VENUS ZINE CLASSIC: Nina Simone Issue #38

LITTLE GIRL BLUE (Bethlehem), 1958

By K Tighe
Published: December 1st, 2008 | 12:00am

Before she became the standard that all R&B singers were measured against; before her songs “Mississippi Goddam” and “To Be Young, Black, And Gifted” made her a civil rights icon — Nina Simone recorded Little Girl Blue.

Soon after the album’s releases, the debut’s standout track — “I Loves You Porgy,” an aria from the Gershwin opera, Porgy and Bess — landed Simone in the Billboard Top 40. The album also boasted what was to become Simone’s signature hit, the upbeat “My Baby Just Cares For Me,” a song that fell into obscurity until it was resurrected in a 1987 Chanel commercial.

In her early twenties when she recorded Little Girl Blue, Simone was green to the evils of showbiz. The young singer sold the album’s rights for a measly $3,000 — eventually amounting to well over a million dollars in lost royalties.

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Elizabeth Fraser of Cocteau Twins
The Scottish songstress — known for ethereal, unabashedly emotional, and oftentimes completely indecipherable lyrics — raved about Simone to Britain’s Melody Maker in ’93, stating, “A lot of her songs are about being fallible. She’s a really dysfunctional person. And dysfunctional people are attracted to each other.”

Mary J. Blige
The R&B mainstay’s impossibly powerful vocals — which stretch four octaves, well into Simone’s legendary baritone — have led many in the music industry to consider her the High Priestess’ heir apparent. Blige considers the jazz singer to be a primary influence, and has been confirmed to play Simone in the 2009 MTV/Paramount biopic of her life.

My Brightest Diamond
Shara Worden, the classically-styled powerhouse known as My Brightest Diamond, often performs stirring renditions of Simone classics — her version of “Feelin’ Good” treats Simone’s soulful lyrics with proper reverence as she wails “It’s a new dawn / It’s a new day / It’s a new life for me,” before launching into an electric guitar-induced spiral.