Nina Simone

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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Well, the juke thread just reminded me that i wanted to ask for more recommendations on this lady. Was never too keen on the more trad jazz stuff she did (for which she seems to be best known, at least amongst my Baby-Don't-Care- For-Me-rerelease generation?).

The more stretched out groove-based stuff (often piano, naturally) is absolutely amazing though - African Mailman, Sinnerman, My Sweet Lord/Today is a Killer.

i know i've heard amazing strings- based songs she did that I've never been able to identify.

Anyone give me further Nina material to check out, or put me onto artists who may have done similar kinds of things (the vibes of the stuff I like reminds me most of Dr John's Gris-Gris, of all the things in my collection - which I don't know is a strange comparison or not)?
 
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DannyL

Wild Horses
There's an absolutely killer live version of "Gin House Blues" but I'm not sure what LP it's on. That's my number one by here. Will have a look on Youtube for it.

Edit: There's a version on Last Fm but its not the killer I heard before. Anyone know it? Will ask the mate who played it for me. Its so damn RAW ...
 
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DannyL

Wild Horses
If you like Dr John, you might Exuma - has the whole hoodoo blues thing going on. Exuma also wrote a few songs for Nina I think - I've got a track called Obeah Women by Patrica Rollinson which I think she did as well.
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Ah, really, never knew about those, thanks...

I did check out Exuma a couple of times (are they from the Bahamas, or am I getting mixed up?) - I liked it, but haven't been able to find much anywhere that precisely conjured up that Gris Gris feeling...
 
STN

STN

sou'wester
Nina at Newport is a cracking LP, the version of You'd Be So Nice to Come Home to is just fucking incredible. All build.
 
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mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
baboon2004 said:
Ah, really, never knew about those, thanks...

I did check out Exuma a couple of times (are they from the Bahamas, or am I getting mixed up?) - I liked it, but haven't been able to find much anywhere that precisely conjured up that Gris Gris feeling...
Click to expand...

I think it's one of those perpetual searches. Gris Gris is one of my favourite albums ever - I can sing every moment of it in my head walking down the street - but every time one looks for 'voodoo funk' or whatever, none of it ever quite comes up to the mark, yet!, but one can still hope. I think it's cos it's a truly exceptional work, one of those utterly trancendental, sexual musical experiences that don't happen very often, if at all. I still - often, maybe 3 times a year - just listen to it on a loop. It's one of the few albums I think that I couldn't say how many times I've listened to it, it's just always been there since I heard my flatmate playing it, in maybe 1990. I don't think Dr John ever got close again either, though maybe there are live recordings around that time that do, hopefully.

I remember once Tav Falco from Panther Burns doing a thing at the Horse Hospital, and he showed really fucking obscure videos of live Memphis Delta parties from the, maybe early 60s, with one guy just playing one guitar riff over and over and over which I kinda thought got close, but again not quite the same thing. I tried for ages to get them off him but he wasn't having it, and quite rightly really.
 
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mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
I often go to this after 'Gris Gris' actually

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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
mistersloane said:
I think it's one of those perpetual searches. Gris Gris is one of my favourite albums ever - I can sing every moment of it in my head walking down the street - but every time one looks for 'voodoo funk' or whatever, none of it ever quite comes up to the mark, yet!, but one can still hope. I think it's cos it's a truly exceptional work, one of those utterly trancendental, sexual musical experiences that don't happen very often, if at all.
Click to expand...

i just assumed that there were other people he'd taken certain ideas from, but yeah, it seems to be largely original in many ways. i ended up searching for haitian stuff from the 20s and 30s...

yeah, my favourite 60s album alongside Forever Changes, which has its own kind of voodoo.

As to other Dr John tracks in the same vein, Angola Anthem is sick... Fuck, Gris Gris is good....this is the music i want played at my sacrificial murder.
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
ah, course, shoulda known that...Julie's is definitely a v good version.

but you've just sent me straight to Luna in fact! - oh dean wareham, how i love thee...

- this is the shit, and possibly my favourtie cover version of all time (oh, apart from Galaxie 500's Ceremony)
 
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mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
There's good stuff on all the four first albums - Sun, Moon, Herbs and Babylon as well as Remedies but he kinda hit the mark on the first one. I think the original tapes of 'Sun' were lost or something so maybe that's where it all went...There's a few 'Gumbo Stew' albums that are bloggable which are Ok but again none hit that, um, midnight vibe of Gris Gris so well, they're more uptemp, Prince LaLa and stuff like that. But I mean, if that was one's first album, what would you do next? It's so complete, there's nothing else to say.

This seems to be a good New Orleans station

http://hotg.org/

God you got me at it now.
 
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mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
baboon2004 said:
ah, course, shoulda known that...Julie's is definitely a v good version.

but you've just sent me straight to Luna in fact! - oh dean wareham, how i love thee...

- this is the shit, and possibly my favourtie cover version of all time (oh, apart from Galaxie 500's Ceremony)
Click to expand...

That's a lovely version, I really like Guns n Roses anyway, AND I DONT CARE. I don't know Luna at all. Who's Dean Wareham?
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Ah, you know way more Dr John than me. i got SMH&B, Gris Gris and then some odds and sods, but little more.

I love GnR too. Can't imagine not doing so. November Rain wells me up every time....great video too.

Dean Wareham was originally in Galaxie 500 with Damon & Naomi (who went on to become....Damon & Naomi). NZ guy, brought up in the States. Luna are his band after Galaxie broke up. Guy's a fucking genius.

This is his collaboration with Stephen Merritt, and if that isn't the apotheosis of indie dream collaborations, I dunno what is (well, maybe Superpitcher remixing Dream of Evan and Chan, dunno if that counts).


One of my favourite songs of all time.

Sorry, I seem to have returned to my psyche of 2001, and am simultaneously derailing my own thread. Is that self-hate?
 
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mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
I'm kinda with nomad in that there's no such thing as derailing... and with that I'm off on a juke search after Ory's genius post on the other thread, back later ...
 
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