I Put A Spell On You

Sound DNA

• Jazz
• Soul Jazz

• warm
• intense
• smoky

About

<b>100 Best Albums</b> Nina Simone’s musical omnivorousness is on display in 1965’s <i>I Put a Spell on You</i>. It’s one of her most pop-skewing albums—yet it’s also, to a degree, obscured by the singer’s superlative ability to make any song unrecognizably her own. <i>I Put a Spell on You</i> became one of Simone’s most successful albums, and its title track—a string-laden, melodramatic cover of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ campy rock classic—would turn out to be Simone’s biggest single since her debut. Still, it was “Feeling Good” that ultimately became the album’s best-known track, and a cornerstone of Simone’s musical legacy, thanks in part to its placement ina 1994 Volkswagen commercial. The scale of the horn section and orchestra are no match for Simone’s vocal force on the completely reimagined show tune; it’s the rare minor-key celebratory anthem. But the album isn’t all blustering horns and weepy strings: “Tomorrow Is My Turn” is a jazzy, gently swinging tune that captures some of the same sentiment as “Feeling Good,” while “Blues on Purpose” is an intimate instrumental interlude. By putting her stamp on so many different types of songs, Simone fought against the somewhat limiting designation of “jazz singer.” “Pop singer” hardly was the best replacement, as evidenced by the way Simone’s musical edge never dulls, no matter how many layers of orchestration get layered atop it. She was simply a singular interpreter, never hampered by the ways other artists might sing a song before or after her. Whether reinterpreting musical numbers (“Beautiful Land”), temporarily transforming into a chanteuse (“Ne Me Quitte Pas,” one of three tracks originally written in French), or casually tossing up familiar-sounding R&B songs like “Gimme Some,” Simone sounds equally comfortable—and equally, relentlessly herself.

via Apple Music

Tracklist

Credits