'In Concert' was recorded on March 21, April 1, and April 6, 1964, at Carnegie Hall, here in Manhattan. It was produced by Hal Mooney, and released on the Philips label in the Autumn of 1964. This was Nina's her first album for the Philips, after leaving Colpix Records. This was when she transitioned into the "Voice of the Civil Rights Movement".
In most of her studio work, Nina's collaborations with orchestras either beautifully complemented her voice or overpowered it. She explored an incredibly diverse array of songs, which, while wonderfully varied, sometimes made the listening experience a little inconsistent.
On 'In Concert' Nina is accompanied by a simple quartet, with Rudy Stevenson on guitar, Lisle Atkinson on bass and Bobby Hamilton on drums, and of course, Nina's vocals and piano. I kind of wish, Nina made more records like this in a small group setting.
The songs are some of Nina's most heartfelt, "Old Jim Crow", "Pirate Jenny", "Go Limp" and especially the historic live debut of "Mississippi Goddam" were some of the most genuine musical takes on the Civil Rights movement back then. Plus, she also brings her classic hit "I Loves You, Porgy" and the jazz ballad "Don’t Smoke in Bed’ to life.
The freeload is a 24bit/192kHz vinyl rip of the 180-gram vinyl LP from the Acoustic Sounds Series reissues from 2024.
For the freeload, what are some of your favorite protest songs?
About as subtle as a flying fuckin' mallet, as my long time grad school office mate used to describe me, but "All You Fascists Bound to Lose" is pretty hard to beat, imao. Ymmv. The 2020 (?) version by the Resistance Revival Chorus featuring Rhiannon Giddens burns.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment Sleep Well, Mister President (Welterusten, Mijnheer de President) by Boudewijn de Groot and B.P. by the Electro Hippies, or Vodka by Lärm (open the borders, let the Russians in, could be worse then the mess we're living in)
ReplyDeleteTwo of my favorite "oldies" that definitely apply today:
ReplyDeletePete Seeger's Waist Deep in the Big Muddy, and
Woody Guthrie's Plane Wreck at Los Gatos (Deportees)
Ohio - CSNY
ReplyDeleteWaist Deep in the Big Muddy - Pete Seeger
The Smothers Brothers cemented their reputation as media heroes by making sure that this got on the air.
Several by Phil Ochs:
I Ain't Marching Anymore
In The Heat Of The Summer
Here's to the State of Mississippi
Cops Of The World
We Can't Make It Here - James McMurtry
ReplyDeleteThe Revolution Will Not be Televised - Gil Scott-Heron
ReplyDeleteA Change is Gonna - Sam Cooke
Mississippi Goddam - Nina Simone
Strange Fruit - Billie Holiday
Volunteered Slavery - Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Very good choice!
DeleteWoody Guthrie
ReplyDelete"This Land Is Your Land"
"All You Fascists Bound to Lose"
"Old Man Trump"
"This Train Is Bound for Glory"
Pete Seeger
“We Shall Overcome”
“If I Had a Hammer”
“Which Side Are You On?”
“Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”
Bob Dylan
“Masters of War”
“With God on Our Side”
John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
“Power to the People"
"Give Peace a Chance"
"Working Class Hero"
"Gimme Some Truth"
Country Joe and the Fish - “I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die Rag"
Odetta - “Southern Fried Blues”
Big Bill Broonzy - "In the Evening"
I've heard a lot of Woody's stuff, but never Old Man Trump...
DeleteLike father, like son...
DeletePeople Get Ready is, I guess, a gospel type protest song. Some guy wrote a song that opens with "They're selling postcards of the hanging...", I think I'd buy a few of those when available...
ReplyDeleteTrouble Every Day - The Mothers Of Invention
ReplyDeleteThanks Babs
and "It Can't Happen Here" from the same album.
DeleteTrouble Every Day is a good one and probably the most sincere (or just uncynical) thing that Frank Zappa ever wrote.
DeletePlastic People gets my vote!
DeleteZappa is a good and unexpected choice.
Delete"Eyes On the Prize" is pretty great and Delroy Wilson's "Better Must Come" underappreciated and under-recognized...
ReplyDelete"Not Tonight Honey, I’ve got the Shits" by Gary Love (1975)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2Wh1Jp0wrs
~ Jon
Gil Scott-Heron’s Johannesburg
ReplyDeleteNeil Young’s Ohio
Brother Can You Spare a Dime
Gbrand
Well, I see my thoughts about Zappa made their way through the Psychnet to several of us! I also thought of Phil Ochs, who rewrote "Here's to..." as "...the State of Richard Nixon," and included the too-prescient line, "and the speeches of the President / Are the ravings of a clown. Here's to the land / You've torn out the heart of..."
ReplyDeleteBut what sprang to my mind, before either of them, was Leon Rosselson's "Stand Up for Judas." Here's an excellent version by Dick Gaughan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmLlE6JE3EI
D in California
All of the above are great, but I would add A Change is Going to Come by Sam Cooke.
ReplyDeleteLink
ReplyDeletehttps://workupload.com/file/z4LsLyHypzR
just about anything written by Curtis Mayfield
ReplyDeletewoody
The hard-hitting and courageous social commentaries of the 'sixties - Pete Seeger's Little Boxes, almost anything by Tom Paxton ("when the black lung gets you, that's the kiss of death"), Burl Ives' Blowin' In The Wind, and who can forget Peter Paul & Mary's Where Have All The Flowers Gone? - changed minds and effected profound societal change. And leave us not forget those ahead-of-their-times troubadours Zager & Evans, whose lament for a dying earth spearheaded the ecology movement! In The Year 2525 "predicts that humanity's thoughts, relationships and bodies will be negatively impacted by technological advances and ends with mankind's extinction." [wiki]
ReplyDeleteA song (from 1965!) I only recently bumped into; Richard & Mimi Farina's House Un-American Blues Activity Dream.
ReplyDeletePatrick Sky's "Songs That Made America Famous" album.
ReplyDeleteSono.. Assurdo?
ReplyDeleteQueen's "Is This The World We Created?"
ReplyDelete