| ||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.80
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in I Put a Spell on You: The Autobiography of Nina Simone for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.80, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
"Ms. Simone's vocal and piano style make her a culture unto herself."
Product Description
The mesmerizing autobiography of one of the most revered soul, jazz, and blues divas of our time-the late Nina Simone. A gorgeous, inimitable singer and songwriter, Nina Simone (1933-2003) 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. Coinciding with the re-release of her famous Philips Recordings, here are the reflections of the "High Priestess of Soul" on her own life.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
Around 1855 in North Carolina a shoot-out place between some white settlers and the last band of hostile Indians left hiding out in the mountains. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Around 1855 in North Carolina a shoot-out place between some white settlers and the last band of hostile Indians left hiding out in the mountains. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Perhaps one of the most angry books one will ever read: The incredible account of how one Eunice Kathleen Waymon, born to a Black family in South Caroline, a piano playing child prodigy tried to become a professional classical pianist. As a student she began to play in night-clubs to fund her studies and changed her name to Nina Simone so that her mother wouldn`t find out. One night the manager told her to start singing as well or get fired. Nina started using her voice, got an increasing following, cut her own version of `I loves You Porgy' and began to gain an audience with the New York Beatniks, along with Bill Cosby, John Coltrane, and Bob Dylan. She married got divorced, re-married, her career was on the rise.
But Nina was not going to go to be assimilated easily. Her sense of duty towards Black Americans gave her an edge in an era where the Civil Rights Movement was beginning to have an impact, and the fact that she began to meet some of America's top Back Intellectuals such as Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Stokey Carmichael meant Nina couldn't remain neutral. In 1963 some white supremacists burned a church, killing four young Black girls. When the news broke Nina's husband and manager Andy found her in the garage looking for materials to assemble a zip gun. She was persuaded out of going to the Southern states to seek revenge, but to write `Mississippi Goddam', a show tune with an absolutely furious message.
Though friends with Martin Luther King junior, as the 1960's wore on, Nina didn't accept non-violence and was more accepting of Black Power. By 1968 Nina portrays the USA as being on the verge of civil war, and she remembers the activists who lost their lives in the struggle and begins to castigate the leadership of the movement for what she sees as its failures to carry on the fight.
Then the book seems becomes a procession of resentments. Nina leaves the United States in 1974 disgust at the political situation and abandons her marriage. Spells in Barbados, Liberia ( with unsuccessful love affairs), Switzerland , Paris follow, but by 1978 her career is in disarray. Her ex husband and manager had not being sorting out taxes, her personal affairs and business concerns were in a sheer mess. A supposed promoter takes Nina to London to get her career going. It turns out he is a swindler, and leaves her beaten unconscious in a hotel room with unpaid bills. Nina takes an overdose. Not surprisingly the Music Industry is savagely indicted throughout the biography.
After this point `I Put A Spell On You' seems to rush forward. Nina relocates to France, starts recording and touring. There are enough fans to re-kindle interest in her work . And by 1985 , `My Baby Just Cares For Me' an obscure LP track that Nina had first recorded in 1957 , used for commercial brings Nina back into the public eye. She has survived, though is never reconciled to the USA.
Now and then one longs for some more humour, such as the account of Nina, after a few gins, making a pass at Louis Farrakhan.
The book is short, 176 pages, and came out in 1991- Nina was to live for another twelve years -so is incomplete. The lack of dates in the text makes it hard to follow at times. But overall this autobiography gives an unique insight to one of the most versatile and interesting figures in modern popular music.
But Nina was not going to go to be assimilated easily. Her sense of duty towards Black Americans gave her an edge in an era where the Civil Rights Movement was beginning to have an impact, and the fact that she began to meet some of America's top Back Intellectuals such as Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Stokey Carmichael meant Nina couldn't remain neutral. In 1963 some white supremacists burned a church, killing four young Black girls. When the news broke Nina's husband and manager Andy found her in the garage looking for materials to assemble a zip gun. She was persuaded out of going to the Southern states to seek revenge, but to write `Mississippi Goddam', a show tune with an absolutely furious message.
Though friends with Martin Luther King junior, as the 1960's wore on, Nina didn't accept non-violence and was more accepting of Black Power. By 1968 Nina portrays the USA as being on the verge of civil war, and she remembers the activists who lost their lives in the struggle and begins to castigate the leadership of the movement for what she sees as its failures to carry on the fight.
Then the book seems becomes a procession of resentments. Nina leaves the United States in 1974 disgust at the political situation and abandons her marriage. Spells in Barbados, Liberia ( with unsuccessful love affairs), Switzerland , Paris follow, but by 1978 her career is in disarray. Her ex husband and manager had not being sorting out taxes, her personal affairs and business concerns were in a sheer mess. A supposed promoter takes Nina to London to get her career going. It turns out he is a swindler, and leaves her beaten unconscious in a hotel room with unpaid bills. Nina takes an overdose. Not surprisingly the Music Industry is savagely indicted throughout the biography.
After this point `I Put A Spell On You' seems to rush forward. Nina relocates to France, starts recording and touring. There are enough fans to re-kindle interest in her work . And by 1985 , `My Baby Just Cares For Me' an obscure LP track that Nina had first recorded in 1957 , used for commercial brings Nina back into the public eye. She has survived, though is never reconciled to the USA.
Now and then one longs for some more humour, such as the account of Nina, after a few gins, making a pass at Louis Farrakhan.
The book is short, 176 pages, and came out in 1991- Nina was to live for another twelve years -so is incomplete. The lack of dates in the text makes it hard to follow at times. But overall this autobiography gives an unique insight to one of the most versatile and interesting figures in modern popular music.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A unique performer, Nina Simone is one of the most beloved artists of the 20th century. "I put a spell on you" provides information and insight about the experiences and hard work that shaped her personality and art, and led her to her path in music. The book, written by Nina Simone herself, tracks her life from early childhood onwards and provides detailed information about her desires, dreams, motivation, disappointments and struggles in life and art.
It's a wonderful book and I'd recommend it to anybody who wants to know more about the life of Nina Simone.
It's a wonderful book and I'd recommend it to anybody who wants to know more about the life of Nina Simone.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book isn't all that long, but it is very interesting. It really does seem to have been mostly written by Nina with minimal help from the co-author Stephen Cleary, and there's quite a bit about her childhood, both the good and bad aspects, and also a fair bit about her love-life. I have to admit this surprised me, as I knew she was brought up in a very religious family, and there's even a bit about her mental health problems. It IS Nina Simone as seen by Nina Simone, but it is fairly honest. I can recommend this book to all of her many fans.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Have a look inside Ms Simone.
This is the kind of story you somehow wish you could forget. Turn the clock back and just enjoy the music she made.
This is not to say the book isn't interresting. Read more
This is not to say the book isn't interresting. Read more
Published 1 month ago by P. B. Olesen
A harrowing and fascinating read.
Having admired the music of Nina Simone for years, I decided I wished to know more about the inspiration behind the songs. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Angie
La Chanteuse
Nina Simone wrote this book. There might have been a little bit of help from
Stephen Cleary but it's Nina's words that shine through. Read more
Stephen Cleary but it's Nina's words that shine through. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mr. John Gayton
Apparently a really good read ?
Got this for my partner and it was well worth the money as it kept them quiet for hours. ;-)
Published on 2 Nov 2009 by Mr. C. A. Cheslett
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Film, Television & Music > Music > Blues
- Books > Biography > Film, Television & Music > Music > Jazz
- Books > Biography > Film, Television & Music > Music > Rock & Pop
- Books > Biography > Social & Health Issues > Cultural History > African-American & Black
- Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Composers & Musicians
- Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Styles > Blues
- Books > Music, Stage & Screen > Music > Styles > Jazz
- Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Communication Studies > Media & Communication Industries > Television
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
