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Fodder on My Wings

{{Infobox album

| name = Fodder on My Wings

| type = studio

| artist = Nina Simone

| cover = Ninasimonefodderonmywings.jpg

| released = 1982

| recorded = January 1982

| studio = Studio Davout, Paris

| genre =

| length =36:22

| label = Carrere

| producer = Yves Chamberlan, Giancarlo Cerri

| prev_title = Baltimore

| prev_year = 1978

| next_title = Nina's Back

| next_year = 1985

}}

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{rating|3.5|5}}[http://www.allmusic.com/album/r597088 Allmusic Review]

| rev3 = Pitchfork

| rev3score = 8.3/10{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/nina-simone-fodder-on-my-wings/|title=Nina Simone: Fodder on My Wings|website=Pitchfork|last=Pearce|first=Sheldon|date=April 8, 2020|access-date=April 9, 2020}}

| rev2 = Tom Hull

| rev2Score = B+ ({{Rating-Christgau|hm2}}){{cite web|last=Hull|first=Tom|author-link=Tom Hull (critic)|date=April 18, 2020|url=http://www.tomhull.com/ocston/blog/archives/2847-Music-Week.html|title=Music Week|website=Tom Hull – on the Web|access-date=July 9, 2020}}

}}

Fodder on My Wings is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It is part of her later works, and can be regarded alongside Baltimore (1978) as one of her better achievements of that period.[http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=18123 Review of Baltimore and Fodder on My Wings on Allaboutjazz.com] It is however a rather obscure album and not widely distributed. The album is one of Simone's most introspective and personal works, with songs about her father's death and her (not always pleasant) stay in Liberia, Trinidad, and Switzerland. There is some confusion about the actual title of the album and the song with almost the same title on the album, being called "Fodder on My Wings", "Fodder in My Wings", "Fodder in Her Wings" interchangeably. In 2015, the album was reissued on CD in the US by Sunnyside.[http://www.sunnysiderecords.com/artist.php?id=252&Simone&Nina#news Sunnyside Records: News] accessed December 5, 2016 In April 2020 the album was reissued on vinyl, CD and digital format with an alternative track-listing and new album artwork.

John Lewis of Uncut writes: "Simone's last decent studio LP sees her tentatively entering '80s worldbeat territory".{{cite journal |last1=Lewis |first1=John |title=Nina Simone: Fodder On My Wings |journal=Uncut |date=March 2020 |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/nina-simone-ifodder-on-my-wingsi |access-date=January 12, 2025}}

Composition

A worldbeat album, Fodder on My Wings features an array of styles that reflect the "cultural dislocation" of Simone's time living in Liberia, Trinidad, Switzerland and Barbados. According to critic John Lewis, "there are Afro-Cuban horn blasts, African drums and intense Caribbean rhythms, along with some very 1980s-sounding flirtations with digital synths and slap bass." He adds that "There Is No Balm in Gilead", an old hymn which Simone previously sung on Baltimore (1978), is re-recorded in French as "a slow, dubby waltz", while "I Was Just a Stupid Dog to Them" is a "funky, minor-key calypso" song.

Song information

"Le peuple en Suisse", on this track Simone talks about the people in Switzerland, where she lived for several years. This was not a happy time for her, and Simone found the people in Switzerland very empty and unloving.Simone, Nina; Cleary, Stephen. I Put a Spell on You, 1992 (Da Capo Press), {{ISBN|0-679-41068-6}}

Cover art

The album cover shows a painting made by Gabriel Jarnier.

Track listing

All songs written by Nina Simone except where noted.

Original LP

  1. "I Sing Just to Know That I'm Alive" – 2:23
  2. "Fodder in Her Wings" – 5:34
  3. "Vous êtes seul, mais je désire être avec vous" – 5:30
  4. "Il y a un baume à Gilead" – 2:21
  5. "Heaven Belongs to You (Le ciel t'appartiendra)" – 3:38
  6. "Liberian Calypso" – 2:59
  7. "Thandewye" – 5:31
  8. "I Was Just a Stupid Dog to Them" – 2:25
  9. "Color Is a Beautiful Thing" – 1:03
  10. "There Is No Returning (Le peuple en Suisse)" – 4:58

Additional CD tracks

  2. "Alone Again (Naturally)" (Gilbert O'Sullivan, Simone) – 6:27
  3. "Stop" – 2:19
  4. "They Took My Hand" – 0:34

The bonus tracks were first released on the digital reissue of the album in 1988 on the French CY Records label. The CD's track order varies from the original LP.

2020 Reissue

In April 2020, the album was reissued on vinyl, CD, and digital format by Verve/UMe/Universal with an alternative track listing and new album artwork.

  1. "I Sing Just to Know That I'm Alive" – 2:23
  2. "Fodder in Her Wings" – 5:35
  3. "Vous êtes seul, mais je désire être avec vous" – 4:30
  4. "Il y a un baume à Gilead" – 2:21
  5. "Liberian Calypso" – 2:59
  6. "Alone Again (Naturally)" - 6:27
  7. "I Was Just a Stupid Dog to Them" – 2:25
  8. "Color is a Beautiful Thing" – 1:03
  9. "Le peuple en Suisse" – 4:58
  10. "Heaven Belongs to You" - 3:38
  11. "Thandewye" – 5:31
  12. "Stop" - 2:19
  13. "They Took My Hand" – 0:34

Personnel

  • Nina Simone – vocals, piano, tambourine, harmony vocals, arrangements, conductor
  • Sylvin Marc – bass, vocals
  • Paco Sery – percussion
  • Sydney Thaim – congas, bells, wood block{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jRoy0ZDBRwAC|page=315|title=Princess Noire: The Tumultuous Reign of Nina Simone|first=Nadine|last=Cohodas|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|year=2012|isbn=9780807882740}}

Charts

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

|+Chart performance for Fodder on My Wings

scope="col"| Chart (2020)

! scope="col"| Peak
position

{{album chart|Austria|57|artist=Nina Simone|album=Fodder on My Wings|rowheader=true|accessdate=June 11, 2020}}
{{album chart|Portugal|29|artist=Nina Simone|album=Fodder on My Wings|rowheader=true|accessdate=June 7, 2020}}
scope="row"| US Jazz Albums

|22{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/nina-simone/chart-history/jls/|title=Nina Simone - Chart History (Jazz Albums)|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=March 14, 2021}}

References

{{reflist}}

{{Nina Simone}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1982 albums

Category:Nina Simone albums

Category:Sunnyside Records albums

Category:World music albums by American artists

Category:Worldbeat albums