To Love Somebody (album)
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox album
| name = To Love Somebody
| type = Album
| artist = Nina Simone
| cover = Ninasimonetolovesomebody.jpg
| alt =
| released = 1969
| recorded = 1967–69
| studio = RCA (New York City)
| genre = *Jazz
| length = 32:48
| label = RCA Victor
| producer = {{hlist|Danny Davis|Andrew Stroud}}
| prev_title = Nina Simone and Piano
| prev_year = 1969
| next_title = Black Gold
| next_year = 1970
}}
{{Album ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|first=John|last=Bush|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/to-love-somebody-mw0000466250|title=To Love Somebody Review|website=AllMusic|accessdate=December 29, 2021}}
}}
To Love Somebody is an album by jazz singer-songwriter/pianist Nina Simone. Primarily a covers album, it was released as quickly as possible to prolong the unexpected success of 'Nuff Said! The title is taken from the Bee Gees song "To Love Somebody"; her cover of the song became her second British hit single after "Ain't Got No, I Got Life".
Tracks
"Revolution" is the only original song written for the album. It was Simone's third subsequent single released in the UK after "Ain't Got No, I Got Life" and "To Love Somebody" both became hits. The song was released around the time of the same titled song by the Beatles and, although it has a similar hook ("Don't you know it's gonna be – all right") and structure, most of the lyrics differ. The song also uses a guitar lick similar to "Old Brown Shoe," which had been recorded by the Beatles the same year. John Lennon commented on the similarities in a 1971 interview with Rolling Stone:
I thought it was interesting that Nina Simone did a sort of answer to "Revolution." That was very good–it was sort of like "Revolution," but not quite. That I sort of enjoyed, somebody who reacted immediately to what I had said.{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.jannswenner.com/archives/John_Lennon_Part2.aspx|title=The Rolling Stone Interview: John Lennon, Part II|magazine=Rolling Stone|last=Wenner|first=Jann S.|authorlink=Jann Wenner|date=February 4, 1971|accessdate=February 5, 2013}}
The song is split into two parts as a result of the single release. "Revolution" didn't do well in the UK charts, and only had a mild success in the United States R&B charts. Simone was surprised by this and said to Sylvia Hampton, author of the biography Break Down and Let It All Out about this:
I don't get it. It's about a revolution, man: not just colour, but everything! It's about barriers being broken down, and they sure as hell need getting rid of. [...] We need a revolution to sort it all out and get back to God. You know how lost we are, man – it's sad.{{cite book |first=Sylvia|last=Hampton|title= Break Down And Let It All Out |publisher=Sanctuary Publishers, Ltd.|location=London, England|date=2004|isbn=978-1860745522|page= 62}}Simone also recorded an alternate version of "Turn! Turn! Turn!" that was (previously) unreleased.
Track listing
- "Suzanne" (Leonard Cohen) – 4:21
- "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)" (Traditional, Pete Seeger) – 3:41
- "Revolution (Part 1)" (Weldon Irvine, Simone) – 2:53
- "Revolution (Part 2)" (Weldon Irvine, Simone) – 1:54
- "To Love Somebody" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb) – 2:42
- "I Shall Be Released" (Bob Dylan) – 3:55
- "I Can't See Nobody" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb) – 3:10
- "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" (Bob Dylan) – 4:52
- "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (Bob Dylan) – 6:00
Personnel
- Nina Simone – vocals, piano, arrangements
- Don Alias – drums
- Weldon J. Irvine – organ
- Al Schackman – guitar
- Gene A. Perla – Fender bass
- Doris Willingham – vocals
- Virdia Crawford – vocals
- Jimmy Wisner – arrangements, conductor on "To Love Somebody" and "I Can't See Nobody"
;Technical
- Mike Moran, Ray Hall – recording engineers