If this is blues, it's blues in the Billie Holiday sense, not the Muddy Waters one. This is one of Nina Simone's more subdued mid-'60s LPs, putting the emphasis on her piano rather than band arrangements. It's rather slanted toward torch-blues ballads like 'Strange Fruit,' 'Trouble in Mind,' Billie Holiday's own composition 'Tell Me More and More and Then Some,' and 'Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out.' Simone's then-husband, Andy Stroud, wrote 'Be My Husband,' an effective adaptation of a traditional blues chant. By far the most impressive track is her frantic ten-minute rendition of the traditional 'Sinnerman,' an explosive tour de force that dwarfs everything else on the album.

1965 – Nina Simone – Pastel Blues. “Be My Husband” (Andy Stroud) 02. “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” (Jimmie Cox) 03. Sep 07, 2017  Nina Simone Pastel Blues (FULL ALBUM) 00:00 Be My Husband 03:25 Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out 06:02 End Of The Line 00:05:55 08:55 Trouble.

Nina Simone Songs

Nina Simone Albums