To Love Somebody (album)

To Love Somebody is an album by singer-songwriter/pianist Nina Simone. 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".

Information about songs on this album

• "Suzanne", originally by Leonard Cohen.
• "Turn! Turn! Turn!", originally by Pete Seeger. Simone recorded an alternative version of the song that was (previously) unreleased.
• "Revolution" (parts 1 & 2) 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. Interestingly, the song also uses a guitar lick similar to "Old Brown Shoe," which had been recorded by The Beatles the same year. It is actually one song, but because of an unknown reason chopped in two by a two-second silence. "Revolution" didn't do well in the UK charts, and only had a mild success in the United States R&B charts. Simone didn't expect this lack of success 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.^[2]

• "To Love Somebody" and "I Can't See Nobody" are songs by the Bee Gees.
• "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", "I Shall Be Released", and "The Times They Are A-Changin'" are songs by Bob Dylan.

Track listing

1. "Suzanne" (Leonard Cohen) - 4:21
2. "Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season)" (Pete Seeger, Traditional) - 3:41
3. "Revolution (Part 1)" (Irvine, Simone) - 2:53
4. "Revolution (Part 2)" (Irvine, Simone) - 1:54
5. "To Love Somebody" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb) - 2:42
6. "I Shall Be Released" (Bob Dylan) - 3:55
7. "I Can't See Nobody" (Gibb, Gibb) - 3:10
8. "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" (Dylan) - 4:52
9. "The Times They Are A-Changin'" (Dylan) - 6:00

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ Hampton. Break Down And Let It All Out. p. 62.