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BBC Radio 4 LW

Book of the Week

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Serialised book readings, featuring works from various genres

Serialised book readings, featuring works of non-fiction, biography, autobiography, travel, diaries, essays, humour and history

BBC Radio 4 FM

Book of the Week: What Happened, Miss Simone?

Alan Light

Pete Nichols

Alibe Parsons

Karen Rose

Book of the Week: What Happened, Miss Simone?: Episode 5

What Happened, Miss Simone?

Episode 5

BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week, What Happened, Miss Simone?, Episode 5

By Alan Light. The story of soul legend Nina Simone.

By Alan Light. "Two things people in the [civil rights] movement would fight over. One was if you took their books. The other was if you took their Nina Simone albums.".

Inspired by the Oscar-nominated TV documentary, Alan Light's biography draws on Nina Simone's early diaries, rare interviews, childhood journals and input from her daughter Lisa Simone Kelly to paint a picture of the classically-trained pianist who became a soul legend, a leading civil rights activist and one of the most influential artists of our time.

Episode Five: Mississippi Goddam

"There were two things that people in the [civil rights] movement would fight over. One was if you took their books. The other was if you took their Nina Simone albums." - Andrew Young

Music journalist Alan Light is the author of The Holy of the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley and the Unlikely Ascent of Hallelujah, and Let's Go Crazy: Prince and the Making of Purple Rain, among others. He was editor-in-chief of the music magazines Vibe and Spin, and is a frequent contributor to the New York Times.

Writer: Alan Light
Abridger: Pete Nichols
Reader: Alibe Parsons
Producer: Karen Rose

A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

By Alan Light. The story of Nina Simone, the classically-trained pianist turned soul icon.

By Alan Light. The story of Nina Simone, the classically-trained pianist who became a soul icon. Abridged by Pete Nichols. Read by Alibe Parsons

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