Description
back to black / 180 grams vinyl + download
Artist
American singer, songwriter, pianist.
Born: 21 February 1933 in Tryon, North Carolina, USA.
Died: 21 April 2003 in Carry-le-Rouet, Bouches-du-Rhône, France (aged 70).
Nina was giving piano recitals after playing at her local church at an early age. Her childhood piano lessons were funded by her mother's employer and a local fund set up by her music teacher, so impressed were they by her talent.
She moved to Philadelphia aged 17, teaching piano and playing to raise the money for her studies at New York's renowned Juilliard School Of Music. To fund her family she worked in a bar in Atlantic City where she was also required to sing and built up a devoted following.
She recorded Gershwin's "I Loves You Porgy" which became a US Top 40 hit and transported her to a bigger stage, performing at Carnegie Hall and the Newport Jazz Festival.
Her repertoire went on to embrace numerous Civil Rights anthems, a movement for which she was a passionate and prominent supporter. She left the US in the 1970s, moving first to Barbados, and some other places, including Africa and the Netherlands, before eventually settling in France where she died from cancer in 2003.
Nina's voice drew heavily on other music forms. It was infused with gospel, blues, soul, jazz, R&B, and folk. And it found a wider audience late in her life when "My Baby Just Cares For Me" became an unlikely UK chart hit when it featured in a TV ad campaign.
In fact her music stayed very popular with advertisers as her tracks have been used to promote a multitude of products on TV, including yoghurt ("Ain't Got No (I Got Life)"), Diet Coke ("I Put A Spell On You"), cars ("Sinnerman"), fabric conditioner ("Feeling Good"), and perfume ("Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"), et al.
Tracks
A1
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
02:42
A2
Night Song (From The Musical "Golden Boy")
03:00
A3
The Laziest Gal In Town
02:15
A4
Something Wonderful (From "The King And I")
02:37
A5
Don't Take All Night
02:45
A6
Nobody
04:10
B1
I Am Blessed
02:52
B2
Of This I'm Sure
02:30
B3
See-Line Woman
02:20
B4
Our Love (Will See Us Through)
02:55
B5
How Can I
02:00
B6
The Last Rose Of Summer
03:00
Releases
Formats
Vinyl, Reel-To-Reel, CD, File, Cassette, 8-Track Cartridge
Labels
Fontana, Philips, Verve Records, The Verve Music Group, Tobacco Road, Fontana International, Happy Bird, Altone, Trolley Car Record & Filmworks
Countries
Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, South Africa, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Europe
years
1964, 1968, 1970, 1980, 1993, 2004, 2006, 2014, 2016