Nina Simone. First album genius - 'Little Girl Blue', Bethlehem Records, 1959
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- Опубликовано: 30 июн 2024
- While most people think of Nina Simone as a great singer, in this video covering the recording of her first LP, 'Little Girl Blue', I focus on Nina the pianist and why this album deserves to be right up there among the all time great jazz albums.
Topics covered:
00:00 - Title Sequence
00:26 - Introduction / why 'Little Girl Blue'?
02:35 - Nina Simone, her back story and classical music career aspirations
12:12 - 'Mood Indigo' by Duke Ellington, Barney Bigard, Irving Mills
16:06 - 'Don't Smoke In Bed' by Willard Robison
19:12 - 'He Needs Me' by Arthur Hamilton
21:54 - 'Little Girl Blue' by Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart
23:58 - 'Love Me Or Leave Me' by Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn
25:06 - 'My Baby Just Cares For Me' by Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn
26:48 - 'Good Bait' by Count Basie, Tadd Dameron
31:17 - 'I Loves You Porgy' by DuBose Heyward, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin
Nina Simone: Piano & vocals, Jimmy Bond: Double bass, Albert "Tootie" Heath: Drums
Little Girl Blue released by Bethlehem Records, February 1959. Recorded in the Beltone studios in New York in 1957.
Playback Equipment for this video: Qobuz streaming over BlueSound Node N130. Saphire series, Sugden DAP-800 Preamplifier, Pearl Acoustics PA 170 power amplifier (pre-production prototype), Pearl Acoustics Sibelius SG Natural Oak Loudspeakers.
If you would like to discover more about us, who we are, what we do and our HiFi equipment, please visit our website at: pearlacoustics.com/ or email us with your questions: enquiries@pearlacoustics.com
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I've come to love this channel, not only for its interesting and informative presentation but also for the "civilized" and relaxed tone that permeates its logical, step-by-step analysis. Even when the comments are somewhat acerbic, the response is always tempered, polite, and to the point.
It's refreshing to still experience this kind of cultured discourse that is, sadly, quickly disappearing.
Thank you very much indeed for your kind comment and observations. One can only try one’s best to keep things polite and inclusive. Best wishes, from Belgium
Wow, I remember this record! It is pure and powerful. I can feel the "Soul" in her voice and her classical influences in the piano playing. Thank you for the tour into its background. A great tribute to a legend 🥰🥰🥰
Thanks! So glad you enjoyed it.
I think it’s absolutely amazing how so many great jazz pianists have a classical background. I love it. Nina is amazing and her piano is beautiful.
Thanks for sharing this comment
A delight to watch your enthusiasm for this wonderful artist and album. I watched smiling the whole time. Thank you.
My pleasure! 🙏
Just love that record! Goosebumps and tears every time. And that was an excellent talk, thank You!
You’re welcome. Glad you enjoyed it
Couldn’t agree more. There may be better pianists but none can sing in this perfection. Her live albums are even more amazing.
👍
Another album, you, sir, introduced to me. What a gift. Thank you.
So pleased you enjoyed it
What an interesting review of this fabulous record, Thankyou
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing your appreciation
Harley, your obvious deep respect for Nina as a person and for her musicianship is a breath of fresh air. This is all we need - careful (full of care) attention paid to the contributions from an artist, any artist, the valuable lifeblood of any society at any time. I could not agree more - she was a technically superb pianist but also more importantly seemed to have a wide and deep musical imagination. As Robert Frost said of a good poem, “It begins in delight and ends in wisdom.” The same could be said of her piano playing. There must be more than one Juilliard master’s thesis that has focussed on this. As too with Louis Armstrong’s early music, it is full of surprises - but after listening a few more times as fellow musicians said - “Every note the right note.” Nina could extemporize all she wanted and I would give my right arm to sit quietly nearby and take it all in.
Thank you for your erudite and eloquent remarks. As you felt, Nina deserved every minute of your tribute. Would you consider something similar about a few of her iconic concert performances?
Thank you Harley; the arts in general need more contributions like this one. Keep them coming.
Thank you very much for your eloquent and insightful comment. Thanks too for your kind words of appreciation. I will do my best to keep them coming!
Thank you Harley. Moving. One of the greatest artists of the twentieth century, I mean top 10. Courage is it. Courage over everything produces an artist like this. I love her.
You’re welcome. Thanks for your kind message.
Thank you so much Harley, what a wonderful music, what a start of a career for Nina....Being both a professional musician and an audiophile I really estimate your approach to music and music reproduction. Please continue...Andreas
Thanks Andreas, you’re very kind, glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for this album dissection. A friend turned me onto Nina S. a few years back. I streamed “Little girl Blue” this afternoon. WOW! I’m going to b e playing this a lot.
Thanks for listening. Glad you enjoyed it
Nina Simone is one of my favourite artists. Sinnerman is sublime. I've her live LP from Montreax. Brilliant, informative as usual Harley. Chapeau
Thanks. You’re very kind
Listening to this on vinyl is just completly different! The most recent edition has three extra tracks. Put a big smile on my audiophile face. 🙂
👍
Harley, thank you so much for this review to let me dive into this amazing music. Highly appreciate all your videos! (beside that I am looking forward to your Pearl Acoustics Tube Amp review 😉)
You're so welcome! The amplifier review will come shortly.
Thank you Harley. This is one of my favourite albums, and for all the reasons you mentioned. What a pleasure to come under the spell of Nina Simone. Regards from Perth, Australia.
My pleasure! Thanks for your kind words.
Thank you for the video Harley. This is a special album.
A later recording of hers which I always loved is the song ‘My Father’ from the ‘Baltimore’ album. Just beautiful
Thanks for your kind words. I will certainly dig out ‘My Father’ - thanks for the tip!
A great why to sell the pearl acoustic speakers and what great amp. I would have loved to hear your comments in the piano solo on "You’ll never walk alone," masterful!
If my videos create extra work for our small team, then that’s a welcome bonus, but I hope that they are not seen this way as a main purpose?
Indeed the piano solo is masterful, thanks for sharing this. When making the video, I was very aware that it was getting rather long, so I decided not to cover all the tracks. Best wishes from Belgium
Sorry, I meant my comment respectfully as a compliment. The sound from the speakers is so refined and the voice feels natural, especially on "little girl blue".
@@heartofcinema3454 oh sorry, my mistake! No apology needed. Just so pleased you enjoyed it!
Just watched this and immediately ordered a vinyl copy. I got the last copy on Amazon so I'm guessing I'm not the only one who has ordered based on your review.
Now listening to pastel blue in anticipation.
Thank you for introducing me to another great album.
You’re very welcome. Glad you got the last one.
An awesome album by one of the legends of music. Extremely insightful and knowledgeable presentation Harley; love these series.
Thanks for listening, so glad you enjoyed it.
@@PearlAcoustics I forgot to mention there's a recent reissue of this album on vinyl, remastered by Kevin Gray that sounds lovely. Well worth checking out.
@@jamesdwright great, that’s good to know, thank you!
Thank you for this. The Mood Indigo intro / impro made me laugh or was it a yelp - just a joy.
Both! 😀
1957 ........untill..................all those recordings were made without any transistor or OPA..........FULL TUBES !
Have a nice day Harley and thanks for sharing a wonderfull singer .
Thank you too!
I enjoy all your episodes. On the strength of your review of 'Little Girl Blue' I streamed the Album and then have bought it on vinyl. One of three LPs to be played on my birthday, this coming Sunday.
Thanks! Enjoy 😉
@@PearlAcoustics I am. Reviewed it on my channel, The Ragged trouser vinylist
@@papabear1417 👍 will check it out!
Thank you for this, Harley. She was such an amazing musician. I will definitely try to find the LP of this recording.
You’re very welcome
I bought the Kevin gray cut last year and its so so good it always brings me to tears at I loves you porgy, just like I feel you were at the end of the video. its a wonderful album indeed!
Indeed…. It goes beyond words.
Thank you for such a lovely guide through this amazing work of art. Your style of presenting music (and frankly, equipment) makes us feel the delicious nuances of what we are listening to. And to celebrate Nina in such a passionate way! She would have never guessed in 1957, when she recorded this, that her art would be acknowledged in such a way, to the entire world. PS. The Gershwin track brings me to tears for both its loveliness and everything that it means.
Thank you so much for your very kind words. Agreed, ‘I loves you Porgy’ has the same affect on me too.
Excellent review Harley! This makes me want to get the LP or CD set and play it on my Sibelius speakers. I will have to start streaming it first but that will at least give me the opportunity to audition the album. Please keep auditioning interesting albums! These are such a joy to watch. Thank you for sharing. Love your channel!
Hi Bob, thanks for your kind words and encouragement! Indeed, streaming is a very good place to start… enjoy!
Thank you, Harley! Another great discussion of great music.
My pleasure!
Excellent video, I really enjoyed the background information on the artist and the musical content. Thank you very much! I recently bought the reissue of this album from Bethlehem Records and BMG (US 2021) - it's reasonably priced (by today's standards) and sounds fantastic. All the best...
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for taking the time to comment
❤❤❤❤❤ Thanks a lot Harley need more of these kind of content in Classical music as well lol 😂 once a week please 🙏
You’re very welcome! I am afraid, once a week would not be possible… I am very busy with the Music charity and other fun projects. I try and do one, once per month and also a technology one, once per month. But thanks again for the suggestion!
A favorite record of mine. Thanks for your insight Harley. Well done.
My pleasure!
This is great! Nina is great! And you are great! Thank you for this review and the way you break things up!
Have a great day.
Thank you! You too!
Brilliant video - thank you. Little Girl Blue is one of my all time favourite albums - the playing and singing, variety of tempo, style and quality of the overall feeling of each song is outstanding. I have the 2 x 45 Analogue Productions version and it is amazing (yes there is some distortion). It is a very moving experience listening to it
Thank you. Very kind. And thanks for the tip!
Great video, as always. Thank you so much for all the great content. I have been struggling finding jazz music that I really like - but I totally love this album! It's the classical piano playing that makes it for me. Your video made me buy my very first jazz record.
Are there other albums with a similar style of jazz music?
Suggestions are very much appreciated.
Hi Nick, so pleased you enjoyed it! I am not sure if you have seen my video on Jacques Loussier? I think you would enjoy that too. It’s very different but it grows on you and is amazingly recorded too. There are just so many amazing records out there. Enjoy!
@@PearlAcoustics Thank you very much Harley. I will definitively re-watch the video and give the Jacques Loussier album a listen. Nick
@@nickbhend7291 you’re welcome!
Wow, riveting video. I was sorry it ended. Many thanks for introducing this album Harley.
Thank you, that’s lovely to hear.
Good job! A wonderful addition to your playlist.
Thanks! 🙏
Beautiful ! Thank you very much !!
My pleasure!
Love Nina Simone
This is a great recommendation !!!
Ty
You’re welcome
Excellent, Harley! Thank you. - Van.
You’re welcome
Harley, you are so passionate! Your videos are fun but more importantly educational. Love Nina Simone and after watching this video I have so much more appreciation for a true legend. Thank you for making this video!
Thank you. I am so glad you enjoyed it. You’re very kind
She was a true great. Harley was as animated as he was with Exodus. Tremendous
Thanks! 😉
Thank so much Harley! What a great video and what an amazing record! And what a great approach in highlighting her piano playing! To be honest, I have listened many times to Nina Simone but without proper dedication and attention (I have listened however to her great rendition of “Ne me quite pas” many times). Somehow, I always ended up preferring Billie Holiday, really outstanding as well, but it’s two different styles of singing. I will now listen carefully to this incredible album (in streaming for now) but I hope to get a copy of the vinyl or the CD soon. You really do an incredible job and I’m always looking forward to the next video. Best wishes from Brussels, Ignacio
Thank you, you’re very kind. So glad you enjoy my talks.
Great audio System !!! This new tube amplifier is so amazing . great synergy together ! And great jazz album !!!!!
Thanks!
Hey Harley. Great review of a classic album. Please keep these coming!
👍🙏
@@PearlAcousticsand your enthusiasm for the music speaks volumes too!
@@Raypirri 🙏
What a wonderful presentation!! Simone has always been slightly sidelined by the other great divas of her day, and I have always put her alongside a very early Cleo Laine.
But like the curtains being drawn open into a dark room, your presentation has shed some much needed new light on this artist that I might have only one recording of. This lp is a true classic. Thank you!
Thank you. Very kind. So glad you enjoyed it
I have the CD with the green cover. It"s called "Little Girl Blue: Jazz as Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club ". Truly a GEM. Could you maybe do a video on the recording and mastering technique used in these albums. They sound so "real" and capture the emotional essence of the music.
Thanks for your suggestion, I’ll give it some thought. However, I have made a video on the recording of the Gilu trio, where I go into the technique…. It is fairly similar to the way early jazz and ensemble recordings were made. Except I used a few more microphones, but they were not all needed.
Great video - Nina Simone was a force of nature.
🙏
Her version of “Strange Fruit” is the best I think… better than Billie’s ….she is one unique voice just like Billie Holiday. Thank you for this album analysis
Thanks for your kind appreciation. Choosing between Billie and Nina, oh my goodness, so difficult. Luckily we have both. 😉
@@PearlAcoustics and then there’s Ella F, too. 💕
@@delvalle9256 indeed! 😀
Moltes gràcies per aquest video, m'ha fet augmentar ,encara, el respecte i la reverència cap aquesta grandíssima artista.
You’re very welcome. We can only agree with you in her musical greatness
Wonderful, thoughtful analysis.
🙏
feeling good starts playing in my head when i hearthe name nina simone
good music from a time when recording studios actualy put effort in making quality recordings and artists actually had talent on their own not in their DAW
😉
Fantastic album! Plain gold ring is a wonderful song on side B of the reissue I have (and covered by Nick Cave & the Badseeds)
Oh, never heard the Nick Cave version. Will give it a listen today. Thanks for the tip.
great video thank u
Thanks!
Nina's versions of, Sinnerman and 22nd Century - if you are not familiar, please listen.
🙏
Ótimo vídeo congratulações
Thanks!
Wow that maturity at 20 years young!
Indeed!
Yes, a gem indeed. Are you familiar with the Norwegian singer Radka Toneff and her wonderful album "Fairytales"? It's just her and a piano, lovingly played by Steve Dobrogosz, and I have never heard a voice sounding so vulnerable as Toneff. This is accentuated by the fact that she took her own life shortly after the recording was made. This is a record that goes directly to your heart and it stays there forever.
Oh my, I am not aware of the recording you mention. I will definitely listen to it, maybe even this morning. Thanks for the suggestion
@@PearlAcoustics Did you listen to it?
@@thomasroth4533 absolutely! Very beautiful. Lovely communication between piano and singer, almost as if it were one person. Thanks for sharing.
@@PearlAcoustics Glad you liked it. Thanks.
Thanks Harley - love Nina Simone but was not aware of her background. One unrelated question: Would you share the make and model of the “equipment rack” shown in the video??? Thanks a lot, Wolfgang
Thanks for your kind appreciation Wolfgang. The equipment rack was custom made for the room. It’s basically kitchen worktops (with square edges) cut to length and size. The posts were purchased from a diy shop. This was done before our carpenters came up with their own designs in oak, otherwise I would have used those to match our loudspeakers. They were surprisingly expensive to make (having the wood cut to length and finished on the sides to a high quality). They are very practical though!
One of a kind,
totally unique
Absolutely
merci
👍
Nina Simone - Little Girl Blue (1959) Vinyl, Bethlehem Records, Analogue Productions 2015, 200g, US
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR13 -0.61 dB -17.08 dB 4:06 01-Mood Indigo
DR13 -2.53 dB -21.29 dB 3:14 02-Don't Smoke In Bed
DR13 -2.53 dB -21.15 dB 2:32 03-He Needs Me
DR14 -3.08 dB -22.67 dB 4:20 04-Little Girl Blue
DR12 -1.68 dB -17.08 dB 3:24 05-Love Me Or Leave Me
DR12 -1.30 dB -18.11 dB 3:38 06-My Baby Just Cares For Me
DR14 -2.06 dB -20.49 dB 5:33 07-Good Bait
DR15 -0.19 dB -22.14 dB 3:57 08-Plain Gold Ring
DR10 -1.75 dB -20.74 dB 3:50 09-You'll Never Walk Alone
DR13 -4.94 dB -24.28 dB 4:12 10-Porgy
DR14 -3.84 dB -22.63 dB 6:51 11-Central Park Blues
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of tracks: 11
Official DR value: DR13
Thanks for sharing
I was planning to upload a classical one to my YT channel (in 4K / AAC 192kbps) but I will share Nina Simone's in a few hours. Now I get to it.
Love your series. Only play them back when I can run the audio on my A system. Not sure that matters with RUclips but I know you'd make sure it was top notch. Surprised you just had the lav pick it up from your speakers. Hmmm.
Thanks for your kind appreciation. FYI I use an extra pair of bi-directional mics to capture the left and right loudspeakers, so it should sound ok in stereo. Obviously, nowhere near as good as in my room itself.
Again!
Went to discogs and got a DMM pressing and a digital pressing with scanning velocity of 1.3 m/s. 😅
Thanks for the recommendation!
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❤
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My my.... learned something new ! Thanks so much for the education ! SO which LP should I get ???
Glad it was helpful! Why not start with this one?
@@PearlAcoustics Actually I ordered the 3CD set you mentioned... Thanks for your review.
@@ptg01 👍
Nice choice. We need a 50s chamber jazz revival, sounds like: Ahmad Jamal, Max Roach & the Jacques Loussier Trio!
P.S. have all fourteen recorded tracks you mentioned ever been released on CD?
Thanks. Yes, all the tracks are on the cd I mention. FYI I also made a video in the Jacques Loussier Trio. Enjoy the music.
One of the greats
Absolutely
@@PearlAcoustics Nina Simone's daughter (Lisa Simone) is also a talented singer.
She is touring Australia in 2024 as part of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival.
“I made a pledge to my mother when she passed away to make sure she would be remembered in the way that she deserved.” - Lisa Simone
@@PetraKann very interesting, I didn’t know that. Thanks
I have this album. The Acoustic Sounds mastered reissued version. One of my favorite albums. Nina Simone was a classically trained pianist. A true talent. Her life was difficult, and at times I think she struggled with mental health issues. Especially toward the end.
Agreed!
What recorder are you using and do you use external mic preamps with it?
Hi thanks for your question. Professionally, for classical recordings, on location, I always use a Roland R88… but for these talks, I use a simple Zoom microphone with a center and bidirectional head. This is coupled with my Sennheiser lavalier microphone. Hope that helps?
@@PearlAcoustics interesting to me also, to hear how you record these edits. I currently have a guy digitising a bunch of recordings I made on my Sony Pro Walkman in the 80’s/90’s. Mainly from Orbital and other dance bands concerts but some from a pirate radio station I used to have. He messaged me on Saturday asking what mic I used. He was shocked to hear it was the Sony clip-on mic that came with the Walkman. The quality is superb for cassette tape. Great video Harley. I love Nina. I got her triple “Platinum” album on white vinyl for Xmas. I haven’t actually played it yet… just waiting for a quiet house without distractions 🎶🎵😎
@@TheDjcarlos67 ‘oh, for a quiet house, without distractions!’ I remember those days! Luckily, now I have plenty of quiet in my life, only filled with what I want to hear! There are some advantages in getting older!
Indeed, I do think people exaggerate the technology side of recording. If I spent two hours setting up my full professional kit, there maybe a detectable improvement but once it’s gone through RUclips compression and played back on an iPad, I am not sure how many people will be thanking me for the improvement. Best wishes,
H
As beautiful as her voice and piano is, along with the music, it's the analogue grit of these early recordings that also add soul to the music, and that I'm afraid is missing today. Everything has become overly polished and clean.
Hi, you raise a good point. I think it’s mostly down to the fact that in tape recording days, tape was so expensive, musicians had to go into the studio prepared, so you tend to get a very fresh and ‘real’ performance. In today’s world, studio time is cheap and people can work and re-work endlessly until everything is ‘perfect’. Sometimes at the cost of creativity and passion
@@PearlAcoustics I could not have said it better myself, you nailed it Harley.
I do however think the tape and analogue gear, noise and harmonic distortion of tubes do add something, but that's just me :)
@@crtgamer2355 😉 you might be right!
This is what mankind is about. This is why God made us, to make beautiful music and art!
Thanks for sharing
Know your history before you discount racism. During the period she was rejected by Julilard America was extremely racist. I felt your attitude dismissive. I do enjoy your relax demeanor. 🌞
Hi thanks for your comments and very kind appreciation. I am also very sorry if my talk came over as dismissive of racism. It certainly was not intended that way. Please believe me, I am very, very aware of how racist America was and how unbalanced the system was in favour of white, upper middle class students. In fact one only needs to look at classical music today and you will see how white dominated it is. The point I was trying to make was that the rejection rate at Juliard was very high and she never got the chance to attend multiple Summer schools and masterclasses with the right professors and also her poverty will have played a big role in her inability to compete on an even scale.