Nina Simone with Strings

Nina Simone with Strings
Studio album by Nina Simone
Released	1966
Recorded	New York City
Genre	Vocal, jazz, blues, folk
Label	Colpix
Nina Simone chronology
Folksy Nina (1964) Nina Simone with Strings (1966) Nina Simone in Concert (1964)

Nina Simone with Strings is an album by Nina Simone. The album was released without her knowing after she had left Colpix Records, and had already made albums for Philips Records. To make the tracks on the album (a hodgepodge of live and studio recordings left over from previous recording sessions) more commercial, strings were added on some of the tracks, occasionally burying Simone's vocals under a wall of sound.^{[citation needed]}

Despite (or perhaps: because of) the post-production efforts the album remains one of Simone's least accomplished works, mainly a collection of different songs in terms of subject, style and quality. On later releases of Simone's Colpix years, some of the tracks on this album were remastered (without the strings) and different takes were released attached to the albums that the songs were actually intended for.^{[citation needed]}

Information about songs on this album

• "Baubles Bangles and Beads", a song originally intended for the studio album Forbidden Fruit (1961).
• "Work Song", throughout her career Simone did several versions of this prison-song. The original track listing also falsely named this song, "Chain Gang".
• "The Man with a Horn", Simone recorded this song later for Nina Simone and Piano (1969), bit it did not make it onto the album.
• "Porgy I Is Your Woman Now", from George Gershwin's opera Porgy & Bess.
• "Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)", originally a song by Bessie Smith.

About the cover

The cover photo was used out of a photo shoot for the earlier album Nina Simone Sings Ellington (1962). See details in the article about that album.

Track listing

1. "I Loves You Porgy"
2. "Blackbird"
3. "Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)"
4. "Baubles Bangles and Beads"
5. "Spring Is Here"
6. "That's All"
7. "Work Song"
8. "The Man with a Horn"
9. "Porgy I Is Your Woman Now"
10. "Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)"

References