To Love Somebody (album)

To Love Somebody is an album by jazz singer-songwriter/pianist Nina Simone. Primarily a covers album, 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".

Tracks
"Revolution" is the only original song written for the album. It 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. The song also uses a guitar lick similar to "Old Brown Shoe," which had been recorded by the Beatles the same year. John Lennon commented on the similarities in a 1971 interview with Rolling Stone:"I thought it was interesting that Nina Simone did a sort of answer to 'Revolution.' That was very good–it was sort of like 'Revolution,' but not quite. That I sort of enjoyed, somebody who reacted immediately to what I had said." The song is split into two parts as a result of the single release. "Revolution" didn't do well in the UK charts, and only had a mild success in the United States R&B charts. Simone was surprised by this 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."Simone also recorded an alternate version of "Turn! Turn! Turn!" that was (previously) unreleased.

Track listing

 * 1) "Suzanne" (Leonard Cohen) – 4:21
 * 2) "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)" (Traditional, Pete Seeger) – 3:41
 * 3) "Revolution (Part 1)" (Weldon Irvine, Simone) – 2:53
 * 4) "Revolution (Part 2)" (Weldon 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" (Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb) – 3:10
 * 8) "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" (Bob Dylan) – 4:52
 * 9) "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (Bob Dylan) – 6:00

Personnel

 * Nina Simone – vocals, piano, arrangements
 * Charles D. Alias – drums
 * Weldon J. Irvine – organ
 * Al Schackman – guitar
 * Gene A. Perla – Fender bass
 * Doris Willingham – vocals
 * Virdia Crawford – vocals
 * Jimmy Wisner – arrangements, conductor on "To Love Somebody" and "I Can't See Nobody"
 * Technical
 * Mike Moran, Ray Hall – recording engineers