75. Nina Simone — Wild Is The Wind (1966)

Back at it again with the artsy jazz covers

1. What a breath of fresh air this was. I’ve enjoyed the very rock-heavy last handful of albums, but I welcomed the switch, and this is one hell of a change of pace. My first Nina Simone album, and it lives up to the expectations.
2. It’s a striking album. Album opener “I Love Your Lovin’ Ways” is a massive headfake, poppy and accessible, giving way to the absolutely stunning “Four Women” (the only song Simone wrote on the album). “Four Women” tells the story of four stereotypical roles available to african american women in America — the old auntie, the biracial outcast, the prostitute, the revolutionary; perhaps her vision of the future the four girls killed in a church bombing in Birmingham in 1963 might have had. It’s absolutely devastating, simmering with rage, unforgettable.
3. Nina’s voice immediately falls into its own place in the pantheon; emotive, bluesy, piercing, assertive. She flips from genre to genre while making everything feel her own, sliding perfectly into the wonderfully simply orchestrations that surround her. It’s a romantic album, with tunes like “Lilac Wine” and “Why Keep On Breaking My Heart” bursting with emotion. Simone intensifies the drama with each line, and in the process, provides a deeply human and complex vision of her life.

One Essential Song:

Listen on Spotify: