Few knew Nina Simone, America's High Priestess of Soul, like Al Schackman, her longtime guitarist and musical director. The two met in the summer of 1957, and Schackman’s up close and personal history with Simone has left him one of her legacy’s guardians. “To me, Nina was the sister I never had,” says Schackman.
It’s why he was part of Netflix’s acclaimed documentary, What Happened Miss Simone?, and why he consulted on Nina, the new biopic starring Zoe Saldana, which arrives in select theaters and video on demand Friday. "For years, I’ve refused to give out certain things about Nina that, to me, are too intimate and too private to share," he says. "I shared some of it with this movie because I wanted to make sure the music was authentic. And to a certain extent, I succeeded at that."
1. Her 'short fuse' could be set off by fans
How closely does Nina represent Nina Simone? “There are scenes that are interpretations of situations that happened,” he says. Take one scene in Nina where Simone, incensed by bar chatter as she plays, leaps from the stage and cuts an audience member with a knife. “There could be a very tough, raucous crowd that would come into Greenwich Village to see Nina," says Schackman. "The public knew that Nina had a short fuse. And there were people that actually tried to light that fuse. So there were times that there would be a bodyguard or two for Nina. … The owner of the Village Gate once said, 'The bodyguards were to protect the public from her.' " He chuckles. "And at times, that could be true."
2. She played on top of caskets in Montgomery
During the historic march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, "Nina and I had to run through armed state police to get to the soccer field where the concert for Selma was going to be held," he says. It was there Simone would give a history-making performance of Mississippi Goddam. "I looked under the platform for an outlet (to plug an amp in) and I almost died — the stage was built on coffins. Can you imagine? I told that to Nina and she said to me, 'Those coffins better be for the state police.' "Goddam. "I looked under the platform for an outlet (to plug an amp in) and I almost died — the stage was built on coffins. Can you imagine? I told that to Nina and she said to me, 'Those coffins better be for the state police.' "
3. She could romance you
Nina has been under critical onslaught from the day Saldana was announced to play Simone. Schackman defends the actress' portrayal, saying Saldana captured both the star’s "sudden flashes of anger and then the sudden subsiding of it" — and her charm. "She had this ability, when she wanted to make an impression or she wanted something, to romance you," he says. "But it wasn’t, like, romantic. She would — ‘Oh, darling’ — you know? ‘You know how I feel about you.’ ... I give credit to Zoe for that."
4. Her legendary sound was re-created for 'Nina'
For the film, Schackman rounded up Simone's real band members to re-create her music. "We cut 16 tracks of Nina’s songs, almost identical to the way we used to play them with her. What the audience is hearing is Zoe singing over the actual arrangements and sound that we played with Nina," he says.
5. Her friends would go the distance
Nina focuses on Simone's life in the 1970s and '80s when the singer decamped to Europe, struggling as relationships with promoters soured. But even during those down years, Schackman would continue to play gigs with Simone whenever she booked them. "I once told Nina, 'Whenever you need me, I’d be there within 24 hours,' " he says. "That pretty well held up."
