Little Girl Blue (album)  

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Little Girl Blue is the debut album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone (1933-2003) for Bethlehem Records. It was also released as Jazz As Played in an Exclusive Side Street Club. Nina was in her early twenties at the time of this album, and still aspiring to be a classical concert pianist. She immediately sold the rights for the songs on this album to Bethlehem for 3000 dollars. In the end, this cost her royalty profits of more than a million dollars. Nina was not satisfied with the lack of effort the record company took in promoting her, and after this album she went over for a long relationship with Colpix Records. The album Nina Simone and Her Friends was released after she left, and comprised of songs that were left over from the Little Girl Blue recording session.

Information about songs on this album

• "I Loves You Porgy", from George Gershwin's opera Porgy & Bess. This was the song that started Simone's career. The single became her only Billboard top 40 hit in the United States.
• "Mood Indigo", also features on Let It All Out.
• "Love Me or Leave Me" featured on the soundtrack of Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss (1998), also features on Let It All Out.
• "Plain Gold Ring" was later covered by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
• "My Baby Just Cares for Me" is perhaps Simone's biggest hit. It was one of the last songs she recorded during the session, because the record label wanted an uptempo song to finish with. The fairly obscure song became a hit when it was re-released in the 1980s, after it had featured in a UK commercial for the Chanel no.5 perfume. It helped the almost forgotten Simone back into the limelight.

Track listing

1. "Mood Indigo" (Duke Ellington, Barney Bigard, Irving Mills)
2. "Don't Smoke in Bed" (Willard Robison)
3. "He Needs Me" (Arthur Hamilton)
4. "Little Girl Blue" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart)
5. "Love Me or Leave Me" (Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn)
6. "My Baby Just Cares for Me" (Donaldson, Kahn)
7. "Good Bait (instr)" (Tadd Dameron)
8. "Plain Gold Ring" (Earl S. Burroughs)
9. "You'll Never Walk Alone (instr)" (Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II)
10. "I Loves You Porgy" (DuBose Heyward, George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)
11. "Central Park Blues (instr)" (Nina Simone)

Personnel

• Nina Simone - vocals, piano
• Jimmy Bond - bass
• Tootie Heath - drums