Baltimore (album)

''Baltimore'' is the fourteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter and pianist Nina Simone, released in January 1978 by CTI Records. It was a commercial failure, failed to chart, and also received mixed reviews from critics.

History

Nina Simone was signed to CTI Records after the veteran jazz producer Creed Taylor saw her perform live in 1977 at Drury Lane, and together they would record "Baltimore," Simone's first album since 1974's ''It Is Finished''.

However, sessions for the album were very tense: Simone disagreed with Taylor's production choices—particularly his interest in a reggae sound, which first caused Simone to ask "What is this corny stuff?" Simone's dissatisfaction delayed production, but she would eventually record her vocals for the album in a single hour-long sitting. Simone would later recall of the historic barn where ''Baltimore'' was recorded "a basement in Belgium where I was forced to sing songs in order to get out of there."

Simone would later say of the album, "The material was ''not'' my personal choice, and I had no say ''whatsoever'' in the selection of songs. It was all done before I could make ''any'' decisions," leaving it unclear whether Simone—who had notably insisted on creative control in her contracts with previous labels—is referring to the final selection of tracks included on the album or the entire selection of songs ever recorded for it. While Simone may not have had full control over the song selection, she had previously chosen to perform several of the album's songs live, including "Music for Lovers" as early as 1966 (suggesting that she had some say in the songs recorded for ''Baltimore,'' as it is unlikely that Taylor would have chosen this song on his own.) ''Princess Noire,'' p. 188

Several of the songs on ''Baltimore'' were performed for Simone during the concert Taylor attended before signing her to record ''Baltimore'', including "Balm in Gilead," "Rich Girl," "Everything Must Change," and "That's All I Want from You." Additionally, Simone would rerecord "If You Pray Right," retitled "Heaven Belongs to You," on her album ''Fodder on My Wings'' and performed "If You Pray Right" and "Baltimore" for her live 1987 album ''Let It Be Me''.

The album failed to do well commercially, although it received substantial press attention. Critical reception for ''Baltimore'' was mixed.

Track listing

Side 1

# "Baltimore" (Randy Newman) – 4:37
# "Everything Must Change" (Benard Ighner) – 3:57
# "The Family" (John Hurley, Ronnie Wilkins) – 4:57
# "My Father" (Judy Collins) – 4:54

Side 2

# "Music for Lovers" (Bart Howard) – 3:40
# " Rich Girl" (Daryl Hall) – 3:11
# "That's All I Want from You" (Fritz Rotter) – 2:53
# "Forget" (Ralph Colucci, David Matthews) – 2:54
# "Balm in Gilead" (Traditional) – 2:24
# "If You Pray Right" (Traditional) – 3:17

Personnel

Musicians

*Nina Simone – vocals, piano
*Eric Gale – guitar
* Gary King – bass
*Chuck Israels, Homer Mensch, John Beal - double bass
*Jimmy Madison – drums
*Nicky Marrero – percussion
* Al Schackman – musical director, piano on "Baltimore"
*Jerry Friedman – guitar on "The Family" and "Rich Girl"
*Will Lee – bass on "Rich Girl"
*Andy Newmark – drums on "Rich Girl"
* David Matthews – string arrangements, piano on "The Family" and "Forget"
*String section:
:*Barry Finclair, Charles Libove, David Nadien, Harry Glickman, Harry Lookofsky, Herbert Sorkin, Marvin Morgenstern, Max Ellen, Richard Sortomme – violin
:*Alfred Brown, Emanuel Vardi, LaMar Alsop – viola
:*Alan Shulman, Charles McCracken, Jonathan Abramowitz – cello
*Albertine Robinson, Babi Floyd, Deborah McDuffie, Frank Floyd, Jo Armstead, Maeretha Stewart, Milt Grayson, Ray Simpson – backing vocals

Production

* Creed Taylor – producer, liner notes
* David Palmer – engineer
* White Gate – album photography
* Sib Chalawick – album design

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baltimore (Album)
1978 albums
Nina Simone albums
Albums produced by Creed Taylor
Albums arranged by David Matthews (keyboardist)
CTI Records albums
Albums recorded at Van Gelder Studio