The Soul of Nina Simone

Product Details: * Audio CD (October 11, 2005) * Original Release Date: October 11, 2005 * Number of Discs: 1 * Format: DualDisc * Label: RCA

Track Listings:1. Feeling Good / 2. In the Dark / 3. Since I Fell For You / 4. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood / 5. To Love Somebody / 6. My Man's Gone Now / 7. I Think It's Going to Rain Today / 8. My Baby Just Cares For Me / 9. I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl / 10. Save Me / 11. Look of Love, The / 12. I Get Along Without You Very Well / 13. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues / 14. Nobody's Fault But Mine / 15. Porgy and Bess Medley

Product Information:This is a DualDisc, which contains a CD on one side of the disc and a DVD on the other.

Personnel: Nina Simone (vocals, piano); Arthur Adams (guitar, bass instrument); Everett Barksdale, Rudy Stevenson (guitar); Buddy Lucas (harmonica); Ernie Hayes (organ); Chuck Rainey, Bob Bushnell (bass instrument); Bernard Purdie, Cornell McFadden (drums).

Recording information: Vine Street Bar & Grill, Hollywood, California; RCA Studio B, New York, New York (1963 - 1987).

This excellent two-disc set collects work from Nina Simone's tenure with RCA in the late 1960s, focusing primarily on four albums released between '67 and '69. With her thrilling vocal prowess and astonishing versatility, Simone seemed able to do it all, and the set list--from moving love songs ("I Want A Little Sugar in My Bowl") to contemporary covers (Bob Dylan's "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues")--supports that notion.

But the real treat here is the DVD portion of the set, which features impeccably restored footage of Simone in concert. With clips that include television appearances, excerpts from nightclub dates, and four songs from a 1969 performance at a festival in Central Park, the true range, dynamism, and phenomenal talent of Simone is fully revealed. The DVD makes THE SOUL OF NINA SIMONE an absolute must for fans, and the audio disc does an admirable job of summarizing her fertile RCA years.