Nina Simone — “You’ve Got Learn” — Verve Records/UMe
On July 2, 1966, Nina Simone, often known as the high priestess of soul as well as a civil rights icon, performed a passionate 30-minute set at the Newport Jazz Festival.
That electrifying performance had been lost until this year, the 90th anniversary of her birth, when it was recovered and released as this album, which takes the title of the first song from the set, “You’ve Got to Learn.”
Simone plays piano in front of a small combo of drums, guitar and bass. There are occasional sounds problems with the live recording, but Simone’s power and passion shine through.
The set includes a swinging version (if that’s not too much of a contradiction) of Simone’s fiery protest song “Mississippi Goddam,” that she wrote in response to the 1963 Alabama church bombing that killed four little girls and the assassination of Medgar Evers in Mississippi that same year.
The set also includes “You’ve Got to Learn, ”‘I Loves You, Porgy,” “Blues For Mama,” “Be My Husband” and an encore, ”Music for Lovers.”
In a spoken introduction, Simone describes “Blues for Mama” as a “gutbucket blues. It is so because of its background. There’s an old porch, and there’s an old man, and there’s a beat-up guitar and a broken bottle. There are flies all around, there is molasses all around, and he is composing this tune on a hot afternoon. The lyrics are written by Abbey Lincoln, and I wrote the music. It will appeal to a certain type of woman who’ve had this kind of experience.” Midway, she tells the audience, “I guess you ain’t ready for that.”
Simone recorded nearly 40 albums between 1958 and 1973, with such songs as “I Put a Spell on You,” “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” and “Feeling Good.” She died in 2003.
If you’re a fan, this is essential listening. If you’re not familiar, it’s even more essential that Nina Simone become part of your musical language.
Here’s “Mississippi Goddam” live from the album:
Blues Roadhouse 