Nina Simone: To Be Free - The Nina Simone Story (3 x CD) Compilation 2013

 

Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone,

was an American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned a broad range of musical styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop.
To make a living, Simone started playing piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to "Nina Simone" to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play "the devil's music" or so-called "cocktail piano". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. 

                                  

She went on to record more than 40 albums between 1958 and 1974, making her debut with Little Girl Blue. She had a hit single in the United States in 1958 with "I Loves You, Porgy". Her musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.
                                                                                   

There are two types of maverick artists: the ones who adopt different styles as a way of switching

costumes, and the ones who take a variety of musical concepts and subvert them wholly to their own ideas, and their own identities. Nina Simone was clearly the latter. Drawing on a wide swath of her catalog, from her first recording session to one of her last, producer Richard Seidel demonstrates how boldly she seized any song that caught her ear, as she marches through Duke Ellington, Kurt Weill, torch songs, folk songs, and the pop and rock hits of her day.
                                                                 

A Julliard-trained pianist who played clubs while harboring an ambition to be a composer, Simone

scored hits with a label that had to cede total creative control before she'd sign on their dotted line. Her performances were spontaneous, her mood impetuous and imperious. It's as hard to boil down the many facets of Simone's career as to romanticize the rough edges. To Be Free succeeds because it doesn't even try.
                                                                     

Disc One is the most varied. A reading of Ellington's "Mood Indigo" from her first studio session

opens the set, and introduces Simone as a smart jazz singer and a pianist with fingers of steel. She's unpredictable from her earliest cuts, with her playing erupting into sudden bursts of forte while she sings each lyric as if she's only just deciding what she thinks of it. Her voice is low and rich but its power, proven on tracks like "I Put a Spell on You", lies in its sudden intensity; and on the live tracks that make up roughly half the set, we hear a nightclub vet's knack for sensing every twitch in the crowd's mood, and a diva's gift for ignoring them at her whim.
Her bloodcurdling performance of Weill's "Pirate Jenny" sears anyone who would ever think of the protagonist as less than a human being. She probably would have sung it the same way no matter what was happening in the Deep South, but it marks one of the earliest times she addressed the civil rights movement.  
                                                                

Disc Two covers the crucial period from 1968-69, starting with a live performance of "Mississippi

Goddam" recorded days after the murder of Dr. King. "I'm not about to be non-violent, honey!" Simone cracks at one point, and she follows the statement with a laugh: Simone's no militant, but her resistance ain't passive, or saintly.
Instead, it's proud. By the late 60s Simone reveals herself as a hell of a singer for a rock band: you can hear it over the fierce "Save Me" and "Revolution," and she sings 1968's "Ain't Got No-I Got Life" with every ounce of her body. And rebel or no, she was also on top of the pop trends, and knew the right artists to cover. The backing vocals on "Turn! Turn! Turn!" and "Poppies" date the performances, but her Bob Dylan covers are often exquisite-- especially "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", which melts the original's rambling blues into a reverie.
                                                        

On Disc Three, the tunes get funkier, the grooves run longer, and the theaters are larger. The

rambling but rousing centerpiece of her late-period disc is a 20-minute "My Sweet Lord" that segues in and out of a solo reading of "Today Is a Killer"-- and ends with Simone's cry that the Lord "is a killer." (Even He can't escape her wrath.) But as the disc wears on, the performances start to sound exhausted, until they trail off in the early 70s.
                                                               

So many strong currents run through To Be Free that it's easy to cling to just one.  But right when we

focus on her as a protest singer, we fall into a haunted ballad like "The Other Woman"; and anyone who picks this up thinking they're getting brunch music wasn't counting on all the bongos.  Simone is missed, but this isn't a sentimental set, and while it's tempting to juxtapose her eulogy for Dr. King with what happened on election day last month, that's just one part of what she fought for-- and one part of what made her free.
                                                         

[Disc one does include strong pre-RCA tracks from the first decade of her recording career, including

some of her best-known classics of the time, like "My Baby Just Cares for Me," "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," "See-Line Woman," "I Put a Spell on You," and "Four Women." While the RCA era arguably saw her move too much into pop-oriented production on occasion and too many covers of pop/rock hits, the selections from that era are chosen with intelligence, including a good number of live tracks.
                                                                                            

The two post-1973 cuts -- one from 1978 and one from her final proper album, 1993's A Single Woman -- seem like afterthoughts to ensure that most of her career was covered in some way, but that's justifiable considering that the last three decades of her life saw little in the way of noteworthy recordings.
                                                            

Though there's not much in the way of rarities, the set also does contain half a dozen previously unreleased live tracks of merit; four songs from the hard-to-find album A Very Rare Evening, recorded live in Germany in April 1969; and a couple (a live cover of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne" and an alternate version of "Ain't Got No -- I Got Life") that make their first U.S. appearance.
Review by Richie Unterberger]

                                                          

Nina Simone ‎– To Be Free: The Nina Simone Story
Label: RCA ‎– 88765442452, Legacy ‎– 88765442452
Format: 3 × CD, Compilation, Repress
DVD, DVD-Video, NTSC, Repress
Country: Brazil
Released: 2013
Genre: Jazz, Funk / Soul
Style: Soul-Jazz, Gospel

CD 1.  1957 - 1968

01. Mood Indigo (Bass – Jimmy Bond, Drums – Albert "Tootie" Heath, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Barney Bigard, Duke Ellington, Irving Mills)  4:01
02. I Loves You, Porgy  (Bass – Jimmy Bond, Drums – Albert "Tootie" Heath, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)  4:09
03. My Baby Just Cares For Me  (Bass – Jimmy Bond, Drums – Albert "Tootie" Heath, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Gus Kahn, Walter Donaldson)  3:36
04. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out  (Producer – Stu Phillips, Written-By – Jimmie Cox)  2:39
05. You Can Have Him (Live)  (Bass – Jimmy Bond, Drums – Albert "Tootie" Heath, Producer – Bob Blake, Jack Gold, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Irving Berlin)  5:55
06. Wild Is The Wind (Live)  (Bass – Jimmy Bond, Drums – Albert "Tootie" Heath, Producer – Bob Blake, Jack Gold, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Dimitri Tiomkin, Ned Washington)  3:33
07. Trouble In Mind (Live)  (Bass – Chris White, Drums – Bobby Hamilton, Guitar – Al Schackman, Producer – Stu Phillips, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Richard Jones)  5:34
08. When Malindy Sings / Swing Low Sweet Chariot (Live)  (Bass – Lisle Atkinson, Drums – Montego Joe, Guitar – Al Schackman, Phil Alonzo, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Oscar Brown, Jr., Paul Laurence Dunbar, Traditional)  5:39
09. See-Line Woman (Live)  (Bass – Lisle Atkinson, Drums – Bobby Hamilton, Flute – Rudy Stevenson, Producer – Hal Mooney, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – George Bass)  2:36
10. Pirate Jenny (Live)  (Bass – Lisle Atkinson, Drums – Bobby Hamilton, Guitar – Rudy Stevenson, Producer – Hal Mooney, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill, Marc Blitzstein)  6:38
11. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood  (Producer – Hal Mooney Written-By – Bennie Benjamin, Gloria Caldwell, Sol Marcus)  2:44
12. I Put A Spell On You  (Arranged By, Conductor, Producer – Hal Mooney, Guitar – Rudy Stevenson, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Jalacy "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins)  2:34
13. Ne Me Quitte Pas  (Arranged By, Conductor, Producer – Hal Mooney, Guitar – Rudy Stevenson, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Jacques Brel)  3:35
14. Feeling Good  (Arranged By, Conductor, Producer – Hal Mooney, Guitar – Rudy Stevenson, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written - By – Anthony Newley, Leslie Bricusse)  2:54
15. Four Women  (Bass – Lisle Atkinson, Drums – Bobby Hamilton, Guitar, Flute – Rudy Stevenson, Producer – Hal Mooney, Written-By, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone)  4:25
16. My Man's Gone Now  (Bass – Bob Bushnell, Producer – Danny Davis, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – DuBose Heyward, George Gershwin)  4:17
17. I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free  (Arranged By, Conductor – Sammy Lowe, Bass – Gene Taylor, Contractor, Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Flute, Flute [G] – Mel Tax, Drums – Bernard Purdie, Guitar – Eric Gale, Piano – Ernie Hayes, Producer – Danny Davis, Tenor Saxophone, Flute [Alto] – Seldon Powell, Trumpet – Ernie Royal, Marky Markowitz, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Billy Taylor, Dick Dallas)  3:08
18. To Love Somebody  (Arranged By, Conductor – Jimmy Wisner, Bass – Chuck Rainey, Cello – Maurice Bialkin, Seymour Barab, Drums – Bernard Purdie, Guitar – Eric Gale, Everett Barksdale, Percussion – Alvin Rogers, Producer – Danny Davis, Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Ernie Royal, Marky Markowitz, Trumpet, Trumpet [Bass] – Dominick Gravine, Vibraphone – Gordon Powell, Violin – David Sackson, Irving Spice, Jack Zayde, Joseph Haber, Julius Brand, Lewis Eley, Louis Haber, Michael Comins, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb)  2:38
19. Sunday In Savannah (Live)  (Bass – Gene Taylor, Drums – Buck Clarke, Guitar – Rudy Stevenson, Organ – Samuel Waymon, Producer – Joe René, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Hugh MacKay)  3:16
20. Backlash Blues (Live)  (Bass – Gene Taylor, Drums – Buck Clarke, Guitar – Rudy Stevenson, Organ – Samuel Waymon, Producer – Joe René, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Langston Hughes, Nina Simone)  3:32

MP3 @ 320 Size: 185 MB
Flac  Size: 414 MB

 

CD 2.  1968 - 1969

 

 

01. Mississippi Goddam (Live)  (Bass – Gene Taylor, Drums – Buck Clarke, Guitar – Rudy Stevenson, Organ – Samuel Waymon, Producer – Joe René, Written-By, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone)  6:54
02. In The Morning  (Bass – Gene Taylor, Drums – Buck Clarke, Guitar – Rudy Stevenson, Organ – Samuel Waymon, Producer – Joe René, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Barry Gibb)  2:42
03. Ain't Got No-I Got Life (Alternate Version)  (Arranged By, Conductor – Horace Ott, Bass – Jerry Jemmott, Drums, Timpani – Bernard Purdie, Guitar – Carl Lynch, Eric Gale, Henry Young, Organ – Ernie Hayes, Piano – Paul Griffin, Saxophone – Haywood Henry, Trombone – Garnett Brown, Trumpet – Harold Johnson, Joe Shepley, Wilbur Bascomb, Vocals – Nina Simone, Written-By – Galt MacDermot, Gerome Ragni, James Rado)  2:56
04. Do What You Gotta Do  (Arranged By, Conductor – Horace Ott, Bass – Jerry Jemmott, Drums, Timpani – Bernard Purdie, Guitar – Carl Lynch, Eric Gale, Henry Young, Organ – Ernie Hayes, Piano – Paul Griffin, Saxophone – Haywood Henry, Trombone – Garnett Brown, Trumpet – Harold Johnson, Joe Shepley, Wilbur Bascomb, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Jimmy Webb)  3:00
05. Seems I'm Never Tired Loving You  (Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Carolyn Franklin)  3:02
06. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues  (Bass – Gene Perla, Drums, Percussion – Don Alias, Guitar – Al Schackman, Stuart Scharf, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Bob Dylan)  4:49
07. The Times They Are A-Changin'  (Bass – Gene Perla, Drums, Timpani – Bernard Purdie, Guitar – Al Schackman, Ernie Calabria, Organ – Weldon Irvine, Percussion – Don Alias, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Bob Dylan)  5:54
08. Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is A Season)  (Adapted By, Music By – Pete Seeger, Backing Vocals – Doris Willingham, Virdia Crawford, Bass – Gene Perla, Drums – Don Alias, Guitar – Al Schackman, Organ – Weldon Irvine, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone)  3:40
09. The Other Woman (Live)  (Bass – Gene Perla, Drums – Don Alias, Guitar – Al Schackman, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Jessie Mae Robinson)  6:00
10. I Think It's Going To Rain Today (Live)  (Bass – Gene Perla, Drums – Don Alias, Guitar – Al Schackman, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Randy Newman)  4:45
11. Save Me (Live)  (Bass – Gene Perla, Congas, Percussion – Emedin Rivera, Drums – Don Alias, Guitar – Al Schackman, Organ – Weldon Irvine, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Aretha Franklin, Carolyn Franklin, Curtis Ousley)  3:33
12. Revolution (Live)  (Backing Vocals – Doris Willingham, Gina Rothchild, Bass – Gene Perla, Congas, Percussion – Emedin Rivera, Drums – Don Alias, Guitar – Al Schackman, Organ – Weldon Irvine, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Nina Simone, Weldon Irvine)  6:21
13. To Be Young, Gifted And Black  (Bass – Jerry Jemmott, Drums – Bernard Purdie, Guitar – Eric Gale, Organ – Richard Tee, Organ, Arranged By, Conductor – Weldon Irvine, Percussion – George Devens, Montego Joe, Vibraphone, Percussion – Gordon Powell, Vocals – Barbara Webb, Eileen Gilbert, Hilda Harris, Jerome Graff, Maeretha Stewart, Milt Grayson, Noah Hopkins, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Nina Simone, Weldon Irvine)  2:50
14. Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair (Live)  (Arranged By, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Traditional)  3:23
15. Westwind (Live)  (Bongos – Don Alias, Congas – Jumma Santos, Vocals – Nina Simone, Written-By – Caiphus Semenya, William Salter)  8:46
16. Who Knows Where The Time Goes (Live)  (Organ – Weldon Irvine, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Sandy Denny)  4:58
17. Suzanne (Live)  (Bongos – Don Alias, Congas – Jumma Santos, Guitar – Emile Latimer, Tom Smith, Organ – Weldon Irvine, Vocals – Nina Simone, Written-By – Leonard Cohen)  5:03

MP3 @320 Size: 188 MB
Flac  Size: 407 MB

CD 3.  1969 - 1993
                                                                                         

01. No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed (Live)  (Bongos – Don Alias, Congas – Jumma Santos, Guitar – Emile Latimer, Tom Smith, Organ – Weldon Irvine, Vocals – Nina Simone, Written-By – Richie Havens)  4:49
02. Just Like A Woman  (Arranged By – Harold Wheeler, Nina Simone, Conductor – Harold Wheeler, Producer – Harold Wheeler, Nat Shapiro, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Bob Dylan)  4:51
03. Here Comes The Sun  (Arranged By – Harold Wheeler, Nina Simone, Conductor – Harold Wheeler, Producer – Harold Wheeler, Nat Shapiro, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – George Harrison)  3:34
04. Tanywey  (Arranged By – Harold Wheeler, Nina Simone, Producer – Harold Wheeler, Written-By, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone)  3:26
05. Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter (Live)  (Bass – Gene Perla, Drums – Don Alias, Guitar – David Spinoza, Organ – Samuel Waymon, Percussion – Essien Nkrumah, Nadi Qamar, Vocals, Producer – Nina Simone, Written-By – Aillene Bullock, Tina Turner)  5:15
06. My Sweet Lord / Today Is A Killer (Live)  (Choir – Bethany Baptist Church Junior Choir Of South Jamaica, Lyrics By [Additional] – Nina Simone, Organ, Vocals – Samuel Waymon, Producer – Walter Robinson, Weldon Irvine, Vocals – Lisa Stroud, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – David Nelson, George Harrison, Nina Simone)  18:18
07. Let It Be Me (Live)  (Organ, Vocals – Samuel Waymon, Producer – Walter Robinson, Weldon Irvine, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Written-By – Gilbert Bécaud, Mann Curtis, Pierre Delanoë)  5:00
08. Poppies  (Arranged By – Weldon Irvine, Lyrics By [Additional], Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Producer – Pete Spargo, Written-By – Jeremy Wind, Lennie Bleacher)  4:45
09. Mr. Bojangles (Live)  (Guitar – Al Schackman, Percussion – Nadi Qamar, Vocals, Piano, Producer – Nina Simone, Written-By – Jerry Jeff Walker)  4:51
10. I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl (Live)  (Guitar – Al Schackman, Percussion – Nadi Qamar, Written-By, Vocals, Piano, Producer – Nina Simone)  5:46
11. Nina (Live)  (Kalimba – Nadi Qamar, Sitar – Al Schackman, Written-By, Vocals, Producer – Nina Simone)  4:14
12. Zungo (Live)  (Percussion – Nadi QamarSitar – Al Schackman, Vocals, Producer – Nina Simone, Written-By – Michael Babatunde Olatunji)  4:18
13. Baltimore  (Arranged By [Strings], Conductor – David Matthews Arranged By, Vocals, Piano – Nina Simone, Bass – Chuck Israels, Gary King, Homer Mensch, John Beal, Cello – Alan Schulman, Charles McCracken, Jonathan Arramowitz, Drums – Jim Madison, Guitar – Eric Gale, Percussion – Nicky Marrero, Piano, Tambourine, Music By [Musical Director] – Al Schackman Producer – Creed Taylor, Viola – Alfred Brown, Emanuel Vardi, Lamar Alsop, Violin – Barry Finclair, Charles Libove, David Nadien, Harry Glickman, Harry Lookofsky, Herbert Sorkin, Marvin Morgenstern, Max Ellen, Richard Sortomme, Written-By – Randy Newman)  4:38
14. A Single Woman  (Arranged By [Orchestra] – Jeremy Lubbock, Bass – John Clayton, Drums – Jeff Hamilton, Piano – Michael Melvoin, Producer – Andre Fischer Vocals – Nina Simone, Written-By – Rod McKuen)  3:33

MP3 @ 320 Size: 185 MB
Flac  Size: 438 MB

Donovan: Sunshine Superman 1966 (Stereo Special Edition) 2011 + Greatest Hits 1969

Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He

developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock, and world music (notably calypso). He has lived in Scotland, Hertfordshire (England), London, California, and since at least 2008 in County Cork, Ireland, with his family. Emerging from the British folk scene, Donovan reached fame in the United Kingdom in early 1965 with live performances on the pop TV series Ready Steady Go!.
                                                     

                                                           
A sensitive Celtic folk-poet with an adventurous musical mind, he was a key figure on the British scene during its creative explosion in the mid-sixties. He wrote and recorded some of the decade’s most memorable songs, including “Catch the Wind,” “Sunshine Superman,” “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” and “Atlantis.” He charted a dozen Top Forty hits in the U.S. and a nearly equal number in the U.K.
                                                                                                

His songs have been covered by some two hundred artists, notably Jefferson Airplane (“The Fat Angel”), Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield, and Stephen Stills (“Season of the Witch”), and the Allman Brothers Band (whose “Mountain Jam” was based on Donovan’s “There Is a Mountain”). Beyond all that, he was a gentle spirit who sang unforgettably of peace, love, enlightenment, wild scenes, and magical visions.
                                                                                        

                                
His most successful singles were the early UK hits "Catch the Wind", "Colours" and "Universal Soldier" in 1965, written by Buffy Sainte-Marie. In September 1966 "Sunshine Superman" topped America's Billboard Hot 100 chart for one week and went to number two in Britain, followed by "Mellow Yellow" at US No. 2 in December 1966, then 1968's "Hurdy Gurdy Man" in the Top 5 in both countries, then "Atlantis", which reached US No. 7 in May 1969.
                                                                             

He became a friend of pop musicians including Joan Baez, Brian Jones and the Beatles. He taught John Lennon a finger-picking guitar style in 1968 that Lennon employed in "Dear Prudence", "Julia", "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" and other songs. Donovan's commercial fortunes waned after parting with Most in 1969, and he left the industry for a time.
Donovan continued to perform and record sporadically in the 1970s and 1980s. His musical style and hippie image were scorned by critics, especially after punk rock.
                                                        

It is now history that Donovan became the tutor of The Beatles on the famous trip to India, where he taught John, Paul and George the finger style guitar and many of his unique chord patterns, that would create many of the best songs and styles of The White Album.
Most notable John’s ‘ Dear Prudence ‘ and ‘ Julia ‘ (which John asked Donovan to help him write), Paul’s ‘ Blackbird ‘ , George’s ‘ While My Guitar Gently Weeps ‘ and many others on The White Album.
George in The Beatles Anthology said, “Donovan is all over The White Album”.
                                                            

Donovan encouraged and nurtured Harrisons’ songwriting , in particular teaching George Donovan’s other secret descending chord patterns that he did not share with John or Paul, patterns which resulted in George writing the hugely successful song ‘ Something ‘ .

And yet Donovan is much more than the creator of the first Psychedelic Album, "Sunshine Superman" announced Flower Power for the first time and presented to the world the first World Music fusions of

Folk, Classical, Jazz, Indian, Gaelic , Arabic and Caribbean. At the age of 16 Donovan set his artist vision, to return Poetry to Popular Culture and he has done so on a worldwide scale. He was 4 years younger than The Beatles, Dylan and The Rolling Stones when he achieved all this. As if this is not enough to say, he is chiefly responsible for introducing meditation and Eastern Philosophy into Modern Lifestyle and songwriting.
As highly influential and successful as Sunshine Superman album was , Donovan had already scored 4 Top Twenty singles, E.P.’s and two albums in his so-called ‘Folk Period’ of early 1965. Donovan received the prestigious Ivor Novello Award for his very first song Catch The Wind, at 18 years young.

In his first work in early 1965 the seeds of what was to come were sown. This was evident on his Classical – Jazz fusion track on his ‘Fairytale’ album of that year, ‘Sunny Goodge Street’. The lyric was first to describe the coming Bohemian Invasion of popular culture, the return of Gaelic Mythology and True Meditation as the door to The Source. Donovan was oddly compared to Bob Dylan when it was Woody Guthrie that both Donovan and Dylan emulated in their first work. The true similarity between them is that they are Poets of the highest Order.
                                                                     

It cannot be overstated that Donovan has displayed the widest variety of songwriting skill, surpassing any songwriter one can name today. The sheer range of his accomplishment is Bardic, empowering our human journey through all stages of life and, most importantly, he displays a Poets’ true vocation, reuniting us with The Source.
                                                       

Donovan in his songs of innocence, has been compared to Blake ,his metaphysical songs to Donne and Herbert, his Gaelic – Celtic songs to Yeats, his children’s songs to Stevenson, his Nonsense songs to Carroll and Lear, his Yoga songs to the Vedic Hymns, his Jazz Classical compositions to Ellington and Lewis, his poetic public appeal to Auden. He also is attributed with writing the first ‘Green Songs’ highlighting the threat to the Ecosystem of our Planet Earth.
                                                      

Sunshine Superman is his third album. It was released in the US in September 1966, but was not

released in the UK because of a contractual dispute. In June 1967, a compilation of the Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow albums was released as Sunshine Superman in the UK. Sunshine Superman was named after Donovan's hit single released in the US in July 1966. The tracks from Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow were not mixed into stereo, with the exception of "Season of the Witch", until the 2011 2-CD deluxe edition issued by UK EMI.

In 2017, Sunshine Superman was ranked the 199th greatest album of the 1960s by Pitchfork.

Donovan ‎– Sunshine Superman (Stereo Special Edition)
Label: EMI ‎– 50999-029095-2-3
Format: 2 × CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered 2011
Country: UK & Europe
Released: 1966
Genre: Rock
Style: Folk Rock, Pop Rock

The 2011 UK Stereo reissue.
In mid-2011, UK EMI issued a 2-CD set containing the entire US album in stereo for the first time.

DISC ONE (All stereo, tracks 1-10 US album plus bonus tracks)
     New US Version Stereo Album

01. Sunshine Superman     3:19
02. Legend Of A Girl Child Linda (Arranged By – John Cameron)  6:52
03. Three Kingfishers     3:19
04. Ferris Wheel     4:13
05. Bert's Blues  (Arranged By – John Cameron)  3:59
06. Season Of The Witch     4:58
07. The Trip     4:38
08. Guinevere     3:44
09. The Fat Angel     4:18
10. Celeste     4:13

Bonus Tracks

11. Breezes Of Patchuli     4:39
12. Museum (1st Version)     2:53
13. Superlungs (1st Version, Unissued Alternative Take)     4:14
14. The Land Of Doesn't Have To Be     2:43
15. Sunny South Kensington     3:57
16. Epistle To Dippy (Early Alternative Arrangement)     3:12

UK Sunshine Superman Stereo Tracks

17. Writer In The Sun     4:33
18. Hampstead Incident     4:51
19. Sunshine Superman (Long Version)     4:42

MP3 @ 320 Size: 181 MB
Flac  Size: 434 MB

 

DISC TWO (All mono, 1-12 UK album plus bonus tracks) Original UK Mono Album

01. Sunshine Superman     3:17
02. Legend Of A Girl Child Linda     6:54
03. The Observation     2:25
04. Guinevere     3:42
05. Celeste     4:12
06. Writer In The Sun     4:31
07. Season Of The Witch     4:59
08. Hampstead Incident     4:44
09. Sand And Foam     3:21
10. Young Girl Blues     3:48
11. Three Kingfishers     3:18
12. Bert's Blues     4:03

US Sunshine Superman Mono

13. Ferris Wheel     4:15
14. The Trip     4:38
15. The Fat Angel     4:11

MP3 @ 320 Size: 142 MB
Flac  Size: 312 MB
 
Personnel

Donovan – vocals, guitar, organ
Bobby Ray – bass guitar
Eddie Hoh – drums
Shawn Phillips – sitar

On "Sunshine Superman" and other tracks recorded in England:

Donovan – vocals, acoustic guitar
Jimmy Page, Eric Ford – electric guitar
John Cameron – keyboards, arrangement
Spike Heatley – bass guitar
Bobby Orr – drums
Tony Carr – percussion

DONOVAN GREATEST HITS  1969

Donovan's Greatest Hits is a distinct entry in Donovan's discography for several reasons. First, it collects three singles that were previously unreleased on any album: "Epistle to Dippy"; "There Is a

Mountain"; and "Laléna." It also presents the unedited "Sunshine Superman" (one minute and fifteen seconds longer than the original 1966 single and LP release), and most of the songs appear for the first time in stereo. Lastly, Donovan's Greatest Hits contains re-recordings of "Catch the Wind" and "Colours" with Big Jim Sullivan playing guitar, John Paul Jones on bass and keyboards and Clem Cattini on drums. Epic Records could not obtain the right to release the original recordings of these two songs, so Donovan recorded new versions in May 1968 with a full backing band and a lavish production by Mickie Most.

                                                     

Donovan's Greatest Hits marked the high point of Donovan's popularity in both the United States and United Kingdom. It also most likely had the effect of keeping many of Donovan's recordings on the shelf to avoid oversaturating the market. Nearly all of Donovan's next studio album was already recorded by the time of this release but remained unreleased until August 1969.

TRACKS

01. Epistle To Dippy     3:08
02. Sunshine Superman     4:32
03. There Is A Mountain   2:33
04. Jennifer Juniper     2:40
05. Wear Your Love Like Heaven     2:23
06. Season Of The Witch     4:54
07. Mellow Yellow     3:37
08. Colours     4:10
09. Hurdy Gurrdy Man     3:15
10. Catch The Wind     5:01
11. Lalena     2:54

MP3 @ 320 Size: 91 MB
Flac  Size: 244 MB

Steve Forbert: Little Stevie Orbit 1980

 

Steve Forbert is one of the few artists who can mesmerize a crowd with nothing but a distinctive voice,

an acoustic guitar and his trusty harmonica slung around his neck. More than four decades have passed since Forbert first made his way to New York City from Meridian, Mississippi and his intimate verbal imagery, paired with a roots-rock musical approach, struck a chord with millions of people during the transitional period between ‘70s folk-rock and ‘80s New Wave
                                                      

Forbert’s debut album, ‘Alive On Arrival’, became one of 1978's most acclaimed records. Rolling Stone contributing editor David Wild recently reflected that “now or then, you would be hard-pressed to find a debut effort that was simultaneously as fresh and accomplished,” comparing it to “a great first novel by a young author who somehow managed to split the difference between Mark Twain and J.D. Salinger.”
                                                                                                                

One track from that album, “Grand Central Station, March 18, 1977”, earned him a spot on the 2014 Village Voice list of The 60 Best Songs Ever Written About New York City, along with many musical heavyweights like Jim Croce, Tom Waits and Frank Sinatra.
                                                                                                          

Hailed by The New York Times as “an introspective, homespun philosopher,” Forbert's second album,

Jackrabbit Slim, released in 1979 achieved RIAA Gold record status on the strength of its hit single “Romeo’s Tune,” which reached #11 on the Billboard charts and helped cement his status as a genuine craftsman. Jackrabbit Slim was re-mastered and re-released in 2019 by Blue Rose Music to commemorate its 40th anniversary.                                          

​"Little Stevie Orbit" is the third album by American singer-songwriter Steve Forbert.
Forbert’s songs have been covered by a wide range of artists, from Keith Urban and Rosanne Cash to

Marty Stuart and John Popper. Forbert also appeared opposite Cyndi Lauper in her iconic music video for ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’!
Forbert has released 20 studio albums, including a Grammy-nominated tribute to Mississippi legend, Jimmie Rodgers. In 2017, An American Troubadour: The Songs of Steve Forbert was released, featuring renowned musicians like John Oates and Robert Earl Keen, performing his songs.
                                                                                          

In 2018, Forbert published his memoir Big City Cat: My Life in Folk-Rock.  “Like the earlier Bob Dylan and Patti Smith books, Forbert has a warm way of describing the pull of NYC and the ensuing challenges of getting traction, against the context of a small-town upbringing. He offers a sparkling observation about the pull of music as excellent as any I have seen,” says Entertainment Today.
                                                                              

This year, Forbert was the recipient of the 2020 Governor’s Arts Award in his home state of Mississippi, having already been inducted into the  Mississippi Musician’s Hall of Fame in 2016.

Anyone who reviews Steve's catalog of music can see the writer in the musician. His songs are as literary as they are musically vibrant. Brutally honest lyrics delivered with sensitivity create an uncommon trust with his listeners. Excelling in every decade of his career, Forbert exemplifies the heart and soul of the troubadour tradition.
                                                           

On May 1, 2020 via Blue Rose Music, Steve will release a cover record of 11 of his favorite folk-rock songs, entitled Early Morning Rain. "I recorded this album in an attempt to renew people's appreciation for the fine craftsmanship these songs represent," says Forbert, "and as an acknowledgement of how much good ‘ol songs like these have meant to me.”

TRACKS

01. Get Well Soon     3:53
02. Cellophane City     5:33
03. Song For Carmelita     1:55
04. Laughter Lou (Who Needs You?)     3:10
05. Song For Katrina     3:30
06. One More Glass Of Beer     4:20
07. Lucky     1:12
08. Rain     3:10
09. I'm An Automobile     2:58
10. Schoolgirl     3:01
11. If You've Gotta Ask You'll Never Know     2:15
12. Lonely Girl     3:23
13. A Visitor     4:27

Personnel

Steve Forbert – guitar, harmonica, vocals
Paul Errico – organ, accordion, piano on "I'm an Automobile" and "A Visitor"
Robbie Kondor – organ, piano on "I'm an Automobile" and "A Visitor"
Shane Fontayne – lead guitar
Hugh McDonald – bass
Bobby Lloyd Hicks – drums, percussion
Barry Lazarowitz – drums on "Lonely Girl"
Bill Jones – saxophone
Kenny Kosek – fiddle

CELLOPHANE CITY LYRICS

It Ain't no big secret, the trouble you're in
You wear a thin mask and it smiles and it grins
Can't get no credit can't get a loan.
It's heard at the parties yes and over the phones.

Because it's cellophane city and everyone knows
There's no secret, nothing and that's how it goes.
Cellophane city, you try as you may
There's no secret nothing, it's all on display

He stood in the kitchen, she told him a lie
She left around 7 and kissed him goodbye
She snuck across the town to a rendezvous bar
Well he knows who she is with
Yes and he knows where they are

Because it is cellophane city and everyone knows
There's no secret nothing and that is how it goes
Cellophane city, you try as you may
There's no secret nothing, it's all on display

You try to be jesus, you try to be boss
You pulled a few tricks and you hang on a cross
This sepualchre is emptying, yeah all is at peace
We know your with magdalene and you're sailing for Greece

Because it's cellophane city, and everyone knows
There's no secret nothing, and that's how it goes.
Cellophane city you try as you may
There's no secret, nothing, it's all on display.

(Evgeny Ches, from Moscow, Russia, uses plastic wrap fixed between two trees or columns as his canvas and spray paint to create the incredible animal portraits.)

MP3 @ 320 Size: 106 MB
Flac  Size: 271 MB

Albums and info about Steve, on this Blog HERE