Search - Nina Simone :: Fodder on My Wings

Twilight Nina

John Ellis | New York, NY United States | 11/13/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Recorded in France, which allowed Nina to use a wider range of sounds and musicians than in the US, "Fodder" is largely taken up with her mourning following her father's death. Their complicated relationship gives rise to Nina's rewritten version of "Alone Again, Naturally" about his death, a practice of taking a familiar song and remaking it lyrically into autobiography she did often in concert then but seldom in the studio (no doubt due to copywright problems). Her voice is rusted steel wool on this but still expressive particularly of pain, rather like the later Billie Holiday when she was most in control. There is almost childlike humor too. It's not a great album but it has some great moments and is consistently surprising in small ways. "Fodder on My Wings" the song is one of her masterpieces. Her piano on this is as great as it ever was. It would not be the place to start (the Philips albums or the great "And Piano" is) but for anyone at all familiar with Nina it's very rewarding, and the best of her rather meager late output. Let's hope she enjoyed the rapture and worship with which the French regarded her; this was the flower of that period."

A very rare gem at last available in full on CD

G A Lankester | North London, United Kingdom | 06/24/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
I bought the vinyl LP on release in 1982, it has always been a favourite. Sure she does not have the perfect pitch of her Colpix years. However, what you have instead is that raw brand of emotion that only Nina could convey and which she did ever more in her later recordings. The lyrics are personal and heartfelt.



I defy anyone to not be affected by the insight of "There is no returning" the first part of "People en Suisse". (Has similar sentiments to the Bernstein song "Who Am I" from NS & Piano.) Then there is "Alone again naturally", at last made available. The mixture of regret and invective has never been so graphically portayed by anyone before.



This album is the successor to Baltimore; whilst it lacks the strings and sophistication of the CTI album production - it gains in being "pure" Nina and yes the RCA classic Nina Simone and Piano comes to mind. If you enjoyed that, as well as "A Single Woman" , her last studio album - you will be really glad you added this to your collection. It has aged well since its first release in 1982. Investigate and treasure.



"

....There's Just One Thing....

Rick Cornell | Reno, Nv USA | 08/12/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a 2005 reissue of Nina Simone's 1982 album, when she was firmly a French denizen, American expatriate, and child of the world. Though three of these 13 songs are done in French, the predominant feel of the album is African (especially the French song "Vous Etes Seuls, Mais Je Desire Etre Avec Vous"). Whether sophisticated ("Liberian Calypso"), childlike ("Heaven Belongs to You"), or European-classical tinged (the title track and "Color Is a Beautiful Thing"), this is a multi-cultural celebration.



The song that really drew my attention was "Alone Again, Naturally." When I think of that song, I think of the maudlin, pity-party popular version of Gilbert O'Sullivan's ca. 1973. Here, Ms. Simone does it straight--ironically straight--and reveals the song for what it really is: a searing tome to a dying father about whom the singer has powerful love-hate feelings. This is one of the most powerful odes to a parent I've ever heard, right up there with Sinead O'Connor's "You Caused Me As Much Sorrow Dead As You Did When You Were Alive."



There's Just One Thing:



To me, with all the tremendous, underrated, underappreciated jazz singers out there--past, present and future--a 5 star album requires three things, so as distinguish one from the other: great arrangements (preferably with a theme); great emotion; and great singing. Two out of three does not make a 5 star album, no matter how strongly the two resonate, IMO.



Here, Ms Simone misses more notes and strains at more high notes than any other well-regarded singer in any album I can remember hearing. It's particularly noticeable on "Stop", and IMO it's what keeps this from being a 5 star album. It's like the gymnast in the Olympics who stumbles when approaching the pommel horse; the judges just can't give her/him a 10, no matter what else s/he does.



I recommend this album; but earlier Nina Simone albums fill the bill better. RC"