THE LATE American singer Nina Simone’s voice was markedly distinctive. A contralto

(the term used to describe female singers with the lowest musical pitch), when Simone sang, her voice seemed full of passion and character – a voice that you couldn’t not take note of. In recent weeks, I’ve been listening to several of her albums: 1974’s It Is Finished, 1984’s Live at Ronnie Scott’s and the mega ‘Best of ’ collection, Sugar In My Bowl, which, on two discs, has 40 songs spanning the early part of her career.

Simone, a North Carolina preacher’s child, wanted to be a classical pianist but couldn’t get admission to a music school because she was black. She turned then to playing and singing in small venues and clubs, covering everything from jazz, gospel and blues to pop and R&B. Many of her recordings are of songs written by others but covered by

her in a style that is her own. On It Is Finished, she does a version of The Pusher, a song that was made famous by Steppenwolf but was written by Hoyt Axton. Simone’s blues-soul version of what is origi-nally a rock classic is unique. As is her cover of Mr. Bojangles, the country song that has been cov-ered by dozens of musicians, in-cluding Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond and Arlo Guthrie.

Her own songs span an impressive range of themes. Mississippi Goddam, which became a civil activists’ an-them, was written after the bombing and killings of blacks in Mississippi and Alabama in the 1960s. I Want A Little Sugar in My Bowl, a delightful blues song, was based on a composition with a similar title (Need A Little Sugar In My Bowl) by Bessie Smith, the early 20th century blues singer, but with Simone’s own tweak to the lyrics. But the one song that got her fame and became her first hit in America was George and Ira Gershwin’s I Loves You, Porgy.

Simone’s was not an easy life. Her early years as a per-former were filled with long hours at small bars and clubs where she sang nightly. Her husband (a former New York cop) who also managed her career was abusive and violent (the marriage finally broke up). And finally, after finding

success as a prolific recording artist and performer, she had to live in exile in France for much of the latter part of her life be-cause of taxes that she left unpaid in the US (as part of her protest against her coun-try’s involvement in the Vietnam war).

I had read about Simone and her trou-bled life but last week when a film turned

up, a biopic titled What Happened, Miss Simone?, with

rare footage, in-terviews and

n a r r a t iv e s , it gave me a deeper in-sight into one of Amer-

ica’s finest mu-sicians – as well

as an inspiration to rediscover Simone’s music. The film has some footage of her performances, which were known for their mag-netic nature and her powerful presence. She often blended dialogue with the audience or just self-spoken words into songs. Simone died in France in 2003. She was 70. Her dis-cography lives on, of course, with her music frequently

used by others – from filmmakers to rap artists. As I wrote this, I was listening, back-to-back, to her versions of three songs: Leonard Cohen’s Su-zanne; The Beatles’ Here Comes the Sun; and Bob Dylan’s Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues. All three are classic songs. Without doubt, Simone’s ver-sions must have made their composers proud.

DOWN MEMORY LANE: I just managed to restrain the temptation to lead with this part of

Download Central. Last Sunday at 8am, I used a combination of Airtel, Google Chromecast, my Internet browser, my laptop, my TV set, and (of course) my credit card, to watch in its entirety (three hours plus) the first concert of Grateful Dead’s last tour from Santa Clara in California. I was, of course, in my bedroom. Trey Anastasio (lead guitar) joined the remaining members of the Dead (Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Bill Kreutzmann and Mickey Hart) as did Bruce Hornsby (piano) and Jim Chimenti (keyboards). The setlist was vintage Grateful Dead:

think Truckin’, Alligator, Cryptical Envelopment, Dark Star, St. Stephen, Drums, The Other One and plenty, plenty more. Superb. The closest you could get to a Dead gig in Gurgaon.

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DON'T LET ME BE MISUNDERSTOODI had read about Simone and her troubled life. Last week, a film titled What Happened, Miss Simone? turned up – with rare footage, interviews and narratives

I PUT A SPELL ON YOUThe late American singer Nina Simone’s voice was

markedly distinctive. During performances, she often blended dialogue with the audience

JULY 5, 2015

What Happened, Miss Simone?, a new biopic, gave me a deeper insight into one of America’s finest musicians – as well as an inspiration to rediscover Nina Simone’s music

14 indulgeHigH Priestess Of sOul

Sanjoy Narayan

download central

Photos: GETTY IMAGES

TOUCH OF GREYLast Sunday, I live streamed a Grateful Dead concert. It was superb

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