Sinnerman. Oh Sinnerman, where you gonna run to?

Transcription

1 Oh, where you gonna run to? An old spiritual is updated again and again, each time with fabulous results. "Sinner Man" or " " is an American traditional spiritual song. The song dates to the turn of the 20th century but most modern recorded versions derive from the 1956 recording by Les Baxter. n Les Baxter ( ) studied piano at the Detroit Conservatory before moving to Los Angeles for further studies at Pepperdine College. Abandoning a concert career as a pianist, he turned to popular music as a singer. With his own orchestra, he released a number of hits including "Ruby" (1953), "Unchained Melody" (1955) and "The Poor People Of Paris" (1956). Les Baxter 1 / 5

2 Changes and additions Baxter s version were codified in 1959 by the folk music group The Weavers. The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. They sang traditional folk songs from around the world. Their hard-driving string-band style inspired the commercial "folk boom" that followed them in the 1950s and 1960s. The Weavers Pastel Blues is a studio album by Nina Simone. It was recorded in 1964 and 1965 in New York City and released in 1965 by Philips Records. The name Pastel Blues is somewhat deceiving because the songs on the album incorporate different musical styles besides the blues, such as jazz, soul and folk music. The last song on the album is "". Her definitive 10-minute-plus version is one of Nina Simone's most famous songs. 2 / 5

3 Nina Simone - Pastel Blues Nina Simone ( ) was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist. Of all the major singers of the late 20th century, Nina Simone was one of the hardest to classify. She recorded extensively in the soul, jazz, and pop idioms, often over the course of the same album; she was also comfortable with blues, gospel, and Broadway. Simone's best recorded work was issued on Philips during the mid-'60s. Here, she was arguably over-exposed, issuing seven albums within a three-year period. Simone's moody-yet-elegant vocals were like no one else's, presenting a fiercely independent soul who harbored enormous tenderness. Nina Simone Well known songs from her Philips albums have great popularity today in terms of cover versions and its use on soundtracks for various movies, TV-series, and video games. "Sinnerm an", in particular, has been featured in the TV series 3 / 5

4 Scrubs and Person of Interest, on movies such as The Thomas Crown Affair, Miami Vic, and Inland Empire, and sampled by artists such as Talib Kweli and Timbaland. The Wailers initially cut this song for Coxsone Dodd in 1965 while Bob Marley was working in the U.S. The remaining duo of Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston offer up a powerful performance, and the arrangement is equally noteworthy. Ska still ruled, although the tempo here is slowed down from the genre's norm, with the emphasis on the heaving bass line. "Sinner Man" is as close to ominous as ska could physically get. Tosh subtlety changed some of the lyrics to give this remodeled version a more Rastafarian grounding. The Tosh solo version was covered by Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor on her 2005 album Throw Down Your Arms, and by the ska-punk band Goldfinger. 4 / 5

5 Peter gonna hide Lord, it the devil, run day prayin' oughta POWER!!!!!!! (Power that was Oh that devil to day I me you He need Lord Don't, Tosh boilin' the run day be to Lord, said, was I So The sea, river, da run cried prayin' to? you All (power I I Lord) - Lord, waitin' said, child, ran (Power rock to run on Nina All see - Don't the was that to POWER!!!!!!! Oughta Rock, to cried said, hear where [3x] me the Simone rock, I bleedin' that to you boilin' day ran prayin'? Lord da me out, go sea, lord) Power, you what's day please to know were be So Lord) to the I Lyrics gonna it prayin', I can't the run All I [12x] Well said, was run you that (Power a Power, devil, Don't hide [12x] to matter to hide I boilin' Lord, I that the when run need (Instrumental) the me, you He to? Go sea, you day with was hide Lord, river, All see the you said, down, it The Lord) Don't you So waitin' me, oughta rock, was hear Power, All go that was I Oughta rock? (Power run please down on you boilin' to [8x] me Ran day bleedin' Oh to the been that cried know Lord! prayin' where Don't the Bring yeah, hide to devil So I day hide run prayin'? out, river, prayin', the I you I down, me need run to Lord) But Woh All devil, I me ain't it the see to please gonna to the was you All I yeah, the sea, (Power [3x] run that said,lord, gonna But I rock need boilin' was sea, to run help day it the POWER!!!!!!! that Woh cried was the hide you, waitin' to? Don't Lord me I So day rock,please yeah was run Lord, boilin' out, you Where rock? I lord), All said, ran you I to bleedin' All cried hide I guy hear Well on the can't to All know on go Lord, [4x] that the sea, you on - All Ime toi 5 / 5