Emergency Ward! | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | 1972 | |||
Recorded | Live at Fort Dix and studio | |||
Genre | Gospel, jazz, avant-garde | |||
Length | 34:31 | |||
Label | RCA Victor LSP-4757 | |||
Producer | Nina Simone, Andrew Stroud, Weldon J. Irvine, Jr. | |||
Nina Simone chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Record Collector | [2] |
Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [3] |
Emergency Ward! is a 1972 album released by Nina Simone. The title of the record is rendered as "Emergency Ward" on the record label itself, but as "Emergency Ward!" on the cover sleeve. The sleeve also bears the text "Nina Simone in Concert". The album is considered to be Simone's statement on the Vietnam War and has been described as "consistently thrilling" by AllMusic's Mark Richardson. [4]
According to the liner notes, Emergency Ward! was "recorded live in concert at various locations including Fort Dix". The Japanese release consists of just three tracks. Side one is filled with an eighteen-and-a-half-minute medley of George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" and David Nelson's poem "Today Is a Killer". Richardson describes the gospel-like performance as "a powerhouse medley ... one of Simone's finest moments". [4] It was performed together with the Bethany Baptist Church Junior Choir of South Jamaica, New York. In a 2006 review of the album, Paul Rigby of Record Collector likened "My Sweet Lord/Today Is a Killer" to the opening 15 minutes of Steven Spielberg's war film Saving Private Ryan and said that "it breathlessly knocks you for six". [2]
Side two consists of the Lennie Bleecher–Jeremy Wind song "Poppies" and George Harrison's "Isn't It a Pity" (the latter originally a double A-side with "My Sweet Lord", the ex-Beatle's highly successful first solo single). Despite the "in concert" claim on the album cover, according to the booklet with The Complete RCA Albums Collection box set, tracks 1 and 4 were recorded on November 18, 1971 at Fort Dix, and tracks 2-3 were recorded at the RCA Studio in New York City.
Nina Simone improvises upon and varies the lyrics of the poem and songs, for which she takes all responsibility in the liner notes. Additional information gives credit for choral arrangements and orchestration to Weldon J. Irvine, Jr., to her brother (Sam Waymon) for vocals on "My Sweet Lord", and to her daughter Lisa Stroud (aged nine) for polyrhythms in the same song. Gratitude is expressed to Nat Shapiro and Andrew Stroud. [5]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Medley: My Sweet Lord / Today Is a Killer" | George Harrison, David Nelson, Nina Simone | 18:35 |
2. | "Poppies" | Lennie Bleecher, Jeremy Wind | 4:45 |
3. | "Isn't It a Pity" | George Harrison | 11:11 |
4. | "Let It Be Me (Bonus track on the release included on The Complete RCA Albums Collection)" | Gilbert Bécaud | 5:00 |
Eunice Kathleen Waymon, known professionally as Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and pop.
"My Sweet Lord" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released in November 1970 on his triple album All Things Must Pass. It was also released as a single, Harrison's first as a solo artist, and topped charts worldwide; it was the biggest-selling single of 1971 in the UK. In America and Britain, the song was the first number-one single by an ex-Beatle. Harrison originally gave the song to his fellow Apple Records artist Billy Preston to record; this version, which Harrison co-produced, appeared on Preston's Encouraging Words album in September 1970.
"An American Trilogy" is a 1972 song medley arranged by country composer Mickey Newbury and popularized by Elvis Presley, who included it as a showstopper in his concert routines. The medley uses three 19th-century songs:
"Mary's Boy Child", also known as "Mary's Little Boy Child", is a 1956 Christmas song, written by Jester Hairston. It is widely performed as a Christmas carol.
Amazing Grace is a live album by American singer Aretha Franklin. It was recorded in January 1972 at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, with Reverend James Cleveland and the Southern California Community Choir accompanying Franklin in performance. The recording was originally released as a double album on June 1, 1972, by Atlantic Records.
"Sinner Man" or "Sinnerman" is an African American traditional spiritual song that has been recorded by a number of performers and has been incorporated in many other media and arts. The lyrics describe a sinner attempting to hide from divine justice on Judgment Day. It was recorded in the 1950s by Les Baxter, the Swan Silvertones, the Weavers and others, before Nina Simone recorded an extended version in 1965.
Weldon Jonathan Irvine Jr., also known as Master Wel, was an American composer, playwright, poet, pianist, organist, and keyboardist.
Eric Gale was an American jazz and R&B guitarist.
Let It All Out is an album by Nina Simone, released by Philips Records in February 1966.
Sings the Blues is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. This was Simone's first album for RCA Records after previously recording for Colpix Records and Philips Records. The album was also reissued in 2006 with bonus tracks, and re-packaged in 1991 by RCA/Novus as a 17-track compilation under the title The Blues.
Black Gold is a live album by American jazz musician Nina Simone recorded in 1969 at the Philharmonic Hall, New York City. She got a 1971 nomination for a Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, but lost to Aretha Franklin.
Here Comes the Sun is the thirteenth studio album by American singer Nina Simone, consisting of cover versions of songs by pop and rock musicians, released by RCA in April 1971.
Belafonte at Carnegie Hall is a live double album by Harry Belafonte issued by RCA Victor. It is the first of two Belafonte Carnegie Hall albums, and was recorded on April 19 and April 20, 1959. The concerts were benefits for The New Lincoln School and Wiltwyck School, respectively. The album stayed on the charts for over three years.
"To Be Young, Gifted and Black" is a song by Nina Simone with lyrics by Weldon Irvine. She introduced the song on August 17, 1969, to a crowd of 50,000 at the Harlem Cultural Festival, captured on broadcast video tape and released in 2021 as the documentary film Summer of Soul. Two months later, she recorded the song as part of her concert at Philharmonic Hall, a performance that resulted in her live album Black Gold (1970). Released as a single, it peaked at number 8 on the R&B chart and number 76 on the Hot 100 in January 1970. A cover version by Jamaican duo Bob and Marcia reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart in 1970.
Christmas in Vienna III is a 1995 Christmas album released by Spanish operatic tenor Plácido Domingo, French chanson and pop music star Charles Aznavour, and Norwegian crossover soprano Sissel Kyrkjebø on the Sony Classical label.
Doris Mae Akers was a biracial African-American gospel music composer, arranger and singer who is considered to be "one of the most underrated gospel composers of the 20th century [who] wrote more than 500 songs". Known for her work with the Sky Pilot Choir, she was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2001.
Ronnie Milsap Live is the first live album by country music artist Ronnie Milsap. It was recorded at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1976, the same year Milsap became a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and released that same year. Country music disc jockey and television host Ralph Emery introduced Milsap at the concert and also wrote the album's liner notes.
Gifted & Black is an unofficial studio album from jazz singer, pianist, and songwriter Nina Simone. It was originally released in 1970 by Canyon Records. However, it is thought to be a demo tape made by Simone in the spring of 1957 some months before the recording of Little Girl Blue, her first official album, in December of the same year. For the release in 1970, the original recording had strings added.
Carolina Cousins is a studio album by American country music artist Dottie West. It was released in May 1975 on RCA Victor Records and was produced by Billy Davis. Carolina Cousins was West's 24th studio recording and contained a total of ten tracks. It would be her final album release with the RCA label before moving to United Artists Records in 1976. The album contained one single, "Rollin' in Your Sweet Sunshine," which became a minor hit in 1975.