On November 7, Omnivore Recordings will release A Single Woman: The Complete Elektra Recordings, the definitive edition of Nina Simone’s final studio album. Available as a 2-LP set and a 21-track CD, this collection revisits the icon’s 1993 Elektra sessions with newly remastered sound, detailed new liner notes, and four previously unreleased recordings.
By the early 1990s, Nina Simone had already reshaped 20th-century music. From her groundbreaking 1959 debut Little Girl Blue to decades of genre-defying work, Simone’s artistry blended classical training, jazz sensibility, folk traditions, and searing social commentary.
In 1992, after a triumphant return to Carnegie Hall, Elektra Records executive Michael Alago approached Simone about recording again. Her reply was characteristically direct: “Get me the money… then we can talk!”
What followed was her final studio project: A Single Woman (1993). Modeled after two albums Simone loved—Frank Sinatra’s A Man Alone and Billie Holiday’s Lady in Satin—the sessions placed her unmistakable voice against the lush backdrop of a 50-piece orchestra. Produced by Andre Fischer, the album captured Simone exploring themes of love, longing, and independence in her own unflinching way.
While the original release featured ten tracks, Simone recorded much more during those sessions. She tackled material from Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Prince, and Bob Marley—songs that hinted at directions she might have pursued had this not been her last studio outing.
A Single Woman was reissued in 2006 with seven bonus tracks, but now, for the first time, the full scope of the Elektra sessions is being revealed. The Complete Elektra Recordings adds four previously unissued performances, bringing the total to 21 tracks.
The set is accompanied by extensive liner notes from David Nathan—known as the “British Ambassador of Soul.” Nathan not only details the making of the album but also shares personal reflections from his decades-long relationship with Simone, beginning with the founding of the UK Nina Simone Appreciation Society in 1965.
Nina Simone’s influence stretches across generations and genres. Her voice—simultaneously tender, defiant, and unyieldingly human—remains one of the most distinctive in music history. A Single Woman stands as her final studio statement, an album that balances intimacy and grandeur, rooted in tradition yet forward-looking.
With this expanded edition, listeners can experience Simone’s last chapter in full: her orchestral ballads, her interpretations of contemporary songwriters, and her playful takes on standards and blues. It’s the closest thing to being in the room as she shaped her final recorded legacy.
Track List — A Single Woman: The Complete Elektra Recordings
Original Album
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A Single Woman
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Lonesome Cities
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If I Should Lose You
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The Folks Who Live On The Hill
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Love’s Been Good To Me
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Papa, Can You Hear Me?
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Il N’y A Pas D’amour Heureux
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Just Say I Love Him
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The More I See You
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Marry Me
Bonus Tracks
11. The Long And Winding Road
12. The Times They Are A-Changin’
13. Sign ‘O’ The Times
14. Baseball Boogie
15. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter
16. Do I Move You? (Take 2)
17. The Times They Are A-Changin’ (Alternate Take) ★
18. No Woman, No Cry
19. Do I Move You (Take 1) ★
20. I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter (Alternate Take) ★
21. Baseball Boogie (Instrumental) ★
★ = Previously Unissued
A Single Woman: The Complete Elektra Recordings is more than a reissue—it’s the most comprehensive look yet at Nina Simone’s last studio chapter. For fans old and new, it’s a chance to hear the High Priestess of Soul in her final recorded bloom, reminding us why her voice continues to resonate across time.
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