Nina Simone - Broadway, Blues & Ballads LP [Verve]

 In contrast to her first Philips album which was politically laden with civil rights motifs, Broadway-Blues-Ballads is more playful. This album features the original performance of favorite, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood." Nina Simone was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist who worked in a broad range of musical styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop. Simone's musical style fused gospel and pop with classical music, in particular Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice.