After coming out hard in 1959 with Little Girl Blue and a string of singles on Bethlehem Records (a thorough survey of these recordings was also just released), Nina Simone signed to Colpix (Columia Pictures’ first foray into the record biz) and put in a solid few years before signing to Philips for two of her most revered albums, I Put A Spell On You and Pastel Blues. But those Colpix years were incredibly fruitful, yielding the Forbidden Fruit LP and stunning live documents Nina At Newport and Nina Simone At Town Hall. This compilation collects tracks from the rare Colpix 45s “Work Song,” “Little Liza Jane,” “Come On Back, Jack” and more, remastered in mono. 14 tracks altogether, liner notes on the back cover.

• remastered
• mono
• music label: Rhino Records 2018

reviewed by fifty-fifty clown 03/2018