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Hearing Nina Simone’s recording of “Feeling Good” again on the soundtrack for the show Six Feet Under (Six Feet Under, Vol. 2: Everything Ends) sparked my curiosity. Her voice is hardly that of a typical soul songstress such as Aretha Franklin or Gladys Knight. It has the power of a soul singer behind it, but there is also a bluesy melancholy and subtleness to it that sets her apart. Sometimes known as the High Priestess of Soul, she was not only a singer but also a songwriter, pianist, arranger and civil rights activist.
Fortunately Michael Buble hasn’t been the only artist influenced by Ms. Simone lately. The lesser-known Nina Simone song “Sea Lion Woman” appears on Feist’s most recent album The Reminder. Only Feist doesn’t just cover the track, she re-interprets it. Modernizing the song by adding an electric guitar, some pulse driving claps, along with a break that insists you get out of your chair and MOVE; the song starts to resemble something of an anthem for the independent woman of the 21st century.
Another great Nina Simone discovery has been the album Remixed and Reimagined. It features some classic standards with Nina Simone on vocals and various DJs creating a new way of listening to a unique voice. One track that particularly stands out is the song “Funkier Than a Mosquito’s Tweeter.” You can feel the influence of James Brown-style funk and soul, the occasional appearance of a modern hip hop downbeat along with the sass that drips from Nina Simone’s voice makes this track particularly interesting. Another track worth experiencing is “Here Comes the Sun.” Given a light, ethereal remix you can almost picture yourself walking in a park on a sunny day, or dancing in the middle of a crowded floor with this pouring out of the speakers. As for the last track on the album, I just won’t even spoil it. You have to listen for yourself.
Not terribly long ago I went to a Rocky Votolato show at the Troubadour out in West Hollywood. He was on tour to promote his new album The Brag and Cuss. After streaming the album for free on Barsuk’s website I decided to grab a $12 ticket.
The set was raw and organic yet sweet to the palette. His sandblasted voice drips with passionate intent. The only slight annoyance throughout the show was some guy standing just in front of me who repeatedly requested the same song during every break in the set list. By the end of the show I could have punched him, and with his last comment of “I like where that capo is going” I could only hope that Rocky was about to play the song (at the very least to make the guy shut up).
He closed the show with the song I had heard so heatedly requested throughout the entire show. When he first started picking at the strings of the guitar it was as if the roof of the Troub had opened up and the stars were shining in time. Quiet yet distinct the song took flight, then was grounded again with the introduction of that sandblasted yet gentle voice and some phenomenal lyrics…..
“I am a prisoner in the sunlight You are my cellmate in the darkness There’s a box full of mix tapes with titles you came up with
They can show us where we came from but not how to get back there Listening to the songs can’t heal my broken fingers It’s just weight for the anchor to keep your ship here”
And then the harmonica cracks a wail that echoes the melancholy howl of a sad hound dog abandoned by its master and you can't help but get lost in the reflective story of the song.
The album on which the song appears (Suicide Medicine) became a part of my collection upon my next Amoeba shopping run and if I was only a half hearted Rocky Votolato fan upon entering the show, I was a full convert after the purchase of the album.
Enjoy.
Comments
Definitely not my genre, but i couldnt help but listen all the way to the end, great track! Nice feel! Thanks for sharing..
-S
Great review and a really beautiful track...glad you had a good time. That obnoxious guy reminds me off these people who kept requesting "August" at a Rilo Kiley show, about 2/3 of the way through, the rest of the crowd just started going "Shhh!" and they son got very embarrassed!
On July 3, 2007 the Tin Pan Alley lyricist who penned the words to “Unchained Melody,” one of the most frequently recorded songs of the 20th century, died at age 99 (just a month shy of his 100th birthday). Written in 1955 for a low-budget prison film titled “Unchained,” it brought Zaret and Alex North, the composer, an Academy Award nomination for best song.
The song was recorded by artists as diverse as Elvis Presley, Lena Horne, U2, Guy Lombardo, Vito & the Salutations, Joni Mitchell and (my personal favorite) the Righteous Brothers. In all, the song has been recorded more than 300 times, according to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. ASCAP listed it in 1999 as one of the 25 most-performed musical works of the 20th century.
Hy Zaret’s works ranged from jingles to songs about science to ballads of love and war. Mr. Zaret liked to recall the time the composer Alex North called him to say he had written a song for a movie and needed words. Mr. Zaret replied that he was busy painting his house, but found the time to write the lyrics for “Unchained Melody.” Zaret refused the producer’s request to work the word “unchained” into the lyrics, instead writing to express the feelings of a lover who has “hungered for your touch a long, lonely time.”
This is one of those songs that always made me stop and get lost in a moment. The lyrics accompanied by the haunting quality of the music still gives me goosebumps to this day. NPR did a wonderful piece on the death of Mr. Zaret stringing together pieces of all the different recordings of the song. The version done by the Righteous Brothers stuck out for me, but perhaps you were first touched by a different version. Either way, I am grateful to Mr. Zaret for creating such an indelible piece of music. May he rest in peace.
*AP News Wire: Entertainment *New York Times: Arts
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One of the all time great songs.So many people has covered this song and many more to come.Thanks for posting.Enjoyed the listen ever so much.Your Mog Bro.~ (;Yrral Mallik;)
MOG Meter
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Nice one...Nina may not have cut the definitive versions of some of the songs she covered, but she did not copy anyone..Today's Idol's can sing (well, some of 'em) but for the most part they all seem like mimics. Nina had more style and originality in her toenail than a whole season of Idol.
I'm a fan of Nina Simone as well, both as a singer/musician but as an innovator. One small correction, though: the song Feist covered was originally titled "See-Line Woman." I'm assuming Feist was making a play on words with the alteration (it sounds like Nina is saying "sea lion woman" on the original). And if you dig remixed jazz, Verve has put out a few volumes of "Verve Remixed," which is the same concept as "Remixed and Imagined." Vol. 1 of "Verve Remixed" happens to have two Nina Simone tracks: "See-Line Woman" (which may be where Feist got some of her ideas for how to do the tune) remixed by Masters at Work, and "Feeling Good," remixed by Joe Claussell. If you wanna check it out, here's a link: ververemixed.com
Anyway, I dig what you have to write. If you've got a minute, swing by my page and check out my music. I'd love to hear what you think of it. Thanks for listening!
--Gary
Please forgive me for what I'm about to say for I'm not totally impartial when it comes to remixes or Nina Simone.
What you've said about her vocal ability and richness is very apt. Her voice is so well-honed an instrument that she manages to transcend genre. Be it jazz or disco, Nina seems to bend all genre boundaries.
The remix cut you've offered us didn't quite do it for me it as it mellowed down the feistiness of her original rendition which is yet another cover of Ike & Tina Turner's. For your consideration: