This month's theme is discussing what it would be like if Hermione were sorted into Slytherin instead of Gryffindor. This also got me thinking of influential women in the music world. There are a ton of women in music that have shaped the entire landscape of music and burst through barriers, but one person comes to mind when I think of women who influenced music as a whole. That would be Nina Simone.
Nina Simone was an American singer/songwriter, musician, and civil rights activist who covered a wide range of genres including Jazz, blues, R&B, folk, and classical. Nina Simone, born Eunice Kathleen Waymon, was the 6th of 8 children born to a poor family in Tryon, North Carolina in 1933. In the beginning, she dreamed of being a concert pianist. She even, with the help of a few donors and supporters, got into the prestigious Julliard School of Music in New York City.
To fund her lessons, she performed at a bar and grill in Atlantic City, where she was told she had to sing along with her piano performances. It was around this time that she took the stage name Nina Simone because she knew that her mother would not approve of her playing "The Devil's Music".
Simone went on to record her debut album, Little Girl Blue, around 1958. Following the success of this album, she signed to Colpix Records, who relinquished all creative control to her in exchange for signing with them. She recorded pop music solely to make money and was ambivalent when it came to having a record contract, which is a sentiment she held toward the record industry for most of her career.
After Simone signed to a new label, Phillips Records which was run by the Dutch electronics company Phillips, she began writing material focusing on the inequalities the black community faced in America. This was one of many protest songs she wrote in her career. Simone went on to become a very outspoken activists during the Civil rights movement, even going on to speak and perform at civil rights meetings.
Simone left the US in 1970 and in that time recorded her last album for RCA, It is Finished. During the 80s she performed regularly at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London. She recorded a live album during this time entitled Live at Ronnie Scott's.
In 1993, she settled down in southern France and released her final album, A Single Woman. On April 21st, 2003, Nina Simone passed away in her sleep after a battle with breast cancer.
Simone is now regarded as one of the single most influential recording artists of the 20th Century. Maya Angelou wrote about her in 1970 saying:
She was even inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018. I think it is safe to say that when discussing women who shaped the playing field for women in music it would be foolish NOT to mention Miss Nina Simone.
But that'll be enough from me for one issue. Until next time, remember to keep the music alive in your soul.