''Forbidden Fruit'' is an album by

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, ...

. It was her second studio album for

Colpix Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia (Col) and Pictures (Pix). CBS, which owned Columbia Records, then sued Columbia Pictures for trademark infringement o ...

. The rhythm section accompanying her is the same trio as on both live albums before and after this release.

Song information

* "

Gin House Blues "Gin House Blues" is the title of two different blues songs, which have become confused over the years. Both songs were first recorded by Bessie Smith. The song originally titled "Gin House Blues" was written in 1925 by Fletcher Henderson with ...

", Simone re-recorded this song in a more upbeat way on ''

'Nuff Said! ''Nuff Said!'' is an album by jazz singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It was recorded (excluding tracks (10 and 11) at Westbury Music Fair, April 7, 1968, three days after the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. The whole program that night was ...

'' (1968). * "

Work Song A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a form of work, either sung while conducting a task (usually to coordinate timing) or a song linked to a task which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song. Definitions and ...

", written by

Oscar Brown, Jr Oscar Brown Jr. (October 10, 1926May 29, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, playwright, poet, civil rights activist, and actor. Aside from his career, Brown ran unsuccessfully for office in both the Illinois state legislature and the U. ...

and

Nat Adderley Nathaniel Carlyle Adderley (November 25, 1931 – January 2, 2000) was an American jazz trumpeter. He was the younger brother of saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, whom he supported and played with for many years. Adderley's composition " ...

tells the story of a

chain gang A chain gang or road gang is a group of prisoners chained together to perform menial or physically challenging work as a form of punishment. Such punishment might include repairing buildings, building roads, or clearing land. The system was no ...

. This song also appears on '' Nina’s Choice'' (1963), ''

Nina Simone with Strings ''Nina Simone with Strings'' is an album by Nina Simone. The album was released after she had left Colpix Records. The tracks on the album were assembled by combining unreleased material with recordings of strings. In the UK, the album's version ...

'' (1966) and, newly recorded, on '' High Priestess of Soul'' (1967). * "Forbidden Fruit", the title song, one of three on the album by

. This "humorous up-tempo take on Adam and Eve was part nursery rhyme, part call and response."Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone Nadine Cohodas – 2012 "Forbidden Fruit (CP 419, COL-CD6207), produced by Cal Lampley, featured three Oscar Brown songs, including the one picked for the title track, “Forbidden Fruit.” The humorous up-tempo take on Adam and Eve was part nursery rhyme, part call and response.

Reception

The contemporaneous ''

DownBeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' reviewer commented that ''Forbidden Fruit'' was not a jazz album, but added that "Simone demonstrates here that she has the equipment and some of the potential to be a fairly good jazz vocalist".

Track listing

# "Rags and Old Iron" ( Norman Curtis (m),

(l)) # "No Good Man" (Dan Fisher,

Irene Higginbotham Irene Higginbotham (June 11, 1918 – August 27, 1988) was an American songwriter and concert pianist. She is best known for co-writing the Billie Holiday song "Good Morning Heartache" (1946). Biography Higginbotham was born on June 11, 1918, in ...

Sammy Gallop Sammy Gallop (March 16, 1915 – February 24, 1971) was an American lyricist, known for his big band and swing songs of the 1940s and 1950s. Biography Gallop was born in Duluth, Minnesota. He originally worked as a surveyor and draftsman. On ...

) # "

" (

Fletcher Henderson James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (December 18, 1897 – December 29, 1952) was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black musi ...

(m), Henry Troy (l)) # "I'll Look Around" (George C. Cory (m), Douglas Cross (l)) # "I Love to Love" (

Lennie Hayton Leonard George Hayton (February 14, 1908 – April 24, 1971) was an American musician, composer, conductor and arranger. Hayton's trademark was a captain's hat, which he always wore at a rakish angle. Early life Hayton was born in New Yor ...

(m),

Herbert Baker Sir Herbert Baker (9 June 1862 – 4 February 1946) was an English architect remembered as the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, and a major designer of some of New Delhi's most notable government structures. He wa ...

(l)) # "

" (

(m),

(l)) # "Where Can I Go Without You?" (

Victor Young Albert Victor Young (August 8, 1899– November 10, 1956)"Victor Young, Composer, Dies of Heart Attack", ''Oakland Tribune'', November 12, 1956. was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. Biography Young is commonly said to ...

(m),

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...

(l)) # " Just Say I Love Him" (Dicitencello vuje) (Rodolfo Falvo (m), Enzo Fusco (l); Music adaptation: Jack Val and Jimmy Dale, English lyrics: Sam Ward and Martin Kalmanoff) # "Memphis in June" (

Hoagy Carmichael Hoagland Howard Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the first ...

(m),

Paul Francis Webster Paul Francis Webster (December 20, 1907 – March 18, 1984) was an American lyricist who won three Academy Awards for Best Original Song, and was nominated sixteen times for the award. Life and career Webster was born in New York City, United St ...

(l)) # "Forbidden Fruit" (

) The 2005 CD version by EMI features 11 bonus tracks roughly recorded at the same time, themselves adding up to a kind of "lost album" of approximately 40 minutes. Four of the songs - ''Porgy, I Is Your Woman Now'', ''Baubles, Bangles and Beads'', ''Gimme a Pigfoot'' (a different take), and ''Spring Is Here'' - were previously issued on ''

'' in edited form with an overdubbed string section. # " Porgy, I Is Your Woman Now" (

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. Among his best-known works are the orchestral compositions ' ...

(m), DuBose Heyward,

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the 2 ...

(l)) # "

Baubles, Bangles and Beads "Baubles, Bangles & Beads" is a popular song from the 1953 musical '' Kismet'', credited to Robert Wright and George Forrest. Background Like almost all the music in that show, the melody was based on works by Alexander Borodin, in this case th ...

" ( Robert Wright, George Forrest) # " Gimme a Pigfoot" (

Wesley Wilson Wesley Shellie Wilson (October 1, 1893 – October 10, 1958), often credited as Kid Wilson, was an American blues and jazz singer and songwriter. His stagecraft and performances with his wife and musical partner, Coot Grant, were popular w ...

) # " Ev'rytime We Say Goodbye" (

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...

) # "

Spring Is Here "Spring is Here" is a 1938 popular song composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Lorenz Hart for the musical ''I Married an Angel'' (1938), where it was introduced by Dennis King and Vivienne Segal. Rodgers and Hart had previously written a s ...

" (

Richard Rodgers Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American Musical composition, composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most ...

(m),

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include " Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", "Bewitched, Both ...

(l)) # "Lonesome Valley" (traditional) # "Golden Earrings" (

Jay Livingston Jay Livingston (born Jacob Harold Levison, March 28, 1915 – October 17, 2001) was an American composer best known as half of a song-writing duo with Ray Evans that specialized in songs composed for films. Livingston wrote music and Evans t ...

(m),

Ray Evans Raymond Bernard Evans (February 4, 1915 – February 15, 2007) was an American songwriter. He was a partner in a composing and song-writing duo with Jay Livingston, known for the songs they composed for films. Evans wrote the lyrics and Living ...

(l)) # "

My Ship "My Ship" is a popular song written for the 1941 Broadway musical '' Lady in the Dark'', with music by Kurt Weill and lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The music is marked "Andante espressivo"; Gershwin describes it as "orchestrated by Kurt to sound sweet ...

" (

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...

(m),

(l)) # " 'Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness if I Do" (

Porter Grainger Porter Grainger ( Granger; October 22, 1891 − October 30, 1948) was an American pianist, songwriter, playwright, and music publisher. Biography When Grainger was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the Granger family name did not include an "i". A ...

, Robert Graham Prince, Clarence Williams, Everett Robbins) # "

Try a Little Tenderness "Try a Little Tenderness" is a song written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly, and Harry M. Woods. Original version It was first recorded on December 8, 1932, by the Ray Noble Orchestra, with vocals by Val Rosing. Another version, also recorded ...

" (

Harry M. Woods Henry MacGregor WoodsIMDb bio for Harry M. Woods
(November 4, 1896 – January 14, 1970) was a

, Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly) # "Od Yesh Homa" (traditional)

Personnel

*Nina Simone – vocals, piano *

Al Schackman Alvin Schackman (born October 5, 1933) is an American jazz guitarist and arranger, most noted for his long association with Nina Simone as her accompanist from 1957 to 2000. Biography Born in New York, Schackman grew up in the Catskills before mov ...

– guitar * Chris White – bass *Bobby Hamilton – drums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forbidden Fruit (Nina Simone Album) 1961 albums Nina Simone albums Colpix Records albums