Nina Simone - Solitaire

Rock 'n roll and rock music emerged in the 1950s and 1960s from roots in African American musical styles, such as jump blues, rhythm and blues, and electric blues, and in white styles, such as swing, western swing, and country music. The term rock 'n roll originated in certain US R&B songs of the late 1940s. In the early 1950s, white US disc jockey Alan Freed began to apply it more broadly to music for the newly established socio economic category, the teenager. The best known rock 'n roll stars of 1955-9 included Africann Americans... Rock 'n roll became an international phenomenon, including a substantial following in Canada, but until the 1960s and the development of rock music, nearly all of its stars were from the US.

With the blues providing an important backdrop both to rock 'n roll and rock music, it is not surprising that many bands and solo artists pursued blues rock and similar types of fusions. Improvised solos, especially on the electric guitar, and expanded live performances were central to this style.

In 1985, some of the rock musicians listed earlier in this article participated, along with pop and pop oriented rock musicians, as Northern Lights to record the famine relief song Tears are not Enough. About 20 years later, various Canadian rock and pop artists performed, in July 2003, at the massive post SARS concert Toronto Rocks, others performed in January 2005's post tsunami relief event Canada for Asia, and still others in the Canadian wing of the July 2005 relief event Live 8. The latter was a hi tech, multi country, 20th anniversary variation of the 1985 African relief mega event, Live Aid... These large scale events and activities confirm the highly successful development of a home grown Canadian popular music industry from the 1970s to the early 2000s. In parallel with developments in pop and pop rock music, in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s Canada also produced a substantial percentage of successful female rock musicians.

Source: Anglo-Canadian Rock 'n' Roll and Rock Music by Durrell Bowman

Nina Simone - Solitaire

• Released in: 1959
• First recorded: July 17, 1951 and September 21, 1951
• Written by: Carl Nutter, King Guion, and Renée Borek

"Nina Simone released her first hit single in the United States in 1958. Her piano playing was strongly influenced by baroque and classical music and, accompanied expressive, jazz like singing in her contralto voice."

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