I am not sure if anyone has mentioned this biography yet, but I just finished the book and found it quite interesting:



Synopsis (Published July 2009)

Born Eunice Kathleen Waymon in North Carolina at the tail-end of the Great Depression, Nina Simone was a precocious child with dreams of becoming the world’s first black classical soloist. After a rejection from an elite New York conservatoire - a rejection she always believed stemmed from the color of her skin - she began performing jazz, blues, and classical songs in a bar to fund her music studies. In 1958 her rendition of the Gershwin standard "I Loves You Porgy" became a Top 40 hit, and her subsequent debut album Little Girl Blue launched what would become an extensive singing and songwriting career. Drawing on a wealth of original interviews with Simone’s closest associates, this extraordinary biography follows her sparkling career as well as her passionate belief in racial equality that eventually led her to undergo self-imposed exile from America in 1970. Featuring rare photographs and a review of Simone’s more than 40 albums and numerous hits, this is an extensive look at the complex and extremely talented diva.

Thank you for the info. Her version of "I Put A Spell On You" is better than Creedence Clearwater Revival's, which I like. I don't know what "Ne Me Quitte Pas" means but she makes me sad when I hear her sing it.

I heard that Mary J. was attached to a project about her life?

I have "I Put A Spell On You: the autobiography of Nina Simone" Still finishing it, hadn't heard of this one LOVE her



.
[Edited 10/19/09 12:58pm]

Nina was the truth.

We will always remember the Queen of Soul but we must never forget the High Priestess of Soul!