Comments on: Nina Simone Dead at 70

Nina Simone Dead at 70

turbodog — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 14:11:50 -0800

Jazz and protest singer Nina Simone is dead at age 70.

By: jpoulos

jpoulos — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 14:16:44 -0800

:-(

By: waxpancake

waxpancake — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 14:19:04 -0800

This is tragic. I don't know what to say.

By: turbodog

turbodog — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 14:20:02 -0800

Sigh. She was one of my favorite jazz vocalists. I can listen to My Baby Just Cares for Me on infinite repeat.

By: elwoodwiles

elwoodwiles — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 14:20:44 -0800

Very, very sad. She will, however, live forever through her work. *puts 'Feelin Good' on the stereo, presses repeat button*

By: zarah

zarah — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 14:23:41 -0800

Nooo! At our house she's a goddess and always on the stereo. Tracy's gonna be so sad!

By: plep

plep — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 14:24:53 -0800

Audiosyncratic. An interview with Nina Simone. 'Eclectic is much too small a word for Nina Simone. As a pianist, singer and composer, her music is the richest possible mix of just about everything - classical, folk, gospel, blues, R 'n' B and soul. She calls it black classical music - "jazz is a white term used to define black people" - and when you're in a room with Dr. Simone, you learn very quickly that everything will be discussed in (and on) her terms ... ' Mississippi Goddam.

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 14:26:46 -0800

Where you gonna run to?

By: PinkStainlessTail

PinkStainlessTail — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 14:28:20 -0800

By: RJ Reynolds

RJ Reynolds — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 14:31:34 -0800

God. This has upset me more than I would ever have imagined. I'm going to bed.

By: Ty Webb

Ty Webb — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 14:35:47 -0800

By: turbodog

turbodog — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 14:40:03 -0800

I really, really, really wish the American Routes radio program had their recent-ish Nina Simone interview online. She was as fiery as ever.

By: turaho

turaho — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 14:41:36 -0800

Geez, it was only two weeks ago that I was praising her here on the blue and now she's gone. About three years ago she went on a mini-tour of the U.S., her first visit to the states since she famously exiled herself to France in the early 80s. The closest she came to me was Chicago, and I was kicking myself for not getting the chance to see her. I feel even worse today. She was the real thing, one of the most talented singers and pianists of the past century. She'll be missed.

By: twine42

twine42 — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 14:51:38 -0800

I didn't realise she was still alive, but I'm very sad to hear that she's died. A great, great voice. What a report... they asked all her publisists team, but still didn't suggest how she died. *sigh* Time for some Jazz I feel...

By: robbie01

robbie01 — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 14:53:23 -0800

Now I really, really regret not seeing her at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga a year or so ago. I was surprised that she was still putting on shows. I think I have more Nina Simone CDs than any other performer.

By: MiguelCardoso

MiguelCardoso — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 14:58:05 -0800

That's so sad. I hadn't imagined Nina Simone dying. :(

By: jcruelty

jcruelty — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 15:04:06 -0800

you may dig on the rolling stones / but they could never ever rock like nina simone

By: amberglow

amberglow — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 15:06:31 -0800

she was wonderful!

By: xmutex

xmutex — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 15:12:15 -0800

C'mon, she was 70.

By: ghastlyfop

ghastlyfop — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 15:19:08 -0800

Hush your troll self, xmutex.

By: roboto

roboto — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 15:23:14 -0800

You hear me I put a spell on you Because you're mine I'll always be yours Nina

By: dazed_one

dazed_one — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 15:48:08 -0800

By: feelinglistless

feelinglistless — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 15:57:10 -0800

By: ed

ed — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 15:59:42 -0800

"If I Could Lose You" -- that's what I'll be playing tonight. Man. Jesus. Simone was one of the last jazz greats. And, yes, the idea of her dying was a completely foreign concept to me. Her voice was unlike any other: familiar and yet sometimes difficult to trace, a wise elder one minute and downright young and playful the next. She had the voice that sounded as if it would go on forever, a visceral companion that would accompany you through the ages, reminding you that ultimately what mattered was the human heart, whether caught in mirth or misery. And now she's gone. Her loss is incomprehensible. And for those who only know her for "My Baby Just Cares For Me," how I envy you for touching her sizable canon for the first time.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 16:01:19 -0800

Damn. A light goes out.

By: Stynxno

Stynxno — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 16:15:51 -0800

poop. my day is ruined now.

By: transient

transient — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 16:35:58 -0800

By: troybob

troybob — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 16:36:23 -0800

I think I have more Nina Simone CDs than any other performer. I know I do. Wild is the Wind breaks me every time.

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 16:54:50 -0800

I only started listening to Nina Simone about six months ago after a colleague reccomended her, so I haven't had that long a history of listening to her, but I was still shocked and saddened to hear of her passing. Yes, plep, Mississippi Goddamn is one of my favourites too.

By: grabbingsand

grabbingsand — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 16:58:06 -0800

In the dark... there's just you and I. .

By: tapeguy

tapeguy — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 17:38:17 -0800

I have a really crackly 30 year old vinyl copy of her version of "To Love Somebody". It sounds fucking fantastic. My housemate has it on CD, but it's the crackles and pops that make it for me. It's a good song to curl up in the dark with your baby to. Also, I took it out to DJ with at a Valentine's Day ball a couple of years back. It was the first song I ever played out that made some a couple kiss. I think that says it all.

By: squared

squared — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 17:58:40 -0800

By: Tarrama

Tarrama — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 18:50:21 -0800

By: raysmj

raysmj — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 18:55:19 -0800

"I Want Some Sugar in My Bowl" is on at least four CD collections around here. Three minutes or so of the absolute divine there, and I'm not foolin'. There's little to nothing else that comes close. Sad news.

By: raysmj

raysmj — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 19:00:08 -0800

Excuse me, the whole title is "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl."

By: jann

jann — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 20:34:42 -0800

some days it is bittersweet to be a dj. I heard about this with twenty minutes left in my show today, and managed to get on "Who Am I?", "I Love to Love" and her absolutely fabulous cover of the Jacques Brel song "The Desperate Ones". The best. The Queen is dead.

By: BT

BT — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 20:37:38 -0800

The way she took in a whole breadth of other people's songs and made them her own, so that you couldn't hear them in anybody else's voice after. Wow. Bad news at the end of the day.

By: tapeguy

tapeguy — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 20:52:31 -0800

The way she took in a whole breadth of other people's songs and made them her own, so that you couldn't hear them in anybody else's voice after. I agree, she did some fantastic Dylan cover versions. Obviously, nobody could touch the originals, but Simone's renditions were still far above her peers. There's a quote in the blurb on the back of this record sleeve: "Nina Simone Walks In Musical Grandeur Where Few Others Dare Stray." - what a fine sentence. You won't hear people talking about Limp Bizkit like that nowadays. Not even the record labels truely believe that the artists 'walk in musical grandeur'.

By: black8

black8 — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 23:27:49 -0800

By: mediareport

mediareport — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 00:01:07 -0800

To get a sense of just how courageous she was, try this informative overview of the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march in the spring of 1965. Tear gas, beatings, killings...and there she was, singing to 30,000 people in the thick of it. Also, her hometown newspaper's obit (she was from Tryon, NC) has some interesting details about her early experiences of racial discrimination.

By: NekulturnY

NekulturnY — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 01:03:35 -0800

By: hama7

hama7 — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 05:12:29 -0800

Thank you for this, Nina Simone.

By: lumpley

lumpley — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 07:19:21 -0800

By: zpousman

zpousman — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 07:44:05 -0800

By: divrsional

divrsional — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 08:37:38 -0800

"I'm going back to New York City. I do believe I've had enough." from "Just Like Tom Thumb Blues" written by Bob Dylan and magnificently sung by herself.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Tue, 22 Apr 2003 13:14:00 -0800

It has been pointed out to me that folks might not get the point about the page I linked above on Selma. I thought the fondling of buttocks at the bottom and overall tone would make it clear, but just in case, it's a - cough - rather racist modern take on the events of that week. I tried the same thing (too clever by half) on my blog, and it didn't work there, either. Apologies for the confusion.