VMP Magazine

During my quest to read every Nina Simone book and watch every Nina Simone movie, I found out that none of those pieces of media were pausing to tell you about which albums by her were the best. She released close to 50 studio and live albums during her proper career, and the amount of compilations and unofficial albums from shady labels brings that number closer to 75. We think Nina Simone Sings the Blues is the best Nina Simone album, but we don’t think the Nina part of your collection should stop there. So here are the 10 Best Nina Simone Albums to Own on Vinyl.

By now, you know that Nina Simone Sings the Blues is our featured Record of the Month. Sings the Blues is an essential album in Nina’s catalog—and a superb entry point into her artistry for those unfamiliar—but it’s only a small part of her story. Once you finish up reading our Liner Notes for the album, we realized you might want to be pointed to where you should go next, if you want to learn everything you can about her.

Befitting an artist of her stature, there have been many gallons of ink spilled, and trees cut down, to fill books about her life. There have also been multiple documentaries and DVDs made. But lucky for you, we’ve made this handy guide of five movies, four books, and one magazine profile you should/could read to learn everything you can about one of the greatest artists we’ve ever had.