Forbidden Fruit

In Forbidden Fruit, Nina Simone sings of people in love — and of the circumstances that sometimes keep them from it. While some of the songs are conventional—in the sense that their melodies are haunting and in the love song tradition—others are concerned more with the realities of troubled love. In the latter category, for example, are “Rags and Old Iron,” “Gin House Blues,” “Work Song,” and “Forbidden Fruit.” This album, more than ever, proves Nina’s amazing versatility, and stamps her again as one of the great talents of our time.