Nina Simone in Concert

Background

• Simone recorded "I Loves You, Porgy", "Plain Gold Ring", and "Don't Smoke in Bed" on her debut album Little Girl Blue.
• "Pirate Jenny" was from The Threepenny Opera by Kurt Weill and Bertold Brecht. Simone used the story within the song as a metaphor for the civil rights situation at that time. She performed it rarely, though the theatrical piece became one of her signature tunes.
• "Old Jim Crow" was a protest song against Jim Crow laws.
• "Go Limp" was a humorous folk song about a girl who is warned by her mother not to join the NAACP because it would cost her virginity. Halfway through the song Simone forgot the lyrics and invented some. At the end she received a standing ovation.
• "Mississippi Goddam" is a protest song written by Simone after the Alabama Church Bombing. A minute into the performance she addresses the audience, saying "This is a show tune, but the show hasn't been written for it yet..." This is met with nervous laughter as the primarily white audience has realized they're hearing a caustic Civil Rights protest song.

  Track listing

1. "I Loves You Porgy" – 2:18
2. "Plain Gold Ring" – 5:30
3. "Pirate Jenny" – 6:42
4. "Old Jim Crow" – 2:10
5. "Don't Smoke in Bed" – 5:30
6. "Go Limp" – 6:55
7. "Mississippi Goddam" – 4:45

   Personnel

• Nina Simone – piano, vocals, arranger
• Rudy Stevenson – guitar
• Lisle Atkinson – bass
• Bobby Hamilton – drums

  Production

• Hal Mooney – record producer
• Nat Shapiro – liner notes
• Mort Shuman – cover photo

  Charts