Ain't Got No, I Got Life

"Ain't Got No/I Got Life" is a single by American singer-songwriter Nina Simone. The song also featured on her 1968 album 'Nuff Said. Compared to the single, the album version has applause from the Westbury Music Fair concert crossfaded over the beginning and end, additional overdubbed drums, and towards the end of the song the vocal is double-tracked. It is a medley of two songs from the musical Hair, with lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. The song peaked at number 2 in the UK and at number 1 in the Netherlands.^[1] It also charted on the Billboard Hot 100, where it reached number 94.^[2] The song helped Simone gain pop-popularity under a new, younger audience, and became a standard in her repertoire.^[3]

The 2006 Groovefinder remix of the song rose as high as number 30 in the UK and remained on the charts for 16 weeks. In Ireland, it peaked at number 9 and remained on the charts for 15 weeks.

In 2010, research conducted by PRS for Music revealed that the song is the second most performed in UK television advertising for its use on Müller yoghurt adverts.^[4]

The song was included in the book 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before you Die.^[3]

Covers

The song was also recorded by a British band Red Box and released in 1986 on a B-side of the single "For America". This song is also covered on Le Volume Courbe's debut I Killed My Best Friend, and on the 2010 extended edition of Jim Guthrie's Now, More Than Ever.

The song is alluded to on the 1969 album Streetnoise by Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity.

In 1970 the singer Merry Clayton included a version of the song on her debut album Gimme Shelter.

German singer Patrice recorded the song for his 2010 album, One, sampling Nina Simone's original vocals.

Canadian singer Kellylee Evans included this song on her album Nina, released in 2010.

Former Spice Girls member Melanie C recorded the song for her 2012 album Stages.

The band RNDM covered the song on their tour in 2012.

Charts

External links

• Live performance of Nina Simone singing "Ain't Got No" in 1969, on YouTube

References

1. 1 2 "Nina Simone - Ain't Got No-I Got Life". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved December 1, 2013. 
2. 1 2 "Nina Simone Chart History". Billboard.biz. Retrieved November 11, 2016. 
3. 1 2 Dimery, Robert (2010). 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before you Die (1st ed.). New York, New York: Rizzoli. ISBN 9780789320896. Retrieved November 11, 2016. 
4. ↑ "Sainsbury's song tops adverts playlist". Telegraph. April 19, 2010. Retrieved November 4, 2011. 
5. ↑ "NINA SIMONE | full Official Chart history". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 27, 2016. 

Nina Simone
Studio albums	Little Girl Blue Nina Simone and Her Friends The Amazing Nina Simone Forbidden Fruit Nina Simone Sings Ellington Broadway-Blues-Ballads I Put a Spell on You Pastel Blues Nina Simone with Strings Wild Is the Wind High Priestess of Soul Nina Simone Sings the Blues Silk & Soul Nina Simone and Piano To Love Somebody Here Comes the Sun Baltimore Fodder on My Wings A Single Woman
Compilation albums	Nina's Choice The Soul of Nina Simone The Very Best of Nina Simone
Live albums	Nina Simone at Newport Nina at the Village Gate Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall Folksy Nina Nina Simone in Concert Black Gold Live at Ronnie Scott's The Great Show Live in Paris Emergency Ward!
Live and studio albums	Nina Simone at Town Hall Let It All Out 'Nuff Said! It Is Finished
Remix albums	Remixed and Reimagined
Related articles	I Put a Spell on You (book) What Happened, Miss Simone?
Songs and singles "Ain't Got No, I Got Life" "Alone Again (Naturally)" "Angel of the Morning" "Ballad of Hollis Brown" "Baubles, Bangles, & Beads" "Black Is the Colour (Of My True Love's Hair)" "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" "Cherish" "Cotton-Eyed Joe" "Do Nothing till You Hear from Me" "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" "Exactly Like You" "Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)" "Feeling Good" "Fine and Mellow" "For All We Know" "Four Women" "Go Limp" "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" "Here Comes the Sun" "The House of the Rising Sun" "I Get Along Without You Very Well (Except Sometimes)" "I Loves You, Porgy" "I Put a Spell on You" "I Shall Be Released" "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" "If I Should Lose You" "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" "It Might as Well Be Spring" "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" "Just Like a Woman" "Lilac Wine" "Little Girl Blue" "The Look of Love" "Love Me or Leave Me" "Mississippi Goddam" "Mood Indigo" "The More I See You" "Mr. Bojangles" "My Baby Just Cares for Me" "My Sweet Lord" "My Way" "Ne me quitte pas" "Nobody" "Nobody's Fault but Mine" "Papa, Can You Hear Me?" "The Pusher" "Rich Girl" "(In My) Solitude" "Satin Doll" "Sea Lion Woman" "Sign o' the Times" "Since I Fell for You" "Sinnerman" "Someone to Watch Over Me" "Something Wonderful" "Spring Is Here" "Strange Fruit" "Summertime" "Suzanne" "Take My Hand, Precious Lord" "That's All" "That's All I Want from You" "The Times They Are a-Changin'" "To Be Young, Gifted and Black" "To Love Somebody" "Trouble in Mind" "Turn! Turn! Turn!" "Who Knows Where the Time Goes?" "Wild Is the Wind" "Willow Weep for Me" "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To"
Book:Nina Simone