13/06/2026
We are starting the day here with a spin of Nina Simone’s I Put A Spell On you 🎶
Recorded in New York 1965, I Put a Spell on You was Nina Simone at a turning point in her career
Recorded in New York in early 1965, I Put a Spell on You captured Nina Simone at a turning point in her career.
With arranger Hal Mooney at the helm we hear lush orchestral parts that gave tracks like Feeling Good and Ne Me Quitte Pas their cinematic almost Bond like feel.
Feeling Good wasn’t written for Simone at all it came from the British musical ‘The Roar of the Greasepaint …The Smell of the Crowd’, yet she transformed it into her signature song.
At the time of these sessions, Simone was becoming increasingly outspoken about civil rights following the murder of Medgar Evers and the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing.
While her protest anthem Mississippi Goddam had already stirred controversy, this album revealed another side of her which was intimate, elegant and emotionally devastating.
This Philips pressing captures that moment just before Pastel Blues and the more openly political chapter that followed.
Do you have a favourite song, album or moment of Nina’s ?
❤️
We will be playing some absolute classics today so come down and join us for a coffee / lunch and chill inside here at Mathew Street Records ☕️✨
Music: Nina Simone - Feeling goodp
