Little Girl Blue [IMPORT]

Nina Simone

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 1, 1994)
• Original Release Date: 1957
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Neon Netherlands
• ASIN: B000055Y5G
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #230,613 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Mood Indigo

2. Don't Smoke in Bed

3. He Needs Me

4. Little Girl Blue

5. Love Me or Leave Me

6. My Baby Just Cares for Me

7. Good Bait

8. Plain Gold Ring

9. You'll Never Walk Alone

10. I Loves You, Porgy

11. Central Park Blues

12. He's Got the Whole World in His Hands [*]

13. For All We Know [*]

14. African Mailman [*]

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Budget priced collection with many of the distinctive jazz lady's best recordings. Especially important is "My Baby Just Cares For Me" (her biggest hit) as well as "I Love You Porgy", "Mood Indigo", "Don't Smoke In Bed" and "For All We Know".

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nina's first two releases, 1957 and 59! Plus live stuff!, February 10, 2005

By	Campbell Roark "tri-zeta" (from under the floorboards and through the woods...) - See all my reviews

If you're checking this out- Good! You've got taste, obviously, or you wouldn't be here. Pick Up a used copy of this little sweetheart- you won't be let down!

For me, the original record, "Jazz As Played In An Exclusive Side Street Club" (US, 1958, BETHLEHEM BCP 6028), was one of those vinyl finds that diggers hope for but RARELY ever get. After a couple hours of grimy fingered flipping through some stacks of old Gospel records in this rundown flea-market in Hinton, WV- I unearthed the title above. Old as hell and grimy, some rain damage- but still... made my week!

That record consisted of the following tracks: "Mood Indigo," "Don't Smoke In Bed," "He Needs Me," "Little Girl Blue," "Love Me Or Leave Me," "My Baby Just Cares For Me," Good Bait" (a nice long tempestuous instrumental), "Plain Gold Ring," "You'll Never Walk Alone" (another great instrumental), "I Loves You Porgy," and "Central Park Blues" (a nice pensive instrumental). The versions of I loves you Porgy was the tune that got her signed. Little Girl Blue gets her standard 'Good King Wenceslaws' treatment- that fusion blew me away the first time I heard it! He Needs Me is a sweet sad, poignant short little tune!

Soooooooo... this CD is the Import version of that first album by Nina, plus the second (which was "Nina Simone And Her Friends" (US, 1959, BETHLEHEM BCP 6041: only four tracks: "He's Got The Whole World In His Hands," "I Loves You Porgy" (reprise from the previous album), "For All We Know," and another instrumental- "African Mailman.")). The sound is cleaned up a little. No remastering but the sound was pretty good to begin with. Whoever NEON is- they added four pretty rollicking live tracks at the end to flesh this out. The live tracks are B+, A- quality. I'm not sure where they come from- what show...

I love the style of Nina's piano playing and her original takes on arrangements. That's another reason to get this- her piano playing isn't hampered/over encumbered by a loud band.... Her classical training is showcased all over this! Nina was an imaginative player and this is perhaps the best demonstration of her incredible talent as a pianist (she trained at Juilliard in the 50's to be a classical pianist, if ya didn't know), she rises to the occasion and takes the weight, deftly. This is before she had legions of backup players aiding her- Sometimes it's just a young Nina, her piano and a drum or bass. Excellent! The stripped down atmosphere really suited her!

My only beef with this is that whoever put it out (Neon?) messed with the original track listing. They mixed songs from the two releases together- not that you'd know if you'd never have heard the original. The vinyl was well put together in terms of how the tracks flowed into each other. Here: there's no real continuity, thematically or stylewise. But once you get this you can play with it to your heart's content- on your PC, IPOD or whathaveyou...

Honestly- you can't go wrong with this CD and you definitely can't go wrong with Nina, may her soul rest in peace.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The high priestess of jazz piano, July 16, 2003

By	"nmarkos" (Bellingham, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little Girl Blue (Audio CD)

Nina Simone has been called the high priestess of soul, but the Nina Simone on this album should be called the high priestess of jazz piano. Her playing here is as good as that of any jazz pianist ever. "My Baby Just Cares for Me," "Mood Indigo," and "Love Me or Leave Me" are among the highlights. Simone's unique style blends elements of classical music (she studied piano at Julliard) and jazz, to stunning effect. This is a brilliant and powerful album.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I totally agree, November 16, 2003

By	"thedoglo" (Peoria, Il. (USA)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little Girl Blue (Audio CD)

"This is a brilliant and powerful album."