Wild Is the Wind (album)

1966 studio album by Nina Simone

Wild is the Wind

Studio album by

Nina Simone

Released| 16 September 1966
Recorded| New York City, 1964-1965
Genre| Jazz, blues, folk, R&B
Length| 39:08
Label| Philips
Producer| Hal Mooney
Nina Simone chronology
| Let It All Out
(1965)  | Wild is the Wind
(1966)  | High Priestess of Soul
(1967)

|
|

Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
Allmusic| [1]
Pitchfork| 9.5/10[2]

Wild Is the Wind is the sixth studio album by American singer and pianist Nina Simone released by Philips Records in 1966. The album was compiled from several recordings that were left over from sessions (in 1964 and 1965) for previous Philips albums.[3]

In 2020, the album was ranked 212 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[4]

## Response

[edit]

The album was a Billboard magazine "special merit pick" on release, with the reviewer commenting: "Simone ... sets up an exceptional romantic mood that offers top listening delight".[5]

The song "Four Women" was released as a single, and gained attention when banned by the New York jazz focused radio station WLIB due to concern over the lyrics.[6]

Simone first recorded "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair" in 1955, in Philadelphia with a strings arrangement and was not intended for release at the time. (In 1970 that version appeared on the album Gifted & Black.) In April 1964 she went into a New York Studio with her band, and on the second day in the studio, she recorded the version of "Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair" that would appear on Wild Is The Wind. For the song, Simone only wanted a minimal accompaniment with her playing the piano and a bass drone. Lisle Atkinson describes what he was asked to do during his time in Nina Simone’s band: “She wanted the least amount of complication as possible—roots and 5’s, nothing too slick. I have to give Nina credit for being aware that I could bow, and she utilized it a lot. She had me playing a lot of arco in performances.”[7][better source needed]

"Wild Is The Wind" was covered by David Bowie on his 1976 album Station to Station.

"Lilac Wine" was covered by Jeff Buckley on his album Grace (1994).

The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[8] The album was also ranked the fifth best album of the 1960s by Pitchfork,[9] and the eighth-greatest album of all time by Paste.[10]

## Track listing

[edit]

No.| Title| Writer(s)| Length

|
|
|

1.| "I Love Your Lovin' Ways"|

* Bennie Benjamin
* Sol Marcus

| 2:35
2.| "Four Women"| Nina Simone| 4:24
3.| "What More Can I Say"|

* Horace Ott
* Wade Brown Jr.

| 2:48
4.| "Lilac Wine"| James Shelton| 4:13
5.| "That's All I Ask"| Horace Ott| 2:28
6.| "Break Down and Let It All Out"| Van McCoy| 2:37
7.| "Why Keep On Breaking My Heart"|

* Bennie Benjamin
* Sol Marcus

| 2:34
8.| "Wild Is the Wind"|

* Dimitri Tiomkin
* Ned Washington

| 6:56
9.| "Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair"| Traditional| 3:24
10.| "If I Should Lose You"|

* Ralph Rainger
* Leo Robin

| 3:56
11.| "Either Way I Lose"| Van McCoy| 2:43
Total length:| 39:05

## Charts

[edit]

Sales chart peaks for Wild Is the Wind Chart 1966  | Peak position

|

Billboard 200 | 110[11]
Hot R&B LPs | 12[11]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Wallace, Carvell (July 30, 2016). "Nina Simone: Wild Is the Wind". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 30, 2016.
3. ^ Richie Unterberger. "Wild Is the Wind - Nina Simone". allmusic.com. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
4. ^ "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. 22 September 2020.
5. ^ "Album Reviews - Special Merit Picks". Billboard. July 2, 1966. p. 38. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
6. ^ George Brown (December 14, 1966). "San Juan Entertainment". The Virgin Islands Daily News. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
7. ^ "Black Is the Color of My True Love’s Hair, by Nina Simone", The Music Aficionado, September 19, 2016.
8. ^ ^ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (March 12, 2010). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 978-0-7893-2074-2.
9. ^ "The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
10. ^ Paste Staff (3 June 2024). "The 300 Greatest Albums of All Time". Paste. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
11. ^ a b "Nina Simone". AllMusic. Retrieved March 15, 2012.

## External links

[edit]

* Wild Is the Wind (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)

* v
* t
* e

Nina Simone

Studio albums|

* Little Girl Blue
* The Amazing Nina Simone
* Forbidden Fruit
* Nina Simone Sings Ellington
* Broadway-Blues-Ballads
* I Put a Spell on You
* Pastel Blues
* Let It All Out
* Wild Is the Wind
* High Priestess of Soul
* Nina Simone Sings the Blues
* Silk & Soul
* Nina Simone and Piano
* To Love Somebody
* Here Comes the Sun
* Baltimore
* Fodder on My Wings
* A Single Woman

Live albums|

* Nina Simone at Town Hall
* Nina Simone at Newport
* Nina Simone at the Village Gate
* Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall
* Folksy Nina
* Nina Simone in Concert
* 'Nuff Said!
* Black Gold
* Emergency Ward!
* Live at Berkeley
* Live at Ronnie Scott's

Compilation albums|

* Nina Simone and Her Friends
* Nina's Choice
* Nina Simone with Strings
* Gifted & Black
* The Soul of Nina Simone
* The Very Best of Nina Simone
* Remixed and Reimagined

Related articles|

* Discography
* I Put a Spell on You (book)
* What Happened, Miss Simone?
* The Amazing Nina Simone (film)
* Nina (film)
* Al Schackman

* v
* t
* e

Songs and singles

* "Ain't Got No, I Got Life"
* "Alone Again (Naturally)"
* "Angel of the Morning"
* "Ballad of Hollis Brown"
* "Baubles, Bangles, & Beads"
* "Black Is the Colour (Of My True Love's Hair)"
* "Brown Eyed Handsome Man"
* "Chauffeur"
* "Cherish"
* "Cotton-Eyed Joe"
* "Do Nothing till You Hear from Me"
* "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"
* "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye"
* "Exactly Like You"
* "Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)"
* "Feeling Good"
* "Fine and Mellow"
* "For All We Know"
* "Four Women"
* "Funkier Than a Mosquito's Tweeter"
* "Go Limp"
* "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands"
* "Here Comes the Sun"
* "The House of the Rising Sun"
* "I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)"
* "I Loves You, Porgy"
* "I Put a Spell on You"
* "I Shall Be Released"
* "I Think It's Going to Rain Today"
* "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free"
* "If I Should Lose You"
* "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"
* "It Might as Well Be Spring"
* "Just Like a Woman"
* "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"
* "Lilac Wine"
* "Little Girl Blue"
* "The Look of Love"
* "Love Me or Leave Me"
* "Mississippi Goddam"
* "Mood Indigo"
* "The More I See You"
* "Mr. Bojangles"
* "My Baby Just Cares for Me"
* "My Sweet Lord"
* "My Way"
* "Ne me quitte pas"
* "Nobody"
* "Nobody's Fault but Mine"
* "Papa, Can You Hear Me?"
* "The Pusher"
* "Rich Girl"
* "Satin Doll"
* "Sea Lion Woman"
* "Sign o' the Times"
* "Since I Fell for You"
* "Sinnerman"
* "(In My) Solitude"
* "Someone to Watch Over Me"
* "Something Wonderful"
* "Spring Is Here"
* "Strange Fruit"
* "Summertime"
* "Suzanne"
* "Take My Hand, Precious Lord"
* "Tell It Like It Is"
* "That's All"
* "That's All I Want from You"
* "The Times They Are a-Changin'"
* "To Be Young, Gifted and Black"
* "To Love Somebody"
* "Trouble in Mind"
* "Turn! Turn! Turn!"
* "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?"
* "Wild Is the Wind"
* "Willow Weep for Me"
* "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To"

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

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