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Feeling Good

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"Feeling Good" (aka Feelin' Good) is a song written by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse for the 1965 musical The Roar of the Greasepaint—the Smell of the Crowd and has since been recorded by many artists, including Nina Simone, Muse, Sammy Davis Jr., Bobby Darin, Traffic, Michael Bublé, The Pussycat Dolls, George Michael, John Barrowman, John Coltrane, Toše Proeski, Adam Lambert, and Frank Sinatra Jr.

Nina Simone version

Nina Simone version appeared on her 1965 album I Put a Spell on You. Simone's version is also featured in the 1993 film Point of No Return, in which the protagonist uses the code name "Nina" and professes to be a longtime fan of Simone's music. (It is worth noting that at least half the soundtrack for the film featured Nina Simone songs.) The song was also featured in the promotional video of the TV series Six Feet Under (4th season), and is included in the show's volume 2 soundtrack. Additionally, Simone's version is also included in the 2006 film, Last Holiday[1], in the 2010 film Repo Men, appears as a background track in the 2009 game The Saboteur (despite the game taking place in Nazi-occupied Paris, long before the song was made),[2], and is featured in the television series Chuck during the third season episode "Chuck Versus the Honeymooners."

Versions and other songs containing samples of Nina Simone's version

The George Michael version contains samples, and is featured in Swedish rap group Fjärde Världen's song "Ingen Annan".

The track "About You" on Mary J. Blige's album The Breakthrough features an unusual take on the song. The bulk of the recording consists of new lyrics, composed by Mary J. Blige, will.i.am, and Keith Harris. However, the chorus samples several lines from "Feeling Good" as performed by Nina Simone. The original vocals are distorted so that the voice is almost unrecognizable. For this reason, Simone receives a credit as a feature artist, and writers Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse receive credit as writers. The track is produced by will.i.am. A song by 50 Cent Bad News contains a sample from the Nina Simone's version as well, as does Lil Wayne's "Birds Flying High."

The vocal from the Nina Simone recording is also sampled in numerous house and dubstep tracks. Like in Viper's - The Twister together with the Duran Duran sample[3]

Muse version

Muse released a version on their album Origin of Symmetry and with "Hyper Music" as part of a double A-side.

The Muse version was used by Nescafé for their advertising, but without the band's permission. Nescafé replaced it with the Nina Simone version. Muse were subsequently paid settlement money, which they donated to Oxfam. The Muse version came 5th in the list of the best covers ever, in a poll by Total Guitar[4]. It is also featured in the 2008 movie Seven Pounds starring Will Smith and in one episode of the TV series Queer as Folk as well as during the end credits an episode of TV series Luther.

In September 2010 people voted the Muse version of the song, via NME (aka New Musical Express) the greatest cover song of all time beating out The Beatles' version of "Twist and Shout" and Johnny Cash's "Hurt". [5]

Virgin Atlantic Airways used the Muse version as the soundtrack for a global television commercial which debuted in October 2010. The ad prominently features the song as accompaniment to a surreal sequence of vignettes depicting Virgin Atlantic cabin crew members.

Preceded by UK Rock Chart number-one single
October 24, 2010 - October 31, 2010 		Succeeded by

Michael Bublé version

"Feeling Good"
Song

"Feeling Good" was released as the lead single off Michael Bublé's It's Time. The physical single was released in April 19, 2005 and re-released as a single in 2010.

"Feeling Good" was used as the opening song for his Caught in the Act (CD/DVD) live performance at the Wiltern Theater.

The Michael Bublé version was used in the promotion commercials and intros for ESPN's 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament, and for the 2010 NBA Draft.[6]

Chart information

In the UK, the song went to #162, in Australia to #70, in Germany to #36, in Austria #66, and in Poland #14. Despite this, the song became one of his most popular singles and is used in most to all of his concerts. [citation needed] The track finally became a UK hit in May 2010 when it reached #69 on the UK Singles Chart after it was re-released.

Chart (2005-2010) Peak
position
Australia ARIA Charts 70
UK Singles Chart 69
Polish Singles Chart 14
Austria Singles Chart 66
Mega Charts Netherlands 61
German Media Control Chart 36

George Michael version

The George Michael version of the song was also used in the season finale of Eli Stone including re-recorded sections sung by members of the cast including Victor Garber and Loretta Devine. The album lyrics of George Michael's version also included a shout-out to Nina Simone's verbal acrobatics, saying that George Michael "a white man, can't do it like [she] can." {{citation}}: Empty citation (help)

Selected list of other notable recordings

References

  1. ^ Last Holiday (2006) - Soundtracks
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ http://www.discogs.com/search?q=nina+simone+feelin+good&type=all&btn=Search
  4. ^ [2]
  5. ^ "Muse beat The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash to win best cover song of all time" http://www.nme.com/news/muse/53090
  6. ^ Bublé Trivia
  7. ^ Feeling Good (original version)
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