Nina Simone – Emergency Ward LP RCA Victor SPS 33 574 White Promo 1972 Jazz

Emergency Ward! is a 1972 album released by Nina Simone. The album is considered to be Simone's statement on the Vietnam War and was described as "consistently thrilling" by AllMusic's Mark Richardson.
According to the liner notes, Emergency Ward! was "recorded live in concert at various locations including Fort Dix". The Japanese release consists of just three tracks. Side one is filled with an eighteen-and-a-half-minute medley of George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" and David Nelson's poem "Today Is a Killer". Richardson describes the gospel-like performance as "a powerhouse medley ... one of Simone's finest moments". It was performed together with the Bethany Baptist Church Junior Choir of South Jamaica, New York. In a 2006 review of the album, Paul Rigby of Record Collector likened "My Sweet Lord/Today Is a Killer" to the opening 15 minutes of Steven Spielberg's war film Saving Private Ryan and said that "it breathlessly knocks you for six".
Side two consists of the Lennie Bleecher–Jeremy Wind song "Poppies" and George Harrison's "Isn't It a Pity" (the latter originally a double A-side with "My Sweet Lord", the ex-Beatle's highly successful first solo single). Despite the "in concert" claim on the album cover, according to the booklet with The Complete RCA Albums Collection box set, tracks 1 and 4 were recorded on November 18, 1971 at Fort Dix, and tracks 2–3 were recorded at the RCA Studio in New York City.
Nina Simone improvises upon and varies the lyrics of the poem and songs, for which she takes all responsibility in the liner notes. Additional information gives credit for choral arrangements and orchestration to Weldon J. Irvine, Jr., to her brother (Sam Waymon) for vocals on "My Sweet Lord", and to her daughter Lisa Stroud (aged nine) for polyrhythms in the s…

Nina Simone ( NEE-nə sim-OHN; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American composer, concert pianist, singer, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Simone's bearing and stage presence earned her the title the High Priestess of Soul. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and pop. Her piano playing was strongly influenced by baroque and classical music, especially Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied expressive, jazz-like singing in her contralto voice. Rolling Stone named Simone one of the greatest singers on various lists.
The sixth of eight children born into a respected family in North Carolina, Simone initially aspired to be a concert pianist. With the help of a local fund set up in her hometown, she enrolled at Allen High School for Girls, then spent a summer at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City, preparing to apply for a scholarship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She failed to gain admission to Curtis, which she attributed to racism. She remained musically active until her death in 2003, two days after the institute awarded her an honorary degree.
Early in her career, to make a living, she played piano at a nightclub in Atlantic City. She changed her name to "Nina Simone" to disguise herself from family members, having chosen to play "the devil's music" or so-called "cocktail piano". She was told in the nightclub that she would have to sing to her own accompaniment, which effectively launched her career as a jazz vocalist. After making her debut with Little Girl Blue in 1958, she went on to record more than 40 albums up to 1974. She released her first and biggest hit single in the United States in 1959 with "I Loves You, Porgy", which peaked ins…