| Pastel Blues | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 1, 1965 (1965-10-01) | |||
| Recorded | 1964–1965[1] | |||
| Length | 35:02 | |||
| Label | Philips | |||
| Producer | Hal Mooney | |||
| Nina Simone chronology | ||||
| ||||
Pastel Blues is astudio album by American singerNina Simone, released in October 1st, 1965, byPhilips Records.
The album was recorded in 1964 and 1965 inNew York City[1] and peaked at number 139 on theBillboard 200 chart,[2] as well as number 8 on theHot R&B LPs chart.[3] The album was re-issued in November 2020 byVerve andUniversal Music Enterprises as part of their "audiophile-grade" Acoustic Sounds series.[4]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [5] |
| Pitchfork | 8.7/10[6] |
| Record Mirror | [7] |
| Tom Hull | B+[8] |
Richie Unterberger ofAllMusic gave the album 3.5 stars out of 5 and called it "one of Nina Simone's more subdued mid-'60s LPs, putting the emphasis on her piano rather than band arrangements."[5] He added, "By far the most impressive track is her frantic ten-minute rendition of the traditional 'Sinnerman,' an explosive tour de force that dwarfs everything else on the album."[5]
Joe Muggs ofNoisey said, "This is theblues as both urban and urbane, delivered with full knowledge of and passion for its history, and with all the guts and power that white rockers could ever muster, but with all the finesse, sophistication and abstraction that herJuilliard classical training could bring to bear on it."[9]
In 2008,Cokemachineglow included it on the "30 'Other' Albums of the 1960s" list.[10] In 2012,Alicia Keys included it on her "25 Favorite Albums" list.[11] In 2017,Pitchfork placed it at number 21 on the "200 Best Albums of the 1960s" list.[12]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Be My Husband" | Andy Stroud | 3:19 |
| 2. | "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" | Jimmy Cox | 2:35 |
| 3. | "End of the Line" | John Edmondson, Cynthia Medley | 2:51 |
| 4. | "Trouble in Mind" | Richard Jones | 2:37 |
| 5. | "Tell Me More and More and Then Some" | Billie Holiday | 3:05 |
| 6. | "Chilly Winds Don't Blow" | Hermann Krasnow,William Lovelock | 3:59 |
| 7. | "Ain't No Use" | Rudy Stevenson | 2:55 |
| 8. | "Strange Fruit" | Lewis Allan | 3:26 |
| 9. | "Sinnerman" | Traditional; arranged byNina Simone | 10:15 |
| Total length: | 35:02 | ||
Credits adapted from liner notes.
| Chart (1965) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USBillboard 200[2][13] | 139 |
| USHot R&B LPs (Billboard)[3][13] | 8 |
| Chart (2020) | Peak position |
| USJazz Albums (Billboard)[14][13] | 18 |
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