Nina Simone | Pastel Blues | Vinyl

Released in October 1965 on Philips Records, Pastel Blues strips Nina Simone’s sound down to spare blues and gospel arrangements built around her piano, guitarist Al Schackman, and a small combo. The album includes a searing take on “Strange Fruit,” the anti-lynching song she carried throughout her career, alongside blues standards like “Trouble in Mind” and “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out.” It closes with the now-iconic “Sinnerman,” a traditional spiritual Simone transforms into a ten-minute, hypnotic tour de force that has since been sampled and covered widely. Pastel Blues reached the Billboard 200 and Hot R&B LPs charts and remains one of the most acclaimed records of Simone’s Philips years.

Track List

Side A

1. Be My Husband
2. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out
3. End of the Line
4. Trouble in Mind
5. Tell Me More and More and Then Some
6. Chilly Winds Don’t Blow

Side B

1. Ain’t No Use
2. Strange Fruit
3. Sinnerman

Release Details

• UPC: 0600753605714
• Label: Verve Label Group
• Format: LP Vinyl — Standard
• Genre: Jazz
• Release Date: 9/30/2016