About

A TAV Essential Listening Album.

I Put a Spell on You is a 1965 album by Jazz singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone for Philips Records. It features some of Simone's best known songs. – Wiki

“In Simone’s hands, ‘Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’ was as much a demand as it was a plea, and on I Put A Spell On You she continued to record songs with a deep personal resonance. Her version of the title track remains as mesmerising as its name suggests, while covers of Charles Aznavour’s ‘Tomorrow Is My Turn’ and Jacques Brel’s ‘Ne Me Quitte Pas’ are equally strong declarations. Meanwhile, Simone once again turned to musical theatre for ‘Feeling Good’ (lifted from the 1964 stage show The Roar Of The Greasepaint – The Smell Of The Crowd), instantly owning the song with her definitive version. Artists as varied as Billy Paul, Muse and Michael Bublé have since covered it, but none with as much dedication – and spine-tingling effect – as Simone.” – Universal

“Nina Simone hurts you. She does it with her voice, which is sharpened and ready, versatile as a set of top flight chef’s knives able to slice through the music making a myriad of purposeful and precise incisions, wounds, gashes or lacerations. She does it through words, delivered sometimes like poisoned darts, other times like butterfly kisses from a child on the cheek of an exhausted mother. She does it by staring you down and withering your resolve; looking at you the way death looks at you, and in so doing giving you life.” – Pitchfork

“One of her most pop-oriented albums, but also one of her best and most consistent. Most of the songs feature dramatic, swinging large-band orchestration, with the accent on the brass and strings. Simone didn't write any of the material, turning to popular European songsmiths Charles Aznavour, Jacques Brel, and Anthony Newley, as well as her husband, Andy Stroud, and her guitarist, Rudy Stevenson, for bluesier fare.” – AllMusic

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