"This is a show tune, but the show hasn't been written for it yet"

February 28, 2016 1:53 PM

The Fierce Courage of Nina Simone by Adam Shatz
posted by thetortoise (10 comments total)

Jazz critics were perplexed by Simone, whose voice lacked the range of Sarah Vaughan or the suppleness of Ella Fitzgerald. “I confess I have no idea what Miss Simone’s appeal is,” Martin Williams wrote.

Twenty times as much spirit as an ordinary person packed into a single individual begins to describe it. Despite her private troubles, throughout much of her career she successfully came across in public as fierce, strong, justifiably proud, and unwilling to take shit from anybody. Is it any wonder that so many people found her inspiring? Even today that would be a hard and lonely thing to do. But for a black woman in the 1950s? Whole 'nother level.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:14 PM on February 28, 2016 [3 favorites]

"At her first recital, when she was ten, her parents moved from their seats to make way for a white family who wanted a better view of her fingers. Eunice refused to perform until her parents could return to their seats. Some whites in the audience giggled. "

I thought I loved her before, but having now learned of this sigular bit of steel at the age of ten, I'm destroyed by the amount of unbrideled administration pouring from for this incredible person.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:28 PM on February 28, 2016 [10 favorites]

I just watched the documentary on Netflix. It was both awe inspiring and depressing. She was an amazing artist.
posted by Belle O'Cosity at 5:43 PM on February 28, 2016 [1 favorite]

Watching a video of her performing Mississippi Goddamn was such a transformative experience for me. I have come very late to her altar, but I don't anticipate ever leaving, really. The comparisons with Billie Holiday make perfect sense to me. Nina Simone's barely controlled rage seems the natural progression from the misery always bubbling in Billie Holiday's work, in some songs further below the surface than in others, but ever-present.
posted by bardophile at 5:21 AM on February 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

Besides the one on Netflix, there is a new (and slightly less harrowing) film on her life, The Amazing Nina Simone, which I've seen and highly recommend.
posted by Riverine at 1:15 PM on February 29, 2016

How sad - there have been so many wrong rumors about Nina Simone, I don't even know if I trust these latest versions of her life. She is obviously a unique and important artist, I wish she could have some sort of life-grant, giving her both acknowledgement and piece of mind.
posted by mumimor at 3:45 PM on February 29, 2016

Nerd of the North wrote:
Twenty times as much spirit as an ordinary person packed into a single individual begins to describe it. Despite her private troubles, throughout much of her career she successfully came across in public as fierce, strong, justifiably proud, and unwilling to take shit from anybody. Is it any wonder that so many people found her inspiring?

She was also a spectacular stylist and interpreter of songs. I've said this on MeFi before, but her version of "Pirate Jenny" is the best there is because of the emotion and perspective and life she pumps into every note - and that's with someone else's song. In the songs she wrote, she takes her anger and her rage and aims them at the world with such accuracy and strength and clarity that 50 years later, a person just has to say "Mississippi, Goddamn." in reaction to something there and the anger and upset is palpable right away.
posted by julen at 4:53 PM on February 29, 2016 [1 favorite]

What Happened, Miss Simone? on YouTube (in the U.K. at least).
posted by On the Corner at 11:46 PM on March 1, 2016

Nina Simone's family asks fans to hold listening parties instead of watching biopic:
If there was any doubt about how Nina Simone’s family and fans feel about the upcoming biopic starring Zoe Saldana, recent social media posts make it clear they are not pleased.

A fresh round of criticism for the film erupted after the trailer and poster for “Nina” were unveiled Wednesday.
posted by bardophile at 10:19 PM on March 4, 2016

She was also a spectacular stylist and interpreter of songs. I've said this on MeFi before, but her version of "Pirate Jenny" is the best there is because of the emotion and perspective and life she pumps into every note - and that's with someone else's song. In the songs she wrote, she takes her anger and her rage and aims them at the world with such accuracy and strength and clarity that 50 years later, a person just has to say "Mississippi, Goddamn." in reaction to something there and the anger and upset is palpable right away.

I agree that she was an amazing interpreter of songs. Four Women is a great example here.. Within the course of a single song she successfully projects four different personas, ending with one whose rage drives the memorable close of the song. Who else could make the words "My name is Peaches" sound so chilling?
posted by Nerd of the North at 10:34 AM on March 6, 2016