I Put a Spell on You: The Autobiography of Nina Simone - Softcover

Nina Simone

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140171886 ISBN 13: 9780140171884

Publisher: Penguin UK, 1993

Synopsis

The inimitable, gorgeously talented Nina Simone (1933-2003)--the "high priestess of soul"--sets the story of her tumultuous, passionate life straight in I Put a Spell on You.

Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in small-town North Carolina, Nina Simone changed the face of both music and race relations in America. She struck a chord with bluesy jazz ballads like "Put a Little Sugar in My Bowl" and powerful protest songs such as "Mississippi Goddam" and "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black," the anthem of the American Civil Rights movement.

Here are the many lives and loves of Nina Simone, recounted in her unshakable voice.

About this title

About the Author

Stephen Cleary is a filmmaker living in London.

From Publishers Weekly

Simone grew up during the Depression in a small North Carolina town where, thanks to a farsighted music teacher and caring neighbors who paid for her lessons, she was trained as a classical pianist. After attending Juilliard on a scholarship she was rejected by the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia (a setback she attributes to the fact that she is black), and she became a nightclub entertainer, singing and accompanying herself on the piano and, with her skillful improvisations of popular songs in classical style, quickly becoming a star. In the 1960s she joined the civil rights movement and became well known as a protest singer. Then, in the 1970s and '80s, disillusioned with the U.S., she went into self-imposed exile in Africa and Europe. Unfortunately, written with freelancer Cleary, her account of these later years, in which she concentrates on personal problems and a number of tiresome love affairs, lacks the interest of the early part of the book, which describes her unusual childhood and remarkable rise to fame. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin UK
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0140171886
• ISBN 13: 9780140171884
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192