 Simone moved from Philips to RCA Victor during 1967 . She sang " <unk> Blues " , written by her friend Langston Hughes on her first RCA album , Nina Simone Sings the Blues ( 1967 ) . On Silk & Soul ( 1967 ) , she recorded Billy Taylor 's " I Wish I <unk> How It Would Feel to Be Free " and " Turning Point " . The album ' <unk> Said ! ( 1968 ) contains live recordings from the <unk> Music Fair , April 7 , 1968 , three days after the murder of Martin Luther King , Jr . She dedicated the whole performance to him and sang " Why ? ( The King Of Love Is Dead ) " , a song written by her bass player , Gene Taylor , directly after the news of King 's death had reached them . In the summer of 1969 , she performed at the Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem 's Mount Morris Park . 
