Editorial Review:

Album Description:
Nina Simone was one of those controversial figures American pop music puts forward from time to time, with the notable exception that she started her controversy earlier in the 1960s than, say, Bob Dylan. To see this African-American woman get angry about the racial situation in her country, right there on stage, was a shock to people who'd come to hear her sing 'I Loves You, Porgy.' Not that she cared; she figured that it was the artist's job to deliver the truth, and if the truth hurt, so be it. Of course, events wound up proving her right, but she never stopped being prickly about one thing or another. It was just part of who she was, and part of why her music has endured while that of some of her contemporaries has faded: she's still contemporary.

To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story is a 3 CD Career Retrospective (1957-1993) including her work for Bethlehem, Colpix, Philips, RCA, CTI and Elektra, PLUS a DVD featuring the 1970 Emmy-nominated never-before-released documentary. This package includes 54 songs, 8 previously unreleased tracks, including some never recorded elsewhere. The box includes all chart hits (U.S. and U.K.) and her most famous signature songs. An added bonus are liner notes which include track-by-track commentary from Simone biographer, David Nathan, and introduction by Ed Ward, NPR's 'rock & roll historian', and never-before-seen photos from her family archives, recording sessions and performances.









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Disc 1:

1. Mood Indigo
2. I Loves You, Porgy
3. My Baby Just Cares For Me
4. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out
5. You Can Have Him (Live)
6. Wild Is The Wind (Live)
7. Trouble In Mind (Live)
8. When Malindy Sings/Swing Low Sweet Chariot (Live) [previously unreleased]
9. See-Line Woman
10. Pirate Jenny (Live)
11. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood
12. I Put A Spell On You
13. Ne Me Quitte Pas
14. Feeling Good
15. Four Women
16. My Man's Gone Now
17. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free
18. To Love Somebody
19. Sunday In Savannah (Live)
20. Backlash Blues (Live)

Disc 2:

1. Mississippi Goddam (Live)
2. In The Morning
3. Ain't Got No-I Got Life [previously unreleased in the U.S. - alternate version]
4. Do What You Gotta Do
5. Seems I'm Never Tired Loving You
6. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
7. The Times They Are A-Changin'
8. Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)
9. The Other Woman (Live)
10. I Think It's Going To Rain Today (Live)
11. Save Me (Live)
12. Revolution (Live)
13. To Be Young, Gifted And Black
14. Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair (Live)
15. Westwind (Live)
16. Who Knows Where The Time Goes (Live)
17. Suzanne (Live) [previously unreleased in the U.S.]

Disc 3:

1. No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (Live) [previously unreleased]
2. Just Like A Woman
3. Here Comes The Sun
4. Tanywey [previously unreleased]
5. Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter (Live)
6. My Sweet Lord/Today Is A Killer (Live)
7. Let It Be Me (Live) [previously unreleased]
8. Poppies
9. Mr. Bojangles (Live)
10. I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl (Live)
11. Nina (Live) [previously unreleased]
12. Zungo (Live) [previously unreleased]
13. Baltimore
14. A Single Woman

Disc 4:

1. Ain't Got No-I Got Life (DVD content)
2. Pirate Jenny (DVD content)
3. Don't You Pay Them No Mind (DVD content)
4. Milestones(DVD content)
5. Go To Hell (DVD content)
6. Backlash Blues (DVD content)
7. Percussion/Drums/Clapping/Dancing (DVD content)
8. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free (DVD content)
9. Precious Lord (DVD content)

Rating: - Great Live Recordings and DVD Documentary...
This box set is really amazing!!! As I wrote in the new PASTE magazine [...]
"It beautifully documents the mysterious wonders of Simone's rich voice and her quirky yet emotional phrasing." It's particularly nice that the collection includes so many "live" recordings since Nina was such an electric and inventive performer, almost always reinterpreting her songs in concert.

In addition, the box includes a DVD of an excellent 1970 documentary. It looks beautiful and it features some fantastic live material: a searching "I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to Be Free)" and a heartbreaking "Don't You Pay Them No Mind." The interview footage is also great. My favorite part comes when she's talking about her artistic mission:

"Everybody is half-dead. Everybody avoids everybody, all over the place, in most situations, most all the time. I know; I'm one of those 'everybodys.' And, to me, it's terrible. And so all I'm trying to do, all the time, is just open people up so they...let themselves be open to somebody else. That is all. That's it."

-- Craig Seymour, author of All I Could Bare: My Life in the Strip Clubs of Gay Washington, D.C.