has faded: she's still contemporary.

To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story is a 3 CD Career Retrospective (1957-1993) including her work for Bethlehem, Colpix, Philips, RCA, CTI and Elektra, PLUS a DVD featuring the 1970 Emmy-nominated never-before-released documentary. This package includes 54 songs, 8 previously unreleased tracks, including some never recorded elsewhere. The box includes all chart hits (U.S. and U.K.) and her most famous signature songs. An added bonus are liner notes which include track-by-track commentary from Simone biographer, David Nathan, and introduction by Ed Ward, NPR's "rock & roll historian", and never-before-seen photos from her family archives, recording sessions and performances.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Worthy Collection, January 5, 2009

By 

Alcee Arobin (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story (W/Dvd) (Audio CD)

I've owned the complete Nina Simone discography for some time, but I wanted this box set specifically for the 8 previously unreleased tracks and the 1970 documentary that I assumed had been lost.

The new material is fantastic. I'd gladly have paid just to hear the new, live recording of "Suzanne" included in this set. It's a brilliant concert piece, equal parts bold and vulnerable. I'd heard Nina sing with her brother Samuel at a 1968 Paris concert on the album Live at the Great Show, but if not for the release of "Let it Be Me" included on this set for the first time, I would never have known how truly talented and soulful he was. Music must have been a familial trait.

The DVD is brief (only about 20 minutes) but packs a punch. Nina is engaging and captivating, especially when she muses with her interviewer that freedom must be the equivalent of having no fear. A rehearsal cut of "Don't You Pay Them No Mind" before a concert is overwhelming. This was always one of my favorite songs on the High Priestess of Soul album and to see her perform it with the accompaniment of her grand piano, her mighty vibrato trembling with emotion, is something to behold. She closes a concert with "I Wish I Knew How (It Would Feel to Be Free)," taking the song in a new and liberating direction, singing along and quoting Bible scripture while her band provides a hypnotic melody.

This could easily pass as an introduction to Nina Simone's work, if that is what you're looking for. I don't agree with all of the choices included here as a career spanning collection, but this is an artist who recorded so many albums on so many different labels, if you took two Nina fans and asked them to assemble her best work, you'd inevitably come up with two completely different collections. It's part of the beauty of her music.

Attached to the set is a booklet with extensive track notes for every song, written by David Nathan, a founder of Nina's British fan club and frequent biographer of her life and career. While strained in some parts, his devotion to the artist is clear.

This is a great collection and I'm thankful to the producers who continue to memorialize this incomparably brilliant, yet often overlooked Diva of song.

Highly recommended.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Smoothed out Nina Simone, December 27, 2008

By 

Urban Strigidae "www.myspace.com/Strigidae" - See all my reviews

This review is from: To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story (W/Dvd) (Audio CD)

This is a wonderful collection for Nina Simone to gain more fans. The choices of the versions of songs for this collection, are the smooth more soothing ones. Each song easily fits together on the same album with any of the other songs. The DVD is really just for already fans. (I guess if your buying a box, you must already be a major fan)The mix of the clips of her performances and the interview disturbs the full experience. They should have had the performance then the interview. Do not get me wrong. I highly recommend this box set to anyone. I am personally a fan of the coarser versions of some songs. One thing I really like about Nina Simone, is that no two performance of her are the same.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A *Great* Set For both *Fans* & *Newbies* !, July 9, 2010

By 

Alex Honda "onyx575" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story (W/Dvd) (Audio CD)

The set of TO BE FREE: THE NINA SIMONE STORY is the perfect box set for those interested in getting to know this wonderful singing legend. It encompasses Simone's singing career from 1957 - 1993, '93 being the last time she recorded professionally, and gathers recordings that were done for different record labels and puts it all on three CDs.

If that weren't enough this set also includes one DVD that shows Simone being interviewed and performing in the recording studio and at cabarets and concert halls. Even though this documentary is short, running about 26-minutes, it's more than enough time to get a feel of the person behind the legend. I've read that she was bi-polar and it's clear that something is a little off in her demeanor in this doc, but the power and intensity really comes through. Like all geniuses, Simone comes off as a little eccentric, but very cool and highly intelligent! She seemed like someone who would've been great to hang out with. The picture quality is clear but it's obvious that this was filmed in 1969-70.

This set also comes with a booklet that's attached to the CD package that includes bio information by Ed Ward and liner notes from the CD set producer Richard Seidel. And there's detailed information written for each track included on this set, as well as photographs.

The sound quality is excellent with no discernible difference between tracks recorded in the 50s to the 90s, including the "live" performances peppered throughout this collection.

I'm new to the music of Nina Simone and this collection has more than brought me up to speed. In fact, this collection has such a variety of songs and styles from her body of work that it'll probably be the only one you'll need unless you're a hardcore fan and/or completist. I definitely recommend TO BE FREE.

Simone may not have possessed the most gifted singing voice in the business, but she worked that voice like warm molasses -- whispering, screaming, talking, singing or shouting -- until it covered your senses and made you feel something. Perhaps that's why her work has endured.