Maps of Music

Wild Is the Wind (1966)

Where the lyrics of Wild Is the Wind take you, and where it was really made.

This 1966 album is a collection of studio takes left over from sessions held in 1964 and 1965.

Key places

Recording sessions in New York City (1966)

Recording site Record Plant Studios — Recording sessions for the album were held in New York City from March 21, 1964 to October 1, 1965. The dot marks the city, not a studio. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Title track recorded at Carnegie Hall (1964)

Recording site Carnegie Hall — The Italian track listing gives Carnegie Hall as the recording place of the title track Wild Is the Wind on 21 March 1964. The dot marks the venue building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Wild Is the Wind: sixth studio album by American singer and pianist Nina Simone
• Released by Philips Records in 1966; release date 16 September 1966
• Recording sessions: New York City, March 21, 1964 to October 1, 1965
• Catalog number PHS 600-207 / PHM 200-207
• Hal Mooney credited as producer; Horace Ott credited as arranger and conductor
• Compiled from several recordings left over from earlier sessions for previous Philips albums

Background

• The leftover recordings came from sessions in 1964 and 1965 made for earlier Philips albums
• Tracks on the record carry recording dates spread across 1964 and 1965
• Simone's band of Rudy Stevenson, Lisle Atkinson and Bobby Hamilton played on most tracks

Recording

• Title track recorded at Carnegie Hall on 21 March 1964, according to the Italian track listing
• I Love Your Lovin' Ways recorded at Carnegie Hall on 15 January 1965
• Four Women recorded in New York on 30 September 1965
• Nina Simone on vocals and piano; Lisle Atkinson on bass; Bobby Hamilton on drums; Rudy Stevenson on guitar and flute
• Horace Ott conducts the orchestra on the opening track, with King Curtis on tenor saxophone

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

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

At release

• Billboard named the album a 'special merit pick' when it came out
• The Billboard reviewer wrote that Simone sets up an exceptional romantic mood offering top listening delight

Reappraisal

• Pitchfork ranked the album fifth best of the 1960s
• Paste ranked it the eighth-greatest album of all time
• Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die includes the album

Records

• Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020) placed it at number 212
• Philips Records released the album in 1966 as Nina Simone's sixth studio album

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Four Women was released as a single, and it gained attention when the New York jazz-focused station WLIB banned it over concern about the lyrics.
• Discogs credits Hal Mooney as producer of the album.
• The title track Wild is the Wind runs 6:53, the longest track in the track listing.
• I Love Your Lovin' Ways was recorded at Carnegie Hall on 15 January 1965, placing a Carnegie Hall session at the start of side A.

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

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