1959
LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME * NINA SIMONE * BETHLEHEM 11021 * USA
An American standard written by Walter Donalson and Gus Khan and first sung by Ruth Etting in the Broadway play Woopee in 1928, Love Me Or Leave Me, is given an up-tempo Jazzy interpritation on the B side to Nina Simone's debut release.
Nina Simone was adopted as a top Soul singer by many Mods in the 1960s for her two deep Soul ballads Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood and I Put A Spell On You but as great a Soul singer as she was Nina Simone was not the type of artist to limit herself to one style or musical genre. Trained as a Clasical pianist she move efortlesly from Folk to Jazz to Pop, from Blues to a Show tune, to Classical and Soul.
On Love Me Or Leave Me, a Show song sung in a Jazz idiom, Nina Simone demonstrates her Classical piano playing with a beutiful and inspired solo in the style of J.S. Bach's Inventions in the middle of the song.
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| I Put A Spell On You | Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood | Baltimore |