Customer Reviews

Let It Be Me

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had the immense pleasure of seeing Nina Simone live in concert in Oslo, Norway in 1990. That concert is forever with me, and this glorious live recording is the closest I will ever come to that experience. Simone never ever turned out a bad record, but live she is probably more deeply moving than any other performer. There is hardly anything that can match being two, three meters away from this stunning artist at a successful concert. This record can take you there...almost.

...this is a good live CD and a great example of Nina Simone's work. She has a haunting, emotive, unusual voice that really grows on you. I actually like this CD better than some studio work she has done due to the arrangements that really highlight her vocal talent.

Nina gives us an amazing example of her live performance.
It is just impossible not to be touched by emotion listening to Dylan's Just like a woman or If You Knew/Let It Be Me.
It's just a must have record for any Nina Simone's fan.

The passion, the power, the heart, the inventive and always thrilling keyboard work are all delightfully evident here. While her voice is not as pure as it used to be, Nina Simone is still a charismatic artist. No matter what may have been lost with the passage of time, to see her live in concert is still a great thrill, and this album demonstrates the great affection her audiences have for her.

"Let It be Me" is Nina Simone's swansong live recording and its
elemental power is undeniably hers alone. Yes, her alto had become
hardened, wobbly, flat-sounding. But a great artist like Simone is able,
unsurprisingly, to turn even her vulnerabilities into potent emotional
expressions. Her "Baltimore" here sounds truer than ever - "ain't it
hard just to live!" And her cover of Janis Ian's "Stars" is a tour de
force of storysinging. "Some made it when they are old. Perhaps they
have a soul they're unafraid to bare." Nina Simone made it when she
was young, and she had a soul -- & a voice -- she was unafraid to bare
in her sunset years. May be that's why she never failed to astound and
comfort us with her checkered but resilient career -- one marked by
political anger, sorrows of exile, and undisputed artistic triumph.

Nina Simone has never sounded worse on this live Vine Street recording. The vocal talent that she was so well known for in the late 1950's through the 60's is definitely lacking here on this release. Often flat, singing without any feeling whatsoever, Nina Simone is a complete disapppointment. Don't waste your money on this release! For better Nina listening, try Collectable Record's Nina Simone At Town Hall/The Amazing Nina Simone, Nina At Carnegie Hall/Nina With Strings, or Nina Simone Forbidden Fruit/Sings Duke Ellington....or any of the Phillips or RCA releases...at this stage in her career, Nina Simone proves in this pathetic recording that she has lost the ability to sing...her honey & vinegar sound that we all know and love is missing; what was so well loved in her recordings during the Colpix/Phillips/RCA years doesn't manifest itself...no studio machinery could mask the fact that Nina Simone should now stick to playing the piano or retire...