Celebrating Sixty Years of Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood

Dear readers,

The time has come to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood", written by the three American musicians and songwriters Claude August Benjamin, Sol Marcus and Horace Ott. The famous song was first performed by American singer-songwriter and pianist Nina Simone in 1964. The song has since been reinterpreted time and again in many different genres from blues over disco and jazz and new wave to pop music. Click on the following link to enjoy twenty-four versions of this song in chronological order from 1964 until 2024 for a total running time of one hour and forty-two minutes: Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood • Nina Simone (spotify.com)

1. Nina Simone (1964)

2. The Animals (1965)

3. The Moody Blues (1967)

4. Joe Cocker (1969)

5. Mike Batt (1977)

6. Santa Esmeralda (1977)

7. Gary Moore (1983)

8. Elvis Costello (1986)

9. Robben Ford & The Blue Line (1995)

10. Place of Skulls (2001)

11. Cyndi Lauper (2003)

12. Mandoki Soulmates (2005)

13. Juliana Aquino (2006)

14. John Legend (2006)

15. Cat Stevens / Yusuf Islam (2006)

16. Common (2007)

17. Lyambiko (2008)

18. Jamie Cullum & Gregory Porter (2014) 

19. Lana Del Rey (2015)

20. Brian Newman & Lady Gaga (2018)

21. Valerie Broussard (2019)

22. Jac Ross (2020)

23. Eliza Shaddad (2021)

24. SRNDE & YKATI (2024)