About me:
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Nina was born in North Carolina, USA, February 21, 1933. In the late 50s she recorded her first album. One song, "I Loves You Porgy", became a hit and Nina became a star, performing at Town Hall, Carnegie Hall and at jazz festivals with a repertoire ranging from gospel music to African music, from blues to Ellington songs, from classical music to folk songs of diverse origin.
Although Nina was called the "High Priestess of Soul" by her fans and was regarded by them as an almost religious figure, she was often misunderstood as well. The High Priestess would walk different paths to find the adequate songs to spread her message.
A protest singer; a jazz singer; a pianist; an arranger and a composer, Nina Simone is a great artist who defies easy classification. She is all of these: a jazz-rock-pop-folk-black musician. In fact, we can find her biography in jazz, rock, pop, black and soul literature. Her style and her hits provided many singers and groups with material for hits of their own.
On September 15, 1963, Nina Simone learned that four young African American girls had been killed in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Prior to that point, Simone, an African American singer, pianist, and songwriter, had an eclectic repertoire that blended jazz with blues, gospel, and classical music. Immediately after hearing about the events in Birmingham, however, Simone wrote the song "Mississippi Goddam." It came to her in a "rush of fury, hatred and determination" as she "suddenly realized what it was to be black in America in 1963." It was, she said, "my first civil rights song."1 1
Unlike Simone's earlier work (one critic had dubbed her a "supper club songstress for the elite"), "Mississippi Goddam" was a political anthem.2 The lyrics were filled with anger and despair and stood in stark contrast to the fast-paced and rollicking rhythm. Over the course of several verses Simone vehemently rejected the notions that race relations could change gradually, that the South was unique in terms of discrimination, and that African Americans could or would patiently seek political rights. "Me and my people are just about due," she declared. Simone also challenged principles that are still strongly associated with liberal civil rights activism in that period, especially the viability of a beloved community of whites and blacks. As she sang toward the end of "Mississippi Goddam":
All I want is equality
For my sister, my brother, my people, and me.
Yes, you lied to me all these years
You told me to wash and clean my ears
And talk real fine, just like a lady
And you'd stop calling me Sister Sadie.
But this whole country is full of lies
You're all gonna die and die like flies
I don't trust you anymore
You keep on saying "Go Slow."
Nina Simone died April 21, 2003 in Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône, France.
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Who I'd like to meet:
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Nina Simone and her daughter Simone
