My Time with Nina Simone

Let me tell ya somethin' about Nina Simone. I hung out with her for a while when I was a teen. Yep, she had an old apartment right there on Hollywood Blvd. and I spent the night there one time. She was very eccentric, and a health nut too. She had this really old (maybe 1969) Rolls Royce Bentley that sat in her garage but it didn't work. She wanted me and my mom to help her try and get it up and runnin' again.

I also remember a time when she and my dad chatted about "the business" till about 4:30 in the mornin'. Really boring stuff for me at the time but they were really into it, lol, talkin' about New York and old times. Nina was cool. She always got on me about eatin' sweets but I was just a kid then and didn't know any better. Her THREE hour lecture about me eating healthy led me to me saying something really "smart" to her lol, and that's when Nina nearly whooped my behind! I used to laugh at all the crazy lookin' health foods she had in her apartment. Jars and jars and jars of all kinds of nuts, beans and herbs and stuff.

I didn't realize how great Nina was as an artist until I got older. And Nina was right. We all should eat healthier. Every time I bust out the pigs feet and chitlins, I think of Nina. Just kiddin'.

Dr. Nina Simone (21 February 1933 – 21 April 2003)

©2005 Facebook.com/Shavar (photo not mine)

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Comments

pappy65 says:

She had a beautiful voice with great range and was pleasing to look at back in the mid-Fifties. Thanks for the reminder, and for the tribute to her accomplishments.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

TheSteffers says:

Let me tell *you* somethin' about Nina Simone....I *adore* her. No one...and I mean no one sings like her. "I Love My Baby" is my favorite song of all time!
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

in2jazz says:

I always felt like I need to get a little older before I could really appreciate her music. She was amazing. I wrote a tribute to her here.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

baglady says:

Thanks for sharing the great memories. I absolutely love her renditions of "What More Can I Say" and "Lilac Wine".
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

bunæn says:

Thank you for posting this. I love the little personal details like the part about the Royce and your dad talking with her about business. I really appreciate the geographic touch too. I grew up at the other end of La Brea ( in Baldwin Hills, closer to where Nancy Wilson and Ray Charles used to stay).

Nina Simone is pure genius. She is so much more than a singer. She is a virtuoso pianist (check out her keyboard work on African Mailman or Israeli Folk song in 5/4 time). She's right up there with McCoy Tyner in my book.

My favorite Nina Simone vocals are My Baby Just Cares for Me, Mississippi GOD DAMN!, A Little Sugar In My Bowl, Take me to the Water, Trouble in Mind, and of course, I Put a Spell on You.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

annappleaday says:

shavar, what a story to share...nina is and has always
been my favorite artist..there will never be a sound to match. i had to lol at your boredom in the company of one of the greatest..understanding you were a child and like all children would much rather be out side playing

..and now to be paying tribute to her...unbelievable !!

i listen to her always and am put in different moods

thanks again for "sharing shavar"
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

Shavar Ross says:

I need to write more, it's really therapeutic for me. For some reason I thought I was only allowed to post "my own" photos on Flickr till I saw my pal ChicagoEye posting old albums up. His comments on the albums were really interesting to me. Greatwork's poems on here has also inspired me to write. To me, everyone has an interesting story to tell. Many a movie are made because of this.

Ann, yeah I know, it's funny how as a kid you don't realize the great company you're around till you get older!

bunaen, we call Baldwins Hills the "black" Beverly Hills, lol. Lovely homes there too! "My baby Just Cares for Me" is my favorite so far and I like her remake of "Here Comes the Sun".

Wow , you guys are intriguing. I never knew Nina had so many fans.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

angicaro says:

i can also testify that nina was an amazingly talented creature. we are blessed to have inherited her music. amen.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

ßrian adams says:

thanks shavar. bless you and nina simone.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

angicaro says:

pastel blues/let it all out is my fav album.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

banlon1964 says:

just seeing the album cover made my heart thrill... thank you !
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

AlmaZ says:

First Sydney Poitier and now Nina Simone. You are so lucky Shavar:)
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

Mark Griffith says:

Ahh the irony. Just today I was listening to Strange Fruit by Nina. Its such a haunting song, so sad. My wife and I were first introduced to Nina in the movie, Point of No Return, the American remake of the French movie La Femme Nikita. In the movie, the rather punkish character asks her handler to bring her CD's by Nina Simone. My wife and I thought for sure she was some new wave artist. We later bought her CD's ourselves and were struck by her beauty and grace. I also love Feeling Good, Here Comes the Sun and Sinnerman. Thanks for sharing.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

Professor Kim says:

My Baby Just Cares for Me is my favorite uptempo song, but "Four Women" is THE anthem for black women of my generation (I'm 48.)
And I am profoundly grateful for "Mississippi GD" and "Young Gifted and Black."

As much as I adore her voice, I really appreciate her piano playing. I think both she and Nat King Cole were underrated on that score. After she died, I wrote a poem, Miss Nina's Concerto, intended to focus solely on her piano riffs. I saw a classically tempermental Nina Simone performance once in 1979; I'll never forget it. And yes, she was beautiful, although I do remember that at when she first became well known, she was just a little too African looking for a lot of black folks' taste.

The phenomenal thing about Dr. Simone the artist is the courage she demonstrated in bring all of her humanity to her work. She walked a difficult road in life, but she demonstrated possibilities for black female artists that had not previously been envisioned.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

Shavar Ross says:

Wow Professor Kim, I bet you really are a professor. Great write-up, I'm ever learning.

Mark, thanks for sharing! I remember watching Point of No Return.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

Dragonfly says:

Nina Simone is a legend!!
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

B I R D says:

Just truly hip! I have some Nina on my iPod and she will pop up with "Nobody's Fault But Mine" or "Do I Move You?" and I am transported back to the day. Please stop this Archeology you are letting so much light into my dusty tombs.... Just kidding. Get the book deal you have enough people on line here for a first printing!

BIRD
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

ChicagoEye says:

My older sister Dee (well, only older by 4 years) turned me on to Nina Simone when we were kids. And I though I liked jazz vocalists, I couldnt really get into her then. Then as an adult, I picked up some old Nina vinyl in a store and WOW!!! I agree with the post above: pure genius. Your story, Shavar, is a great. Thanks for posting.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

-Nat says:

I have to check out her music. Great story and I've enjoyed reading everyone elses comments too.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

durasoul says:

I only discovered her a couple of years ago, in the movie "The Dancer Upstairs." In the first scene, people are driving down a dirt road in the Central American jungle, in the dark, with Nina playing on the tape deck. No dialogue. I was completely dumbstruck by the power and emotion of that voice.

Watched the scene a few times in a row, skipped to the credits, and got a CD. Everything she did was so astoundingly beautiful.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

franciscophile says:

I went to the record store one day to buy some music and I ran into this woman who asked if knew Nina Simone? I said, no. She said you aren't ready for Nina just yet. I remembered that and the first and only album/cd I bought and have is "Afterhours" by Simone. I can only listen to that album when I am the mood me. It is too heavy.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

slight clutter says:

"Sinnerman" - It doesn't really get any better than that.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

Hysterical Bertha says:

Nina is my favorite of all time. I feel so blessed to have been able to see her live in concert shortly before she passed. How amazing, Shavar, to have been able to know her on a personal level!
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

dlemieux says:

I envy you. That is amazing.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

brownsugarbear01 says:

Ah, Nina. I discovered her when I was at a cafe in Vancouver called The Passion Coffeehouse. It's no longer there, but most of the regulars who hung out there sang her praises. My favourite album is "The Blues" that I'll never get tired of.
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

heatherbeewatts says:

Peaches!!
Posted 51 months ago. ( permalink )

Soul Pusher says:

Nina is God. She was the last music I heard that grabbed you by the throut and never let go. Her voice is astounding...I like funkier then a mosquiters tweeter myself...I love how she took a song about Ike Turner and made it into an older women talking to young man whom you know she has seen before...amaaaaaaaaaaaazing...
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

fnkymnky says:

My Baby Just Cares For Me, Mississippi God Damn and Feeling Good are my favorites, well at least the three that come to mind. When I listen to Sugar In My Bowl, I usually set it to 'repeat', something about the compilation that lifts me.
Posted 47 months ago. ( permalink )

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My Time with Nina Simone

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pappy65 says:

TheSteffers says:

in2jazz says:

baglady says:

bunæn says:

annappleaday says:

Shavar Ross says:

angicaro says:

ßrian adams says:

angicaro says:

banlon1964 says:

AlmaZ says:

Mark Griffith says:

Professor Kim says:

Shavar Ross says:

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B I R D says:

ChicagoEye says:

-Nat says:

durasoul says:

franciscophile says:

slight clutter says:

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