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"I'll tell you what freedom is to me: no fear. I mean really, no fear!" - Nina
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Nina Simone was a singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist, no popular singer was more closely associated with the Civil Rights Movement than Nina.
Nina was nicknamed “The High Priestess of Soul” and usually was billed as a jazz vocalist, but she often rejected those labels, viewing it as a reflection of her race more than her musical style and training. She self-identified as a folk singer, with a style that also incorporated blues, gospel, and pop, among others. She was able to cross genres as both a singer and pianist, and her classical background remained an important part of her music. Her voice was gravelly and smooth, grating and gorgeous, and most of all unique. She was also one of those few performers who, when she did a cover version of a song, it sounded like she wrote it.
Nina is backed by a relatively
small band that gives this album an intimate feel, with guitarists Eric Gale and Rudy Stevenson, bassist Bob Bushnell, drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, organist Ernie Hayes, and harmonica player Buddy Lucas, who doubles on tenor saxophone.
For the freeload, tell us about the first car you owned.
A used '68 Oldsmobile Cutlass. Drove it from Texas to Virginia & back, averaging around 75 MPH when the speed limit was 55...Not a "cool" car, but it got me where I wanted to go.
ReplyDeleteA 1972 bright orange VW Beetle. In 1981 it cost me £500, I had to write out ten cheques for £50 each, as that was what the cheque guarantee card covered at the time. I would have kept it but the chassis rotted through and I decided it was cheaper to replace it with a non descript Renault 5.
ReplyDeleteSadly, I don't think the beetle was capable of 75 no matter what the speed limit was!
Mustard yellow Mini Minor van. Paint faded, courtesy of Australian sun. Got it for $150.
ReplyDeleteI never had a car, but my wife drives a Honda Civic which is her first one.
ReplyDeleteMine was a '64 two-door Rambler Classic 770, bought in 1968.
ReplyDeleteRambler sponsored Mr Ed and got him on TV. Wilber drove a Rambler. I almost had my grandpa's Rambler.
DeleteOh my god, we had a Rambler Classic too! It was quite popular in Argentina. in fact, we've had two, one model 1969 and the other 1972. The station wagon model in both cases. Can`t remember the number of the model (I thin iy was 360, but I'm not sure)
DeleteThe Lord loves a Rambler!
ReplyDeleteBefore I could get Grandpa's Rambler my dad gave his used 1966 Chrysler Newport for my brother and I to share. It had a switch to go from front to rear speakers. We played hell with that switch when Edgar Winter's Frankenstein came on the radio.
ReplyDeleteFirst car I actually bought was an 8 year old '67 Mustang fastback. Thinking Steve McQueen in Bullet, naw, it was old and abused and a mechanic made it worse by adding a smog device under the carburetor because "they will require these next year."
ReplyDeleteIt never ran the same but it got me around for years.
A couple others were a 1953 Dodge Pickup and a 1949 Ford panel truck with a 1953 Corvette engine 283 and a GMC transmission. Surprising what you can bolt together.
BTW the Dodge was a 6 volt positive ground system. OK, OK. but remember when we worked on our own cars and you could sneak by without insurance?
DeleteAnd just remember, "Dwell is inverse to point gap."
My first was a 1950 Studebaker Commander for which I paid $150. It had suicide doors and the bullet nose cone on the grille to which I attached a big model airplane propeller that spun in the breeze as the car made its way down the boulevard. A lot of things broke on that Studebaker; it was my in-depth introduction to auto mechanics. I learned a lot including not to stand in a puddle while checking the robustness of the spark coming out of the ignition coil. I also learned a fair bit about girls in the back of that car—talk about cheap thrills.
ReplyDelete1966 Ford Fairlane. Very small car, especially for the mid 60s in the US, but built like a tank, so it only avg about12 mpg. Totalled when I ran over an iron bar one night, that pirouted into the gas tank, rupturing it and engulfing the car in flames.
ReplyDeleteI had a very old Audi 80. I was often the person driving to gigs, which was fun for a while, but I soon got fed up with a car full of annoying drunks on the return journey. I stopped driving to gigs as often after a Phil Guy (Buddys brother) gig in the mid 80’s, the gig was good, the return not so good, I was feeling unwell and joints were being smoked in the back seat.
ReplyDeleteThe Audi only lasted a few years, it was old VW’s for about 20 years after that.
1967 Ford Custom 500 4 door sedan purchased in 1973.
ReplyDeleteIn 1970--- a 1952 Plymouth - burgundy color with a painted on human egg on the truck. Had a rust hole in the floor board under the passenger side. Ran it for 4 months. Paid $40 for it, then it finally collapsed after carrying 4 kegs of beer up a steep hill. Sold it to a scrap dealer for $25.
ReplyDeleteEasy never learned to drive so no car..if I had one would have to be Elvis's 1960 Gold Cadillac
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ReplyDeletehttps://we.tl/t-8E28aYBqB5
The first car I can remember owning was a present from my parents when I was about 5 or 6. It was a Corgi James Bond's Gold Aston Martin DB5 with working ejector seat and spring loaded roof panel I think or was it the Corgi Batmobile with working rockets and (plastic) flames coming out of the exhaust?
ReplyDeleteI'll get me coat......
In the US we had Matchbox cars and Hot Wheels. A Corgi was a rare import, but I had a blue Jaguar sedan with working doors and hood (aka bonnet).
DeleteMy parents generously gave me the family's red 1970 Renault 16, which we picked up in France when we lived there for nine months. It was shipped back via Rotterdam. An early hatchback, you could "do amazing tricks with the seats," if you chose. The car couldn't quite make one more trip to San Francisco from L.A. in '79 or '80.
ReplyDeleteI then bought a powder-blue VW Rabbit (Golf in Europe) from a friend of the family. Not sure of the year, but it wasn't tremendously old.
D in California
Ancient Vauxhall Wyvern. Riddled with rust, it quite literally fell apart going down the hill on the way from Rickmansorth to Northwood. That was twelve quid gone. :-)
ReplyDelete1970 VW Kombi, bought used in 1974. My dad & I replaced the interior with wood paneling, of course. I put another 70K miles on it, running through untold clutch cables, a couple of clutches, a set of heads & who knows what else. I traded it in for what I paid for it & it ended its days on blocks by a lake, painted camo, serving as a duck blind.
ReplyDelete