NINA SIMONE - Sings Billie Holiday & the Gospel (2007) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Ostensibly, Nina Simone's Sings Billie Holiday & the Gospel (put together by Charly Records) would be half Billie Holiday covers and half traditional religious songs; while that's mostly true, the compilation feels more like a cobbled-together effort that stretches to fit the restrictions, sometimes failing all together. Only a couple of the tracks are even moderately known Holiday pieces ("Strange Fruit," of course, along with "Fine and Mellow" and "Don't Explain"), the others made famous by another singer and then covered later on by Holiday. For instance, Simone was almost certainly thinking of Bessie Smith's version of "Gimme a Pigfoot (And a Bottle of Beer)," not Billie Holiday's, when she covered it, and though Holiday did indeed sing "Love Me or Leave Me" back in 1940, it was hardly a huge part of her repertoire; Simone, in fact, had far greater success with it. The gospel numbers fair a little better, and though the sound quality here is not particularly fantastic, songs like "You Can't Hide" and "Sinnerman" show off her voice and extraordinary phrasing well. The inclusion of "Young, Gifted and Black" and "Just in Time" -- which are both songs Simone sang (the former, in particular, is quite well known, while the latter was made famous by Tony Bennett) but not gospel -- is a little perplexing, however, and adds to the very budget-label feel of this collection. Marisa Brown  
Nina Simone Sings Billie Holiday (1972)
1    Tell Me More & More & Then Some 5'01
2    This Year's Kisses 3'03
3    Strange Fruit 3'28
4    Fine & Mellow 8'41
5    Don't Explain 4'18
6    Give Me A Pigfoot & A Bottle Of Beer
7    Just In Time 4'47
8    Love Me Or Leave Me 4'06
Gospel According to Nina Simone (1973
9    Anytime, Anywhere 3'08
10    Sunday In Savannah 2'26
11    You Can't Hide 3'12
12    Nobody's Fault But Mine 4'14
13    To Be Young, Gifted And Black 3'43
14    Brown Baby 4'58
15    Sinnerman 12'23