Nina Simone — Silk and Soul [Vinyl LP]

Nina Simone — Silk and Soul [Vinyl LP]

Details

• Format: Vinyl LP, Album, Reissue, 180 Gram, Stereo
• Catalogue Number: MOVLP249
• Barcode: 8713748981037
• Genre: Jazz / Soul / R&B
• Label: Music On Vinyl / RCA Victor
• Originally Released: October 1967
• Reissue Released: 24 March 2011
• Pressing: 180 Gram Black Vinyl
• Condition: New & Sealed

Description

Silk and Soul is Nina Simone's second album for RCA Victor, recorded in New York and originally released in October 1967. It finds Simone moving further into soul and R&B territory, drawing on a broad programme of material that ranges from civil rights anthems to Broadway covers and original compositions. The arrangements don't always sit perfectly with her piano-led approach, but the strength of the material and the authority of Simone's voice carry everything.

The album's defining track is "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" — written by jazz pianist Billy Taylor — which Simone transforms into a soaring, impassioned civil rights statement that became one of the anthems of the era. "It Be's That Way Sometimes", written by her brother Sam Waymon, is an equally powerful highlight. Simone brings considerable wit and style to her reading of Burt Bacharach's "The Look of Love", while "The Turning Point" — a deceptively gentle song that unfolds into a meditation on the roots of racism — demonstrates her ability to embed political content in the most disarming melodic settings. "Consummation" closes the album with a fugue-like structure inspired by Mozart.

This Music On Vinyl reissue presents the album on 180-gram black vinyl.

Tracklist

Side A

1. It Be's That Way Sometimes
2. The Look of Love
3. Go to Hell
4. Love O' Love
5. Cherish

Side B

1. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free
2. Turn Me On
3. The Turning Point
4. Some Say
5. Consummation

Credits

• Nina Simone – Vocals, Piano
• Eric Gale – Guitar
• Rudy Stevenson – Guitar
• Gene Taylor – Bass
• Ernie Hayes – Harpsichord
• Andy Stroud – Producer
• Label – Music On Vinyl / RCA Victor