Despite being a masterful songwriter herself, Nina Simone ably picked a variety of compositional classics from the 1960s rock/folk era for her 1969 LP To Love Somebody. Opening with a beautiful, introspective version of Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne,” Simone shows an obvious affinity for social statements with the Byrds’ “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)” and a trio of Dylan standards: “I Shall Be Released,” “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues,” plus a dramatic, meditative “The Times They Are A-Changin’.”

The album title is taken from the Bee Gees song “To Love Somebody”. Her cover of the song became her second British hit single after “Ain’t Got No-I Got Life”.

To Love Somebody is available on audiophile black vinyl.