Little Girl Blue (album)

Little Girl Blue / Jazz as Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club

Studio album by Nina Simone

Released

June 24, 1958

Recorded

New York City, December 1957

Genre

Jazz, gospel, vocal jazz

Length

41:24

Label

Bethlehem

Nina Simone chronology

Little Girl Blue
(1958)

Nina Simone and Her Friends
(1959)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]

Little Girl Blue is the debut album by jazz singer, pianist and songwriter Nina Simone, released by Bethlehem Records. Simone was in her mid-20s at the time, and still aspiring to be a classical concert pianist. She immediately sold the rights for the songs on this album to Bethlehem for $3,000, with the deal eventually costing her royalty profits of more than a million dollars.^[2] Simone was dissatisfied by the lack of effort the record company took in promoting her, and after this album she formed a long business relationship with Colpix Records. The album Nina Simone and Her Friends was released after she had left Bethlehem, without her consent, and comprised songs that were left over from the Little Girl Blue recording session. The session was the only one ever recorded for Bethlehem.^[3]

The original 1958 album was released in mono, but a second issue the following year, by Bethlehem Records (SBCP-6028), was stereo.

The album was reissued by Bethlehem in 1992 on CD (Bethlehem 30042), with three additional tracks from the same session: "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands", "For All We Know" and "African Mailman".^[3] This format was released again in 2002, as Jazz as Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club by Charly / Snapper Music (SNAP 216 CD), remastered and with the addition of "My Baby Just Cares for Me (Extended Version)".^[4]

Song information

"I Loves You, Porgy", from George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess. This was the song that started Simone's career. The single became her only Billboard top 20 hit in the United States.
"Mood Indigo", also featured on Let It All Out.
"Love Me or Leave Me" featured on the soundtrack of Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss (1998), also features on Let It All Out.
"Plain Gold Ring" was later covered by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, White Magic^[5] and New Zealand singer Kimbra. Simone's version was also incorporated into the song Deadly Species by Alif Tree for their album French Cuisine.
"My Baby Just Cares for Me" was Simone's biggest hit. It was one of the last songs she recorded during the session, because the record label wanted an uptempo song to finish with. The fairly obscure song became a hit when it was re-released in 1987, after it had featured in a UK commercial for the Chanel No. 5 perfume. It helped the almost forgotten Simone back into the limelight.
"Central Park Blues" was created and recorded in a single take. The record company needed another song so Simone drew inspiration from a photo shoot earlier in the day at Central Park.
"Little Girl Blue" is a modern example of a quodlibet. In this case Simone combined the Rodgers and Hart melody and lyrics with the melody of the popular carol "Good King Wenceslas".
"Don't Smoke in Bed", is a jazz song written and originally recorded by Willard Robison.^[6]

Track listing

"Mood Indigo" - (Duke Ellington, Barney Bigard, Irving Mills)
"Don't Smoke in Bed" - (Willard Robison)
"He Needs Me" - (Arthur Hamilton)
"Little Girl Blue" - (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)
"Love Me or Leave Me" - (Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn)
"My Baby Just Cares for Me" - (Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn)
"Good Bait" (instrumental) - (Count Basie, Tadd Dameron)
"Plain Gold Ring" - (George Stone (aka Earl Burroughs))
"You'll Never Walk Alone" (instrumental) - (Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II)
"I Loves You, Porgy" - (DuBose Heyward, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)
"Central Park Blues" (instrumental) - (Nina Simone)

Personnel

Nina Simone - vocals, piano, arrangements
Jimmy Bond - double bass
Albert "Tootie" Heath - drums
Joseph Muranyi - liner notes

References

↑ AllMusic review
↑ Simone. I Put a Spell on You. p. 60.
1 2
↑ "Nina Simone: Jazz As Played In An Exclusive Side Street Club", Charly. Accessed 9 June 2016.
↑ ""Through the Sun Door" track listing". Retrieved 7 July 2011.
↑ AllMusic

Nina Simone

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Live albums

Live and studio albums

Remix albums

Remixed and Reimagined

Songs and singles

"Ain't Got No, I Got Life"
"Alone Again (Naturally)"
"Angel of the Morning"
"Ballad of Hollis Brown"
"Baubles, Bangles, & Beads"
"Black Is the Colour (Of My True Love's Hair)"
"Brown Eyed Handsome Man"
"Cherish"
"Cotton-Eyed Joe"
"Do Nothing till You Hear from Me"
"Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"
"Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye"
"Exactly Like You"
"Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)"
"Feeling Good"
"Fine and Mellow"
"For All We Know"
"Four Women"
"Go Limp"
"He's Got the Whole World in His Hands"
"Here Comes the Sun"
"The House of the Rising Sun"
"I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)"
"I Loves You, Porgy"
"I Put a Spell on You"
"I Shall Be Released"
"I Think It's Going to Rain Today"
"I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free"
"If I Should Lose You"
"It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"
"It Might as Well Be Spring"
"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"
"Just Like a Woman"
"Lilac Wine"
"Little Girl Blue"
"The Look of Love"
"Love Me or Leave Me"
"Mississippi Goddam"
"Mood Indigo"
"The More I See You"
"Mr. Bojangles"
"My Baby Just Cares for Me"
"My Sweet Lord"
"My Way"
"Ne me quitte pas"
"Nobody"
"Nobody's Fault but Mine"
"Papa, Can You Hear Me?"
"The Pusher"
"Rich Girl"
"(In My) Solitude"
"Satin Doll"
"Sea Lion Woman"
"Sign o' the Times"
"Since I Fell for You"
"Sinnerman"
"Someone to Watch Over Me"
"Something Wonderful"
"Spring Is Here"
"Strange Fruit"
"Summertime"
"Suzanne"
"Take My Hand, Precious Lord"
"That's All"
"That's All I Want from You"
"The Times They Are a-Changin'"
"To Be Young, Gifted and Black"
"To Love Somebody"
"Trouble in Mind"
"Turn! Turn! Turn!"
"Who Knows Where the Time Goes?"
"Wild Is the Wind"
"Willow Weep for Me"
"You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To"

Book:Nina Simone

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