Which song was just one of the Nina Simone pieces on today's broadcast of Democracy Now, the day after her passing.
Eulogies and tributes are easy enough to find at Google News, including this one (with historical background and suchlike) from BBC News:
Simone's early life bore many resemblances to [Billie] Holliday and [Ella] Fitzgerald's.She was born Eunice Waymon into a poor family in North Carolina, one of eight children.
Some of Simone's most lasting work was recorded in the mid-1960s She played the organ in church aged seven and announced that she wanted to become a classical pianist, almost unheard of for a black girl in the 1940s.
She trained at New York's prestigious Juillaird School and taught piano. It was only at an audition when she was told that she had to sing as well as play that she found her voice.
Considerably better blog entries about her can also be found at On a path and at RedHeadDread, and a few songs are available from Michelle and the good twin.
Bit out of it to do her life or career justice myself at the moment, and I (oddly, come to think of it) don't own any of her albums.
I'll have to fix that when I get a chance.
Do you remember when I told you about Chasing Eunice Waymon? I guess I'll always be.
I, just as oddly, don't own any full-length Simone recordings either. Damn.
I used to own a lot of Nina, but when my apartment was burgled, the thief made off with a bunch of mixed CDs...and made a point of going through and stealing all The Cure and Nina Simone ones from my collection. I have yet to figure out what that was all about.
I posted a favorite Nina track on my blog, check it out if you get a chance.
Some mp3's up at http://www.interestingmonstah.com/notes/Gospel_Meme
London, that's just weird. Sorry to hear about the robbery.
jay, Laura, will check those out if I can figure out how to play mp3s on one of the Macs around here. Thanks for the heads-up.
j.brotherlove, apparently we have worse taste in music than whoever robbed London's place.
Michelle, I feel awful admitting this, but I wasn't sure what you meant until a minute ago.
It's been a long day. I am brain dead. Does being aware of this and sharing it count for anything?
At least the thief had good taste. ;)
body & soul did an excellent piece on nina as well