by Alan Light
“She now possesses an absolute mastery”: Don Heckman, “Growth,” review of Simone’s Fillmore East performance, Village Voice, December 18, 1969.
“This picture caught hold of me”: Nina Simone (NS), interview clip in Nina Simone Great Performances: College Concerts and Interviews (DVD), concert and interview footage from the late 1960s, released as a DVD in 2009.
“To me, we are the most beautiful creatures”: Ibid.
“I’m born of the young, gifted, and black affirmation”: Attallah Shabazz, interview by Liz Garbus, May 16, 2014.
“She made the transition”: Angela Davis, liner notes, Nina Revisited, RCA, 2015, CD.
“There is a great deal of electricity”: Come Together with Nina Simone: Black Gold Interview LP (interview LP released at the same time as the LP Black Gold and sent to select radio stations), 1970.
“If I’m in a good mood”: Ibid.
“Nina Simone is able to stand”: Maya Angelou, “Nina Simone: High Priestess of Soul,” Redbook, November 1970.
“You really could not grab ahold”: George Wein, interview by Liz Garbus, March 14, 2014.
“I don’t know the details”: Ibid.
“She had a certain kind of regality”: Stanley Crouch, interview by Liz Garbus, May 16, 2014.
“At the Village Gate”: Al Schackman, interview by Joe Hagan, 2009.
“Nina, I think you should sing”: Stanley Crouch, interview by Liz Garbus, May 16, 2014.
“Jimmy was an angel”: Al Schackman, interview by Joe Hagan, 2009.
“He was a little drunk”: Stanley Crouch, interview by Liz Garbus, May 16, 2014.
“She is Priestess”: John L. Wasserman, San Francisco Chronicle, April 28, 1971.
“If you’re striking at the heart”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, October 31, 1989.
“I didn’t know that my mother was famous”: Lisa Simone Kelly, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“By the time I started to put things together”: Ibid.
“They stayed together ten years”: Ibid.
“I went to the camp”: Ilyasah Shabazz, interview by Liz Garbus, May 16, 2014.
“The breakup was really sad”: Al Schackman, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“He treated me like a horse”: NS, appearance on Tim Sebastian (host), Hard Talk (TV program, BBC), March 25, 1999.
“All contracts were with her approval”: Andrew Stroud, interview by Joe Hagan, 2009.
“the best husband”: Gerrit De Bruin, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“He was a strong guy”: Roger Nupie, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“Andy was a son of a bitch”: Sam Waymon, interview clip, 1991, in Nina Simone: La Légende, TV movie (documentary), dir. Frank Lords, prod. La Sept, System TV, and BBC, 1992.
“Mom, she’s my blood”: Ibid.
“I always had a problem with Sam”: Al Schackman, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“I’ve had sexual relationships”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, November 10, 1989.
Simone said that she was “stupid”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, August 21, 1989.
“unfortunately, neither Nina’s grande dame intensity”: Timothy Crouse, review of Simone’s Here Comes the Sun (RCA, 1971, LP), Rolling Stone, August 5, 1971.
“All I saw was its beauty”: NS, interview by Mary Martin Niepold, August 14, 1980.
“One day I got mad”: NS, interview by Mary Martin Niepold, August 6, 1980.
“I moved everything down to Barbados”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, October 30, 1989.
“He was chasing me all over”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, July 10, 1989.
“Out of all her boyfriends”: Lisa Simone Kelly, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“I think [the Errol affair] was all theater”: Al Schackman, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“I’m her guitarist”: Al Schackman, interview by Joe Hagan, 2009.
“I meet this ambassador”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 11
“My dad was God to me”: Nina Simone (NS), interview by Mary Martin Niepold, May 8, 1980.
“Mom decided to make me lunch”: Lisa Simone Kelly, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“She made a vow”: Ibid.
“The best conversation I ever had”: Ibid.
“Early on, I thought”: Al Schackman, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“We finally realized”: Ibid.
“I said, ‘I don’t want to sing’ ”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, November 6, 1989.
“It was very strange”: Ibid.
“undoubtedly her greatest record”: Stephen Holden, review of Simone’s Emergency Ward! (RCA Victor, 1972, LP), Rolling Stone, November 9, 1972.
“Today, more than ever”: Ibid.
“As it gradually lost its buoyancy”: Angela Davis, liner notes, Nina Revisited, RCA, 2015, CD.
“I lived apart from them”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, 1990.
“My mother acts like I’ve never even left”: Ibid.
“We were brought up to think”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, May 22, 1990.
“an old man being tactful”: NS, interview by Mary Martin Niepold, May 8, 1980.
“I was determined not to see him”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, May 22, 1990.
“I wanted to see him”: Ibid.
“Nina’s relationship with her father”: Al Schackman, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“My father is here tonight”: Ibid.
“Who is this person on the other side”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, October 30, 1989.
“like stone”: Al Schackman, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“I remember Mom saying that I was a robot”: Lisa Simone Kelly, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“Nina was berating her”: Al Schackman, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“We were in that same dining hall”: Ibid.
“Those are the two places”: Lisa Simone Kelly, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“When my parents divorced”: Ibid.
“You’re just like your father”: Al Schackman, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“Whenever she looked at me”: Lisa Simone Kelly, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“Nina had an awful lot of anger”: Al Schackman, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“I think she was very resentful”: Lisa Simone Kelly, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“Nina was ill”: Leopoldo Fleming, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“She didn’t know”: NS, interview by Mary Martin Niepold, August 14, 1980.
“[The pictures] captured this anxiety”: Ibid.
“She acts as though it doesn’t exist”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, May 22, 1990.
“Well, this hurt the prime minister”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, October 29–30, 1989.
“After she divorced my dad”: Lisa Simone Kelly, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“He said, ‘The first thing I want you to know’ ”: NS, interview by Mary Martin Niepold, May 14, 1980.
“He looked just like Charlie Chaplin”: Ibid.
“He’s got more sense than anybody”: Ibid.
“The most prevalent view”: Andrew Young, interview by Stephen Cleary, January 6, 1990.
“At least with us”: Ibid.
“It’s almost like it just ended one day”: Lisa Simone Kelly, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“chased out of this country”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, July 8, 1989.
“I was angry”: Ibid.
“Through her involvement in civil rights”: Roger Nupie, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
CHAPTER 12
“They treated me like I was gold”: Nina Simone (NS), interview by Stephen Cleary, July 9, 1989.
“She said that she
had listened to me”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, July 4, 1989.
“Miriam said, ‘This is not the coat I gave you!’ ”: Leopoldo Fleming, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Africa”: NS, interview by Mary Martin Niepold, 1980.
“I was so happy”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, October 31, 1989.
“I was delighted”: Andrew Young, interview by Stephen Cleary, January 6, 1990.
“Don’t move. I’ll be back”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, November 6, 1989.
“You’ve been sent here to me”: Ibid.
“I never met a man like that”: NS, interview by Mary Anne Evans, 1984.
“I know where you’re going”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, November 6, 1989.
“She took the opportunity”: Ibid.
“It was the stupidest move”: Ibid.
“She always said Africa was the happiest time”: Roger Nupie, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“Everyday life was fulfilling”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, October 31, 1989.
“I found Nina to be very, very lonely”: Leopoldo Fleming, interview by Stephen Cleary, 1990.
“They couldn’t stand her in Africa”: Al Schackman, interview by Joe Hagan, 2009.
“I resented the fact that he said it”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, October 29–30, 1989.
“It’s always that”: Lisa Simone Kelly, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“When I got to the house”: Ibid.
“She had grown up too fast”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, October 29–30, 1989.
“For many years”: Lisa Simone Kelly, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“I said, ‘Well, then, I’m not going’ ”: Ibid.
“I let her come back”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, October 29–30, 1989.
“So what the prime minister predicted”: Ibid.
“Switzerland was the complete opposite”: Roger Nupie, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“I explained that she was very difficult”: Raymond Gonzalez, interview by Stephen Cleary, November 2, 1989.
“I am a genius”: Spencer Leigh, “Nina Simone: Maverick Singer with Forthright Political Views,” Independent, April 23, 2003.
“I cursed out the entire music industry”: NS, interview by Mary Anne Evans, 1984.
“Sometimes she just got fed up”: Leopoldo Fleming, interview by Liz Garbus.
“For what?”: Ibid.
“I talked to her”: George Wein, interview by Liz Garbus, March 14, 2014.
“I said that she was a woman”: Ibid.
“Israel is the first place”: NS, interview by Mary Martin Niepold, August 14, 1980.
“There’s a song I sing called ‘Baltimore’ ”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, 1990.
“Man, I’m telling you”: Al Schackman, interview by Joe Hagan, 2009.
“God bless you”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 13
I don’t want anything to do with her: Carrol Waymon, interview by Stephen Cleary, February 4, 1990.
“She was losing it”: Ibid.
“He was very smart”: Ibid.
“visibly shaken by her ordeal”: “Nina Simone Pleads Guilty to Tax Charges in N.Y.,” Jet magazine, November 30, 1978.
“I had to crawl to the telephone”: Nina Simone (NS), interview by Stephen Cleary, November 10, 1989.
“I had to have my neck straightened out”: Ibid.
“Everybody was all just full of joy”: Lisa Simone Kelly, interview by Andrew Stroud, 2000s.
“I avoided her as much as I could”: Andrew Stroud, interview by Lisa Simone Kelly, 2000s.
“We went out to eat”: Ilyasah Shabazz, interview by Liz Garbus, May 16, 2014.
“They figured if I got my money”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, November 6, 1989.
“By that time she was under medication”: Carrol Waymon, interview by Stephen Cleary, February 4, 1990.
“Part of it is that Nina”: Ibid.
“If we’re through with all this shit”: NS, interview by Mary Martin Niepold, 1980.
“I didn’t realize until he was dead”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, November 6, 1989.
“horrifying”: Raymond Gonzalez, interview by Liz Garbus, March 25, 2014.
“After hassling me for months”: Ibid.
“Needless to say, it wasn’t over”: Ibid.
“It’s the story of my going to Africa”: Nina Simone, appearance on Pauline Black (host), Black on Black (TV program, Channel 4, UK), 1984.
“I went back to Paris”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, November 6, 1989.
“She didn’t take her medicine”: Gerrit De Bruin, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“That was the worst period”: Ibid.
“Nina Simone, you have made this world”: Quoted by NS in interview by Stephen Cleary, November 10, 1989.
“Sanucci had twelve cars”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, May 30, 1990.
“I stopped singing love songs”: NS, interview in Arthur R. Taylor, Notes and Tones: Musician-to-Musician Interviews (New York: Perigee, 1982).
“I have to hide my blackness”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, May 30, 1990.
“She had great taste”: Paul Robinson, interview by Liz Garbus, March 25, 2014.
“If she could milk the audience”: Ibid.
“I don’t crave recognition”: NS, interview by Mary Anne Evans, 1984.
“Every artist feels that”: George Wein, interview by Liz Garbus, March 14, 2014.
“She thought that everything that was out was illegal”: Raymond Gonzalez, interview by Liz Garbus, March 25, 2014.
“By the third time”: NS, interview by Mary Anne Evans, 1984.
“He was so scared”: Roger Nupie, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“The dykes are after me”: NS quoted by Al Schackman, interview by Joe Hagan, 2009.
“I don’t have to sit here”: Ibid.
“Nina would always talk about sex”: Raymond Gonzalez, interview by Liz Garbus, March 25, 2014.
“Nina was a very shy southern girl”: Al Schackman, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“When [Lisa] had the child”: NS, interview by Mary Anne Evans, 1984.
“I’m not gonna have that child”: Ibid.
“The fact that many times”: Amiri Baraka, Digging: The Afro-American Soul of American Classical Music (Oakland: University of California Press, 2009).
“Gerrit and Raymond worked hand in hand”: Leopoldo Fleming, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“I still had a lot of unresolved issues”: Lisa Simone Kelly, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“A lot of things that I had dealt with”: Ibid.
“She couldn’t control herself”: Gerrit De Bruin, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“She lived a life”: Ibid.
CHAPTER 14
“Nina was never really gone”: Raymond Gonzalez, interview by Liz Garbus, March 25, 2014.
“I left this country”: Nina Simone (NS), appearance on Ebony/Jet Showcase (series, KHJ-TV), 1985.
“It’s hard for me”: Ibid.
“He wanted me to do more work”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, November 10, 1989.
“Sanucci was not into music”: Raymond Gonzalez, interview by Stephen Cleary, November 2, 1989.
“The performance indicated”: Ernie Santosuosso, “History of the Boston Globe’s Jazz & Blues Festival,” 1986, http://www.boston.com/jazzfest/history.shtml (no longer available), quoted in Summerwind Production’s “Nina Simone: Chronology,” http://www.summerwindproductions.com/nina/dramaturgical/chronology.html.
“still a man in the world”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, October 29–30, 1989.
“I suddenly felt more alone”: Nina Simone with Stephen Cleary, I Put a Spell on You: The Autobiography of Nina Simone (New Yor
k: Da Capo Press, 1992), p. 169.
“At the end of the night”: Paul Robinson, interview by Liz Garbus, March 25, 2014.
“It put her career on a new track”: Roger Nupie, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“over a million dollars”: Simone, I Put a Spell on You, p. 60.
“When ‘My Baby Just Cares for Me’ came along”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, November 6, 1989.
“I was at my farm”: Al Schackman, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“When Gerrit came into the picture”: Ibid.
“Al was the music”: Gerrit De Bruin, interview by Liz Garbus, March 25, 2014.
“She would call me at any hour”: Raymond Gonzalez, interview by Liz Garbus, March 25, 2014.
“Most of the time it worked”: Roger Nupie, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“I think she did enjoy performing”: Ibid.
“I think that the team made a lot of decisions”: Lisa Simone Kelly, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“All of us were asked”: Al Schackman, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“They’re to keep my stress down”: NS, interview by Stephen Cleary, November 10, 1989.
“When she’s not taking the medicine”: Raymond Gonzalez, interview by Liz Garbus, March 25, 2014.
“She used to sit in my office”: Gerrit De Bruin, interview by Liz Garbus, March 25, 2014.
“The letter he wrote”: Raymond Gonzalez, interview by Stephen Cleary, November 2, 1989.
“When she arrived”: Pete Townshend, interview by Alan Light, May 29, 2015.
“Gerrit, you got me there”: Gerrit De Bruin, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“You better get this straight”: NS, to Roland Grivelle, phone call recorded by Stephen Cleary, July 8, 1989.
“I’m very family oriented”: Raymond Gonzalez, interview by Liz Garbus, March 25, 2014.
“I didn’t prepare Lisa at all”: Ibid.
“Lisa was there”: Roger Nupie, interview by Liz Garbus, March 26, 2014.
“Lisa came”: Raymond Gonzalez, interview by Liz Garbus, March 25, 2014.
“She felt comfortable”: Leopoldo Fleming, interview by Liz Garbus, April 10, 2014.
“Elton doesn’t want you to sing like Elton”: Raymond Gonzalez, interview by Liz Garbus, March 25, 2014.