I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free
| "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Nina Simone | |
| from the album Silk & Soul | |
| Released | 1967 |
| Genre | Gospel, Jazz |
| Length | 3:06 |
| Label | RCA Records |
| Writer(s) | Billy Taylor, Richard Carroll Lamb (Dick Dallas) |
"I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" is a gospel/jazz song written by Billy Taylor and "Dick Dallas", best known for the recording by Nina Simone in 1967 on her Silk & Soul album. Billy Taylor's original version (as "I Wish I Knew") was recorded on November 12, 1963, and released on his Right Here, Right Now album (Capitol ST-2039) the following year. His 1967 instrumental take was later used as the theme music for the Film programme series on BBC television.
Billy Taylor has explained: "I wrote this song, perhaps my best-known composition, for my daughter Kim. This is one of the best renditions I’ve done, because it is very spiritual."[1]
Notable cover versions
The song served as an anthem for the civil-rights movement in America in the 1960s.[2]
It was also used as the theme for the 2004 Olympics, and as the music for Coca-Cola (2004, featuring Sharlene Hector of Basement Jaxx) and Swisscom (2012) commercials. Other versions include:
- The Derek Trucks Band (2004 and 2006 on the albums Live at Georgia Theater, Songlines and Songlines Live)
- Solomon Burke (1968)
- Ahmad Jamal (1968)
- Illinois Jacquet (1968)
- Denver, Boise & Johnson (1968)
- The Smothers Brothers and Harry Belafonte, on Season Three of The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (1968)
- The Ray Charles Singers (1969)
- Shirley Scott (1969)
- Cold Blood (1969)
- John Denver (1969)
- Glenn Yarbrough (1970)
- Albertina Walker (1970)
- Doris (1970)
- Air (1971)
- Mary Travers (1971)
- John Fahey (1973)
- Johnny Pearson (1982) On the instrumental album On Golden Pond
- Dionne Farris (B-side of the "I Know" maxi single) (1994), featured (as well as the Nina Simone version) on the soundtrack of the 1996 drama film Ghosts of Mississippi[3]
- Jools Holland (1997)
- Leontyne Price (1997)
- Marc Shaiman (1997)
- Rob Agerbeek on the album Three of a Kind (1998)
- Marlena Shaw (2000)
- Lighthouse Family (2001)
- Sharlene Hector (2004)
- Martin Taylor (2005)
- Irma Thomas (2006)
- Human Highway (2008)
- Levon Helm Band (2009)
- Lucky Peterson (2010)
- John Legend & The Roots (2010)
- Emeli Sandé (2012)
- Martin Taylor & Tommy Emmanuel (2013)
- Mike Farris (2014) under the title "How It Feels to Be Free"
References
- ↑ Billy Taylor Discography
- ↑ Anderson, Sheila E. How to Grow as a Musician: What All Musicians Must Know to Succeed, Allworth Communications, Inc. p. 67 (2005) - ISBN 1-58115-416-X
- ↑ Steve McDonald, "Marc Shaiman: Ghosts of Mississippi", AllMusic Review.
External links
- "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free". American Treasures of the Library of Congress. July 27, 2010.
