High Priestess of Soul

High Priestess of Soul
Studio album by
Nina Simone
Released1967
RecordedNew York, 1965–1966
GenreJazz, blues, folk, R&B
Length35:51
LabelPhilips
ProducerHal Mooney
Nina Simone chronology
Wild Is the Wind
(1966) 		High Priestess of Soul
(1967) 		Nina Simone Sings the Blues
(1967)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
Pitchfork9.2/10[3]

High Priestess of Soul is a studio album by singer, pianist and songwriter Nina Simone. The songs are accompanied by a large band directed and arranged by Hal Mooney. The album contains pop songs (such as "Don't You Pay Them No Mind") and African American gospel and folk-related songs written by Simone herself (such as "Take Me to the Water" and "Come Ye"). After this album title – an attempt to broaden her appeal by management execs – Nina Simone was sometimes titled “the high priestess of soul”, although she completely rejected the title herself because it placed a label on her as an artist. However, according to her daughter, Lisa, she never hated that moniker.[4]

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  3. ^ Wallace, Carvell (30 July 2016). "Nina Simone : High Priestess of Soul". Pitchfork. Retrieved 30 July 2016.
  4. ^ [1] Archived 2014-04-27 at the Wayback Machine Simone: I never heard Mommy say she hated that moniker.