Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep with the record.

— Paul, Vinyl Curator

Nina Simone

Songs Of The Poets: Dylan, Harrison & Simone

1976 · RCA Victor APL1-1788 · Stereo · US · LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	RCA Victor
Catalogue number	APL1-1788
Year	1976
Mono / Stereo	Stereo
Country	US
Format	LP
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Jazz/Soul - Vocal (Folk-Rock covers)
Producer	Stroud Productions & Enterprises, Inc.; Reissue Produced by Carl Maults-By
Conductor	Nina Simone (overall); Harold Wheeler (Here Comes the Sun); Weldon Irvine (To Be Young, Gifted and Black)
Musicians	Nina Simone (vocals, piano); backing musicians uncredited on this compilation jacket, drawn from several RCA sessions 1967-1972 (arrangements by Nina Simone, Harold Wheeler, Weldon Irvine)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  APL1-1788A-1 A1 G 1
Side B:  APL1-1788B-1 A1 A 1

Condition

Cover: VG+
Vinyl: NM-

Variant chronology

1976 - US RCA Victor APL1-1788, hand-etched "G" runout (1⊙1 G APL1-1788A-1 / B-1)  <- this copy
1976 - US RCA Victor APL1-1788, alternate stamper "J1 ai" runout (later US repress) - band undocumented
1977 - Israel (Eastronics) pressing, same catalogue APL1-1788, different back-cover text
1970s(?) - Japan RCA RVP6142 pressing

This Pressing

1976 US RCA Victor first pressing (stereo), hand-etched "G" runout ("1⊙1 G APL1-1788A-1" / "B-1"), the standard APL1-1788 US label design.

The Album

Songs Of The Poets is a 1976 RCA compilation drawing together Nina Simone's interpretations of Bob Dylan and George Harrison alongside two of her own most personal compositions, framing all four writers as "poets" of the era. The tracks are pulled from her early-1970s RCA sessions, including the celebrated live Philharmonic Hall recordings later issued as Black Gold and the studio-and-live Here Comes the Sun album, catching Simone at the height of her engagement with the counterculture's songwriting voices. By this point Simone had already established herself through Nina Simone Sings the Blues and the civil-rights-era anthems that made her a defining voice of black political music in America, and her readings of Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" and "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" reimagine folk-rock staples as dramatic, blues-inflected torch pieces. The set also preserves "The Backlash Blues," her setting of a Langston Hughes poem, and "To Be Young, Gifted and Black," co-written with Weldon Irvine and among the most enduring anthems of the Black Power movement. Critical reaction to the compilation itself has been mixed - Simone's Dylan and Harrison covers are often singled out as highlights while some of the material is regarded as merely serviceable - but the set endures as an accessible entry point to her early-1970s RCA work and to the depth of her interpretive artistry.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Just Like a Woman (Dylan) 4:38
2. The Backlash Blues (Hughes/Simone) 2:46
3. Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (Dylan) 4:48
4. I Shall Be Released (Dylan) 3:55

Side 2

1. Here Comes the Sun (Harrison) 3:32
2. The Times They Are A-Changin' (Dylan) 5:53
3. I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl (Nina Simone) 2:29
4. To Be Young, Gifted and Black (Simone/Irvine) 2:45

The Label

This copy carries the tan/cream RCA Victor label with the outlined 'RCA' logo and script 'Victor' wordmark, printed 'MADE IN U.S.A.' and ℗ 1976 RCA Records at the rim - the standard US label design RCA used for its APL1-series pop/jazz LPs in the mid-1970s. The catalogue number APL1-1788 and hand-etched runout ('1⊙1 G APL1-1788A-1' / 'B-1') match the primary US pressing of this title. A second US-catalogued copy carries a different etched code ('J1 ai') indicating a later stamper/repress run rather than a distinct label design; an Israeli pressing (Eastronics, 1977) and a Japanese pressing (RCA RVP6142) exist as separate national editions of the same compilation.

Fidelity

Remastered by Ed Begley from the original multitrack session tapes (studio and live) for this 1976 compilation; the tapes were sourced from several different Simone RCA dates (1967-1972), so sound quality varies noticeably track-to-track rather than reflecting a single unified session sound. Collectors on the forums rate Side A (the Dylan covers) as the more sonically and performance-wise satisfying side, with Side 2 generally regarded as less essential. There is no audiophile reissue of this specific compilation (no Tone Poet/Analogue Productions/Mobile Fidelity equivalent exists for this title), so this US first pressing represents the top of the format's fidelity hierarchy alongside the contemporaneous Israeli and Japanese pressings, which use the same mastering.

Notes

1976 RCA Victor APL1-1788 stereo, US pressing - the standard US first release of this compilation. The etched runout "1⊙1 G APL1-1788A-1 / B-1" on this copy distinguishes it from a later US repress carrying a "J1 ai" stamper code and from the separate Israeli (Eastronics) and Japanese (RVP6142) national editions. Labels are the standard cream RCA Victor design with ℗ 1976 RCA Records and Made in U.S.A. rim text, consistent with a mid-1970s US pressing plant run.

Documenting collections

I do this work for other people’s collections too — documenting a collection record by record, researching individual pressings, and preparing collections for sale or for insurance. If you have a collection you would like documented, or a record you want identified properly, get in touch: email

This record’s page: https://vinylcurator.net/albums/nina-simone-songs-of-the-poets/