Nina Simone - At The Village Gate (1962)

"Nina Simone at the Village Gate" (1962) is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone (1933-2003). It was her third live album for Colpix recorded at The Village Gate. It is particularly notable for the amount of folk songs and African related songs on the album early in Simone's career. Richard Pryor had one of his first nights as a comedian, opening for her. Simone about Pryor's first night:

"He shook like he had malaria, he was so nervous. I couldn't bear to watch him shiver, so I put my arms around him there in the dark and rocked him like a baby until he calmed down. The next night was the same, and the next, and I rocked him each time.^"

Nina Simone had the rare ability of really being able to dig into material and bring out unexpected meaning in familiar lyrics.
On "Just in Time" from this set, she gives one the impression that if she had not been found "Just in Time," she would have committed suicide. During "He Was Too Good to Me," Simone sounds absolutely stunned about the end of a love affair. "Brown Baby" is both hopeful and defiant in its call for freedom, while "Zungo" is an African work song.

Also from her 1961 trio performance at the Village Gate, Simone performs the overly serious "If He Changed My Name," the good-time gospel piece "Children Go Where I Send You," a regretful rendition of "House of the Rising Sun," and an unpredictable instrumental version of "Bye Bye Blackbird." Nina Simone, who was always in a category by herself, is heard throughout in her early prime.           

01. Just in time
02. He was too good to me
03. House of the rising sun
04. Bye bye blackbird
05. Brown baby
06, Zungo
07. If he changed my name
08. Children go where i send you

Nina Simone - At The Village Gate (1962)
(256 kbps, cover art included)