Maps of Music

Pastel Blues (1965)

Where the lyrics of Pastel Blues take you, and where it was really made.

Nina Simone was a Juilliard-trained classical pianist, yet this 1965 album is a set of blues shaped by the deaths and protests of that year.

Key places

Recorded in New York City (1965)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — The album was recorded in New York City in 1964 and 1965. The source names only the city, so the pin marks the city centre, not a specific studio. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Pastel Blues: studio album by American singer Nina Simone
• Released 1 October 1965 by Philips Records
• Piano-centred record: the emphasis falls on her piano rather than band arrangements
• Personnel: Nina Simone (piano, vocals, arrangement), Al Schackman (guitar, harmonica), Rudy Stevenson (guitar, flute), Lisle Atkinson (double bass), Bobby Hamilton (drums)
• Hal Mooney credited as producer on the Discogs master page

Background

• January 1965: Simone's friend Lorraine Hansberry, author of A Raisin in the Sun, died of cancer
• February 1965: Simone's friend Malcolm X was assassinated, on Simone's 32nd birthday
• Within weeks Simone performed during the Selma-to-Montgomery march
• Pitchfork's Marc Hogan described the album as a record where the blues is also a music of urban protest, not only rural pathos
• Reissued in November 2020 by Verve and Universal Music Enterprises in its "audiophile-grade" Acoustic Sounds series

Recording

• Recorded in 1964 and 1965 in New York City
• Recording session listed as New York City, March 1964 to May 1965
• The Italian track listing gives 19 and 20 May 1965 as session dates for most tracks

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · it.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon on February 21, 1933, in Tryon, North Carolina; the sixth of eight children.
• Began playing piano at age three or four and gave a classical debut recital at age 12.
• Failed to gain admission to the Curtis Institute of Music, which she attributed to racism.
• Played piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City and adopted the stage name "Nina Simone" in 1954, after which she began singing as well.

Career

• Debut album Little Girl Blue (1958) included "I Loves You, Porgy", her only Billboard top 20 single in the US.
• Recorded more than 40 albums up to 1974; her 1960s protest songs such as "Mississippi Goddam" tied her to the civil rights movement.
• Left the US in 1970 and settled in Europe, later living in Liberia, Barbados, the Netherlands, and France.
• Autobiography I Put a Spell on You was published in 1991; she continued performing until her death on April 21, 2003.
• Known as the "High Priestess of Soul"; Rolling Stone ranked her No. 21 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

Members

• Solo artist; she was accompanied by percussionist Leopoldo Fleming and guitarist Al Schackman throughout most of her career.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

Reappraisal

• Pitchfork's Marc Hogan wrote that in 1965 Simone was singing the blues and that her pain hangs over the whole record
• Hogan said the album reaffirms that the blues is also a music of urban protest
• AllMusic's Richie Unterberger gave the album 3.5 stars out of 5
• Unterberger called it one of Simone's more subdued mid-'60s LPs, with emphasis on her piano rather than band arrangements
• He singled out her frantic ten-minute rendition of the traditional 'Sinnerman' as the most impressive track
• Joe Muggs of Noisey wrote that the blues here is both urban and urbane, delivered with knowledge of its history and the finesse of her classical training
• Pitchfork placed the album at number 21 on its 2017 list of the best albums of the 1960s
• In 2008 Cokemachineglow included it on its '30 Other Albums of the 1960s' list
• In 2012 Alicia Keys included it on her '25 Favorite Albums' list

Records

• Billboard 200: peaked at number 139
• Hot R&B LPs chart: peaked at number 8

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• AllMusic's review calls the ten-minute 'Sinnerman' an explosive tour de force that outshines the rest of the album.
• The Discogs master page notes that the album has been reissued under different titles and covers.
• The Italian track listing dates 'Chilly Winds Don't Blow' to April 1964, while the other tracks come from 1965 sessions.
• Two tracks, 'Strange Fruit' and 'Sinnerman', are listed as recorded on 20 May 1965.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com · it.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact