Review: Nina Simone has rather been written out of popular music history because of quite how confrontational and proudly Black she was. She was just as far ahead of her times musically too and this legendary album Baltimore shows why. It arrived with no promotion and no lead singles and so it was an utter commercial failure, but the sleuths of the internet have rediscovered it over the 45 years since its release and helped to make it a cult favourite now regarded as one of the best in her oeuvre. It has distinctive reggae production and of course plenty of beautiful vocals from Simone as she tackles songs written by Judy Collins, Hall & Oates, and Randy Newman.
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