Nina Simone's Finest Hour

Nina Simone

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 13, 2000)
• Original Release Date: June 13, 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Polygram Records
• ASIN: B00004ST4U
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #66,933 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Nina Simone communicates with a unique force on this Finest Hour collection, a welling, riveting power that's beyond the range of other singers. It's there whether the song is romantic or political, whimsical or sentimental, and these recordings from the 1960s demonstrate the range of material that she could make her own, from Gershwin to Jacques Brel, from Screamin' Jay Hawkins to Nat Adderley. With her own civil rights era anthems like "Mississippi Goddam" and the Brecht-Weill "Pirate Jenny," Simone commands our attention with a profoundly brooding, searing rage, while there's potent sensuality in her "Wild Is the Wind" and Willard Robison's "Don't Smoke in Bed." Whether she's accompanying herself with her spare piano or defying studio orchestras with the intensity of her performance, Simone is a special singer, her art consisting in stripping away the decorative artifice of a song to reveal a molten core beneath. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Introduction to Nina, January 18, 2005

By	Al Tenhundfeld (Charlottesville, Virginia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In some ways, I envy those of you who haven't yet discovered Nina Simone. You are about to hear a truly authentic virtuoso perform songs that will slowly, irrevocably creep into your soul.

Regarding this item:
Nina Simone's Finest Hour does lack many wonderful tracks, but it is an excellent primer. This is the album I give to skeptics when I want to introduce them to Nina. It is polished enough to appeal to people who are not traditionally fans of the genre.

If you already own a Nina Simone CD, I recommend skipping this disc and putting the money towards either the Colpix or Philips box set. To my knowledge, this disc doesn't contain any unique songs; it is just a good sampler.

Regarding Nina Simone:
For years I occasionally listened to powerful jazz/blues vocalists like Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, and Etta James. I enjoyed their work, with some individual songs greatly affecting me, but my appreciation changed when I stumbled across Nina Simone. As I listened to her tracks, I realized that I enjoyed each and every song. Her music combines incredibly soulful vocals with a classical tightness in the melodies.

For me, Simone possesses a quality that is becoming increasingly rare: a raw authenticity. This quality is difficult to define verbally; instead, imagine a favorite painting that you have actually seen in person. Now think of the differences between seeing a paper print of the piece and seeing the original work up close, inches from your eyes. In person, you can see the subtlety of the brushstrokes, and the masterful blending of colors takes on an entirely new and wonderful vibrancy. For me, discovering Nina Simone was like finally seeing my favorite print in person. My mind was blown open; I could actually feel my musical sensibilities maturing. Similar experiences happened to me when I encountered Ray Charles, John Lennon, Bob Marley, and suprisingly Hank Williams Sr.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Song titles are out of whack..., May 21, 2004

By A Customer

This is an absolutely fabulous CD--however one of the songs on the cd isn't listed and thus the track order as listed on this site as well as on the cd case itself is off. Now that I've figured this out--thought I'd share it with you...

1. Love Me Or Leave Me;
2. Wild Is The Wind;
3. I Put A Spell On You;
4. Work Song;
5. Don't Explain;
6. The Other Women (NOT LISTED AS BEING ON THIS CD!);
7. Mississippi Goddam;
8. Four Women;
9. Pirate Jenny;
10. I Loves You, Porgy;
11. This Year's Kisses;
12. Little Girl Blue;
13. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood;
14. Ne Me Quitte Pas; and
15. Don't Smoke In Bed

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Too unique for words, September 10, 2004

By	moose_of_many_waters (Palo Alto, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Prickly with a voice that grates, there's nothing pretty about the music of Nina Simone. But her phrasing and the all consuming emotion that she gives to the songs makes her own them. Pour yourself a Scotch or two and this album will envelop you like smoke in an old bar when it's cold and dark outside.

The choice of songs here has been made by a singer, and if you like art in your interpretations of standards, then this album is meant for you. It's meant for detailed listening. It's moody as moody can be and definitely not for those who get their thrills from the easy smooth sounds of Norah Jones. But if you like singing with emotion and attitude, well it doesn't get any better than Nina. And this collection is very representative of all that Nina could do.