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Nina Simone questions

Posted by tag (A) on January 6, 2007 at 08:39:03

I recently picked up a German reissue (ZYX) of Nina Simone's first album (1959) on the Bethlehem label, a subsidiary of King Records. The German reissue has the original sides that ZYX leased from the UK's Charley Records.

The thing is, this LP has spectacular sonics. I have a half-dozen or so original Blue Notes and several Contemporaries, and this reissue is every bit as good as, if not better than, they are. The piano is incredibly lifelike and the vocals stunning. The only jazz record I have that is really in the same league is the Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington LP on Roulette.

My questions: does anyone have the original Bethlehem LP? What must this be like? Epochal? How is the Charley reissue? As good as what I take the ZYX to be? And, did Bethlehem make other recordings this superb or is this a case like Chess, which produced many okay recordings, some good recordings and then the nonesuch of Muddy Waters Folksinger?

Or is this simply a case of me indulging in too much Alsatian Riesling and losing all perspective?

I appreciate any responses.

Tom

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