went on to release a number of records after creating his own label in 1972. As Cohodas comments [links added]: The first album he put out confirmed that Nina's music was the linchpin of the enterprise, Nina Simone Sings Billie Holiday - Lady Sings the Blues [1973]. Andy was no doubt hoping to capitalize on the recent movie about Holiday starring Diana Ross [called Lady Sings the Blues (1972)]. The album consisted of eight songs cobbled together from Nina's live performances and studio sessions, though there were no dates given nor or an explanation of how Andy had gotten the tracks. The cover featured a picture of Holiday - not Nina - and the music represented a Nina of the past. Roger Nupie on The Nina Simone Database suggests something similar with Gifted & Black, that the tracks on the album may be Simone's earliest existing recordings: a demo tape recorded in early 1957, that had gone on to secure her first recording contract with Bethlehem Records later that year. The songs on the demo are both a similar selection and have a similar performance style to Simone's first album recorded soon after signing the contract with Bethlehem Records and eventually released as Little Girl Blue (1959). Nupie also suggests that Stroud added strings for the release of the album based on the demo, arranged by Monk Higgins, the only musician credited on the album sleeve. The title, similarly, capitalized on Simone's single of the previous year, "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" (1969). While – like the Rolling Stone magazine reporter – taking the release date of the album at face value, Richard Mortifoglio for AllMusic considered Gifted & Black "something of a lost cabaret masterpiece", and it was as if Simone "was channeling the great cabaret artist Mabel Mercer, reminding us that apart from her deserved reputation as a socially significant African-American artist, Nina Simone was also an outstanding interpreter of the Great American Songbook." Track listing Credit Nina Simone – Primary Artist Monk Higgins - Strings arrangement Reissue In 2009, Gifted & Black was re-released along with another unofficial Simone album, Live at Berkeley (1973). The original release of Live at Berkeley also came from Stroud Productions, this time from Simone's husband's own label. The re-release was titled Gifted & Black / Live At Berkeley and was issued by Charly Records. References Nina Simone albums 1970 albums