Hear Nina Simone’s isolated vocals on ‘Sinnerman’
One of the greatest female vocalists of all time, Nina Simone was blessed with a uniquely ambiguous voice. Nestled somewhere between a contralto and a mezzo-soprano, her velvety sonority gave her recordings a highly textured feel that few singers have been able to replicate. In this isolated recording of Simone’s classic track ‘Sinnerman’, that irreplaceable vocal character takes centre stage.
A traditional African American spiritual inspired by Psalm 78 of the book of Exodus, ‘Sinnerman’ tells the story of a man begging for forgiveness come judgement day. One of the earliest recorded versions of the track was performed in 1956 by the Les Baxter Orchestra – led by the same composer who pioneered the decedent orchestral sounds of exotica in the ’40s and ’50s. You can read more about that here.
It’s believed that Simone first heard ‘Sinnerman’ during church visits as a young girl, where the song was sung at revivals and prayer meetings to encourage sinners to come to the altar. Speaking to Ebony in 1969, Simone revealed: “Some of my most fantastic experiences – experiences that really shake me, now that I think of them – happened in the church when we’d have these revival meetings. I’d be playiNnNnNnNnNng, boy! I’d really be playing. I loved it! Folks would be shoutin’ all over the place. Now that’s my background!” [quotes via Songfacts]
After relocating to New York City, Simone continued to perform ‘Sinnerman’ in the bars and cafes around Greenwich Village, often using it to close out her performances.” I want to shake people up so bad that when they leave a nightclub where I’ve performed,” she said of the song’s tactical placement. “I want them to be in pieces.” A recording of one such performance of ‘Sinnerman’ was made in 1962, but this didn’t see the light of day until the 2005 CD reissue of Nina at the Village Gate.
In fact, it was for her 1965 album Pastel Blues that Simone first recorded ‘Sinnerman’ in the studio. Though generally regarded as one of Nina’s most famous recordings, the track didn’t chart until decades after its initial release, peaking at number 25 on the Billboard US Jazz Digital Songs chart in 2016. Today it remains one of the most emotionally resonant songs in the soul music canon. Released at a time of immense racial turmoil, the track is perhaps just as important now as it was in the mid-1960s.
