Let It All Out
is one of
Nina Simone
's more adult pop-oriented mid-'60s albums, with renditions of tunes by
Duke Ellington
(
"Mood Indigo"
),
Billie Holiday
"Don't Explain"
Irving Berlin
"This Year's Kisses"
), and
Rodgers & Hart
"Little Girl Blue"
). As ever,
Simone
ranges wide in her selection:
Bob Dylan
's
"The Ballad of Hollis Brown,"
a swaggering adaptation of
"Chauffeur Blues"
(credited to her husband of the time,
Andy Stroud
), the gospel hymn "Nearer Blessed Lord," and
Van McCoy
"For Myself."
"Images"
is an a cappella adaptation of a poem about the beauty of blackness by
Waring Cuney
. All of
Philips
albums are solid, and this is no exception, although it isn't the best of them. ~ Richie Unterberger