Nina Simone: The Unconventional Voice of the Civil Rights Movement
Eunice Kathleen Waymon, known professionally as Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, composer, arranger, and civil rights activist. Nina Simone was also a pianist. She performed music in various genres, including pop, jazz, classical, folk, gospel, blues, and R&B.
Simone, born into a low-income family in Tryon, North Carolina, as the sixth of eight children, initially wanted to become a concert pianist. She was able to enroll in the Juilliard School of Music in New York City with a bit of assistance from a few friends in her hometown. She then applied for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia but was rejected despite a positive audition.
Simone sang at the Midtown Bar & Grill on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where the proprietor requested that she sing as a tenor to pay for her private lessons. She could sing and play the piano, bringing in an extra $90 every week. She started using the stage name "Nina Simone" in 1954. Her boyfriend Chico gave her the moniker "Nina," which is derived from the word "nia," and "Simone," which she got from the French actress Simone Signoret, whom she had seen in the 1952 film Casque d'Or.
She concealed her new stage identity because she knew her mother would disapprove of her playing "the Devil's music." Simone developed a small but devoted following because of her performances at the bar, which combined jazz, blues, and classical music.
Simone obtained a deal with Colpix Records following the success of Little Girl Blue, and she went on to record other studio and live albums. Colpix gave up total artistic authority in return for her signing the contract with them, including the option of the content that would be recorded.
Simone rose to popularity in Greenwich Village after the release of her live album Nina Simone at Town Hall. By this point, Simone was unconcerned about getting a recording contract and solely performed pop songs to earn money to fund her classical music studies. For most of her career, she maintained this perspective on the record business.
In December 1961, Simone wed Detective Andrew Stroud of the New York Police Department. He managed her for a while and is the biological father of Lisa, but he later mistreated Simone physically and psychologically.
At civil rights gatherings, such as the Selma to Montgomery marches, Simone gave speeches and performed. In contrast to Martin Luther King Jr.'s nonviolent strategy, she backed black nationalism and urged violent revolution, just like Malcolm X, her neighbour in Mount Vernon, New York.
Her involvement in events like the Selma to Montgomery marches marked a unique and influential chapter in her life and career as Simone made her presence felt not only through her powerful musical performances but her impassioned speeches. Her contributions went beyond mere entertainment; they were a reflection of her deep commitment to the cause of racial justice and equality.
One of the most noteworthy aspects of Nina Simone's involvement in the civil rights movement was her divergence from the nonviolent strategy famously championed by Martin Luther King Jr. While Dr. King advocated for peaceful protests and civil disobedience as a means to achieve change, Nina Simone took a different approach. She aligned herself more closely with the ideas of black nationalism, which emphasized the importance of self-determination and pride within the black community.
In contrast to Dr. King's nonviolence, Nina Simone, at times, expressed support for more radical tactics and even urged the possibility of a violent revolution. This position was reminiscent of Malcolm X, another prominent figure in the civil rights movement, who advocated for a more confrontational approach to achieving racial equality. Interestingly, Malcolm X was also her neighbour in Mount Vernon, New York, which likely contributed to the exchange of ideas and perspectives between the two.
Nina Simone's advocacy for black nationalism and her willingness to consider more militant strategies were rooted in her frustration with the slow pace of change and the ongoing violence and oppression faced by African Americans. While she may have diverged from the nonviolent principles of Dr. King, her perspective added complexity to the broader civil rights movement and highlighted the diversity of voices within the struggle for racial equality.
In retrospect, Nina Simone's involvement in civil rights gatherings, her support for black nationalism, and her occasional endorsement of more radical approaches serve as a reminder of the multifaceted nature of the civil rights movement. Her contributions, both musically and ideologically, remain an important part of the history of the fight for racial justice in the United States.
Even though she stated in her book she and her family viewed all races as equal, she believed that African Americans may use military conflict to establish a separate state. Simone switched from Philips to RCA Victor in 1967. On her debut RCA album, Nina Simone Sings the Blues (1967), she performed "Backlash Blues," a song penned by her friend and founder of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes. She sang Billy Taylor's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" and "I Want to Be Free" on Silk & Soul (1967).
Three days after Martin Luther King Jr.'s death, on April 7, 1968, at the Westbury Music Fair, live recordings from the event were included on the album 'Nuff Said! (1968). She sang "Why? (The King of Love Is Dead)," a song written by her bassist Gene Taylor, as a dedication to him during the performance.
She had a performance during the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival in Mount Morris Park, which was captured on camera for Questlove's Summer of Soul documentary from 2021. Furious at American prejudice, she fled the United States in 1973 and spent the rest of her life in Barbados, Africa, and Europe.
Her career was rocky, much like her personal life, and she developed a reputation for losing her cool onstage, jeering at indifferent crowds, and abruptly postponing shows. Her vocal performance of "My Baby Just Cares for Me" in a 1980s Chanel television commercial helped make her known to many new, younger listeners.
Her 1965 rendition of "Sinnerman" underwent a similar rebirth in the twenty-first century when it was remixed and became a staple of electronic dance music. She performed and toured despite being sick and had a loyal international fan base until her passing in 2003.