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Freedom Songs
I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free, written by Jazz pianist Billy Taylor, became an anthem for the American Civil Rights campaign.
Immortalised by Nina Simone, I Wish I Knew How it Would Feel to be Free, was recorded in the early 60s by Jazz pianist Billy Taylor for his young daughter. Candace Piette talks to Kim Taylor Thomson, to Nina Simone’s guitarist and to poets and writers and singers about what the song meant when it was first written and what resonance it has now in contemporary America.
(Photo: American jazz pianist Billy Taylor performs at the Peacock Alley night club, St. Louis, Missouri, 1974. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Last on
Tue 16 Sep 2014
23:32GMT
BBC World Service Online
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- Tue 16 Sep 2014 03:32GMTBBC World Service Online
- Tue 16 Sep 2014 08:05GMTBBC World Service Online
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- Tue 16 Sep 2014 23:32GMTBBC World Service Online