Nina Simone: Backlash Blues (1967)

 |   |  <1 min read

Nina Simone: Backlash Blues (1967)

Nina Simone was a rare one: she was classically trained, a political activist, furiously intolerant and increasingly strange and self-serving as her life rolled on. And that's just the broad strokes.

She was also something of a genius when it came to marrying blues, politics, soul, gospel and jazz. It is hard to think of anyone who has followed in her footsteps.

This song from the late Sixties has lyrics by her friend, the poet Langston Hughes. It was one of the last poems of his life.

He never lived to see the backlash which came as the protests against American involvement in Vietnam became more strident, the ghettos exploded, MLK and RFK were assassinated in that extraordinary year '68, black politics became increasingly militant . . .

When the backlash came it wasn't blue . . . but red with rage. 

For more one-offs, oddities or songs with an interesting back-story see From the Vaults

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   From the Vaults articles index

Son House: Levee Camp Moan (1970)

Son House: Levee Camp Moan (1970)

By 1964 when the British blues explosion was starting to take off, the great and tetchy Son House was living in retirement and spent most of days drinking. He hadn't played much since his friend... > Read more

Joe Medwick: Letter to a  Buddie(1963)

Joe Medwick: Letter to a Buddie(1963)

Soulful singer Joe Medwick coulda been a contender but somewhere along the way he lost many of the songs he wrote for the likes of Bobby Bland, and his own singles and albums didn't really get much... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

Kurt Vile: Wakin' on a Pretty Daze (Matador)

Kurt Vile: Wakin' on a Pretty Daze (Matador)

The improbably-named Philadelphian here opens this beguiling fifth album with the nine minutes-plus sorta-title track which lazily reassures his love/the listener that it's okay, he's fried,... > Read more

Charles Mingus: The Lost Album from Ronnie Scott's (Resonance/digital outlets)

Charles Mingus: The Lost Album from Ronnie Scott's (Resonance/digital outlets)

When the great bassist/composer Charles Mingus performed at Ronnie Scott's club in London in 1972, his career was in limbo. He was hugely respected but his studio sessions had dried up after the... > Read more