VARIOUS ARTISTS / Feeling Good Mixtape
Here is the quick 411: “Feeling Good” is a song written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricuse for the 1965 Broadway musical The Roar of the Greasepaint—The Smell of the Crowd. The musical was a hit but an even bigger hit was the Nina Simone version of the song which Nina recorded on her album I Put a Spell On You in 1965—that’s right, the same year the musical debuted.
How big was Nina’s version—well, not only was it a hit for Nina but it was used in a bunch of soundtracks for movies and television series, but also Nina’s version was sampled by (check this) Mary J. Blidge, 50 Cent and Lil Wayne.
Moreover, there have been a number of remixes of Nina’s version for clubs. I’ve included my favorite remix by Joe Claussell. Add to that three major heavyweights of jazz tenor saxophone. How heavy? Try Gene Ammons, Stanely Turretine and John Coltrane.
When I first got the idea to feature “Feeling Good” I had no idea that there would be fifteen distinctive versions that I liked in particular—actually, this song has been recorded so often and by such a variety of musicians and vocalists I should have known batter, but anyway, once again here is a drool worthy line up and a guarantee you’ll be totally knocked out by one, or two, or three, or more versions included on this Mixtape.
You got it. Enjoy. Good on and feel good!
—Kalamu ya Salaam
Feeling Good Mixtape Playlist
01 Andy Bey & The Bey Sisters - Andy Bey & The Bey Sisters
02 The Boss Is Back! - Gene Ammons
03 Let's Stay Here - Oleta Adams
04 Rough 'N' Tumble - Stanley Turrentine
05 I Put A Spell On You - Nina Simone
06 Inspiration - Lynne Arriale Trio
07 Feelin' Good At The Cadillac Club - Billy Paul
08 The John Coltrane Quartet Plays - John Coltrane
09 On a Day Like This... - Meklit Hadero
10 The Sammy Davis Jr. Show - Sammy Davis Jr. 
11 The Fantastic Jazz Harp of Dorothy Ashby - Dorothy Ashby
12 Yoyê- Joanne Griffith
13 Feeling Good - Randy Crawford & Joe Sample
14 Verve Remixed - Joe Claussell
15 Move Into Soul - Shaun Escoffery
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 29th, 2011 at 3:58 am and is filed under Cover. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
6 Responses to “VARIOUS ARTISTS / Feeling Good Mixtape”
March 29th, 2011 at 12:30 pm
Oh! I remember the first time I heard this song! It was also, I’m ashamed to say, my introduction to Nina Simone. Ashamed because I’d gone much of my life, at the time unaware of this song and of Nina herself. I was just moved by everything about it. 15 versions YOU LIKE — I can’t wait to sample — My Brothers, thanks again for this weeks contribution!
March 30th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
Thanks for this as well. Most of this generation thinks this song was written by Jennifer Hudson for the Weight Watchers commercials. LOL! The Shawn Escoffery version is rare indeed, but NOBODY… I repeat NOBODY does it like Nina.
March 30th, 2011 at 4:36 pm
…and Billy Paul’s version is in a world all in itself! Fantastic.
April 1st, 2011 at 9:52 am
Magnificent, period. Words just don’t get it, don’t cut it for the wondrousness of this. Thank you, Kalamu.
April 4th, 2011 at 2:11 pm
Baba, when you featured Meklit Hadero last week you called attention to her version of feeling good. Listening to it along with all these other version, you can really hear its uniqueness and strength. Wow.
April 5th, 2011 at 3:32 pm
dont know how many languages lynne arridale speaks, but she is well versed in the patois of swing
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