General Article name: I Put a Spell on You
Genre: Jazz Product type: LP (Vinyl) Label: Verve Number of tracks: 12 Duration: 33:50 Tracklist LP - 1 1. Nina Simone - I Put a Spell on You 2:34 2. Nina Simone - Tomorrow Is My Turn 2:50 3. Nina Simone - Ne Me Quitte Pas 3:35 4. Nina Simone - Marriage Is for Old Folks 3:31 5. Nina Simone - July Tree 2:42 6. Nina Simone - Gimme Some 2:59 7. Nina Simone - Feeling Good 2:54 8. Nina Simone - One September Day 2:49 9. Nina Simone - Blues on Purpose 3:15 10. Nina Simone - Beautiful Land 1:56 11. Nina Simone - You've Got to Learn 2:41 12. Nina Simone - Take Care of Business 2:04   Description Description

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. There are really fine tunes and interpretations, on which Simone gives an edge to the potentially fey pop songs, taking a sudden (but not uncharacteristic) break for a straight jazz instrumental with "Blues on Purpose." The title track, a jazzy string ballad version of the Screamin' Jay Hawkins classic, gave the Beatles the inspiration for the phrasing on the bridge of "Michelle." [I Put a Spell on You was re-released on LP in 2016.] ~ Richie Unterberger

Richie Unterberger

Contributors Artist: Nina Simone Record Label: Verve