Emergency Ward (album)

Emergency Ward!
Studio album by Nina Simone
Released	1972
Recorded	Live at Fort Dix and studio
Genre	Vocal, soul, jazz, pop
Length	34:31
Label	RCA Victor LSP-4757
Producer	Nina Simone, Andrew Stroud, Weldon J. Irvine, Jr.
Nina Simone chronology
Here Comes the Sun (1971) Emergency Ward! (1972) It Is Finished (1974)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Record Collector	[2]

Emergency Ward! is a 1972 album released by Nina Simone. The title of the record is rendered as "Emergency Ward" on the record label itself, but as "Emergency Ward!" on the cover sleeve. The sleeve also bears the text "Nina Simone in Concert". The album is considered to be Simone's statement on the Vietnam War and has been described as "consistently thrilling" by AllMusic's Mark Richardson.^[3]

According to the liner notes, Emergency Ward! was "recorded live in concert at various locations including Fort Dix". The Japanese release consists of just three tracks. Side one is filled with an eighteen-and-a-half-minute medley of George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" and David Nelson's poem "Today Is a Killer". This is a very strong, gospel-like performance; Richardson describes it as "a powerhouse medley ... one of Simone's finest moments".^[3] It was performed together with the Bethany Baptist Church Junior Choir of South Jamaica, New York. In a 2006 review of the album, Paul Rigby of Record Collector likened "My Sweet Lord/Today Is a Killer" to the opening 15 minutes of Steven Spielberg's war film Saving Private Ryan and said that "it breathlessly knocks you for six".^[2]

Side two consists of the Lennie Bleecher–Jeremy Wind song "Poppies" and George Harrison's "Isn't It a Pity" (the latter originally a double A-side with "My Sweet Lord", the ex-Beatle's highly successful first solo single). Despite the "in concert" claim on the album cover, both of these side-two songs feel more like a studio recording than a live one. According to the booklet with The Complete RCA Albums Collection box set, tracks 1 and 4 were recorded on November 18, 1971 at Fort Dix, and tracks 2-3 were recorded at the RCA Studio in New York City.

Nina Simone improvises upon and varies the lyrics of the poem and songs, for which she takes all responsibility in the liner notes. Additional information gives credit for choral arrangements and orchestration to Weldon J. Irvine, Jr., to her brother (Sam Waymon) for vocals on "My Sweet Lord", and to her daughter Lisa Stroud (aged nine) for polyrhythms in the same song. Gratitude is expressed to Nat Shapiro and Andrew Stroud.^[4]

Track listing

Personnel

• Choral Group - Bethany Baptist Church Junior Choir of South Jamaica, New York
• Orchestrations - Weldon J. Irvine, Jr.
• Recording Engineer - Ed Begley

References

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