"Sinnerman" (spelled as one word) is one of Nina Simone's most famous songs and she recorded her definitive 10-minute-plus version on her 1965 album Pastel Blues. Simone learned the lyrics of this song in her childhood when it was used at revival meetings by her mother, a Methodist minister, to help people confess their sins. In the early days of her career during the early sixties, when she was heavily involved in the Greenwich Village scene, Simone often used the long piece to end her live performances. An earlier version of the song exists, recorded live at The Village Gate, but was never used on the 1962 Colpix album Nina at the Village Gate. Simone's version of Sinnerman has been sampled by Kanye West for the Talib Kweli song "Get By", by Timbaland for the song "Oh Timbaland", and by Felix da Housecat for Verve Record's "Verve Remixed" series. It has also been covered by 16 Horsepower on their album Folklore, and by Zegota on their self-titled 7". French rapper Abd al-M! alik sampled Simone's version for the title track of his 2006 album "Gibraltar". He also sampled Simone's version of "See Line Woman" for the track "Le grand frère" from the same album. Versions of "Sinnerman" were featured in 1999's The Thomas Crown Affair, in the 2004 film Cellular by David R. Ellis, and in three 2006 films: Michael Mann's Miami Vice, The Golden Door by Emanuele Crialese, in the closing scene of David Lynch's Inland Empire, and during a chase scene midway through the 2007 documentary
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