Any Laura Nyro fans???

[geoff85]

I am curious to know what is your favorite song of hers? I always like to hear others opinions before I chime in. Along with Bacharach she is probably my favorite Brill Building composer even tho she was more of an artist however alot of others artists made her songs much more famous than she ever did. I think her catalog is extensive and she usually pasts the earball tests for even the most snobby musical connoisseurs. So tell me the songs you love of Laura.

[Blair N. Cummings]

I loved the early Laura (`66 - `71) and enjoyed her later albums for their melodies even after the lyrics had degenerated into eco-feminist greeting cards.
She was never a Brill building writer; her hits were copied by others from her first two albums. The third, New York Tendaberry, was/is a genre-defying masterpiece.
Christmas and the Beads of Sweat was half great, half snooze but produced her only charting single, ironically a cover of "Up On the Roof" by Gerry Goffin and Carole King.
After an album of R&B covers (Gonna Take a Miracle) she disappeared for several years, re-appearing in `75 with the disappointing Smile.
Her voice and melodic sense, however, nearly compensated for the lackluster lyrics and her Bottom line shows were always special. She, too, was sui generis.

[An Enormous BB Fan]

I thought Laura Nyro was great. An amazing talent, no question about it. My two favorites of hers are Stoned Soul Picnic and Wedding Bell Blues. A few of Burt's session players worked with her -- two being Gary Chester (played Drums on a number of Burt's early songs) and the pianist, Paul Griffin. Of course, that's not surprising since these great session players played on tons of records.

[blueonblue]

The sublime Miss Laura Nyro.....


"blue"

[Blair N. Cummings]

Blue, I`ve inveighed against this version for years here. She doesn`t sing the melody, she does her...thing. That`s great for her own songs but destroys "Be Aware", a song that deserves a new cover but is not at all served by this.

[blueonblue]

Blair,
I quite like Laura's interpretation of this song, I guess it's just a matter of personal taste.
I think Dionne's version(s) are the definitive recordings.

This performance comes pretty close though...it's a shame Barbra never officially recorded it.


"blue"

[Blair N. Cummings]

Streisand did record the song and it sits in a vault. There may be a back-story as to why it has never been released, but I don`t know it.

[grooverider]

My favorite Laura Nyro, "Billy's Blues":



and Ms. Streisand's glorious version of "I Never Meant to Hurt You":

[Blair N. Cummings]

Todd Rundgren on Laura:

[danlindroos]

Hi, Geoff !

I am a big fan of Laura !
My favorite piece of her
is Sweet Blindness (as sung
by the 5 th dimension)

I played a short cover version
of it many years ago:

http://app.box.com/s/z824j1d8syh83zrsqnw8

Cheers
Dani

[geoff85]

My favorite Laura Nyro, "Billy's Blues":



and Ms. Streisand's glorious version of "I Never Meant to Hurt You":

Grooverider these are two of my favorite Nyro songs and my favorite type of Nyro song. I love her slow somber ballads their painfully melancholy but as equally beautiful and serene. That is what she did well, beautiful melancholy ballads . Speaking of beautiful melancholy ballads some of my fav Nyro songs are also He's a Runner, You Don't Love Me When I cry(bonechilling), and Midnite Blue. Laura also seemed very influenced by Black Soul music of the time and I feel like her songs LU and Luckie which I love are homage to Motown and could pass for something in the Lamont/Dozier catalogue. Parts of the song Brown Earth sounds like a negro spiritual as well. Laura also could be very adventerous songs like By Chinese Lamp sounds similar to pentatonic scale asian traditional music and songs like Timer and Time and Love shows her disregard for being restricted to traditional meter and rhythm. Overall I will say my ultimate favorite Nyro song is the one most unlike anything in her catalogue, the airy and ethereal Emmie where Nyro sounds the closest to happiness she had ever been on this side of the world( and she still had melancholy elements). The ending to that song is a true wink and a nod to her Brill Building roots.

As some in this post have referred to…… Laura's lyrics were anything but lackluster. I found her to be extremely insightful and even virtuosic considering some of her well known songs were written when she was only 15-16.

Nyro is a true overlooked and undervalued American treasure. I think she needs an American Idol week theme or a movie or something to reintroduce her to a younger generation. I am only in my 20's but when I heard her for the first time I was hooked the same way I was when I first heard my father play Dionne's album as a kid on our long ride from NY to Virginia for summer vacation. Laura truly was one of a kind..

[geoff85]

Hi, Geoff !

I am a big fan of Laura !
My favorite piece of her
is Sweet Blindness (as sung
by the 5 th dimension)

I played a short cover version
of it many years ago:

http://app.box.com/s/z824j1d8syh83zrsqnw8

Cheers
Dani

I loved all Laura's work with the Fifth Dimension and think those were some of their greatest songs.Sweet Blindness, Stone Soul Picnic, Blowing Away, Wedding Bell Blues, etc. I always liked the unpredictable nature of Laura's original recordings of her own songs tho.

Beautiful rendition you did there. Are you using computer generated instruments? What program?

[grooverider]

Dear geoff85,
The 5th Dimension were so instrumental in bringing the magic of Laura Nyro to a wider audience. Here, with each member taking a solo, in a great jazz-inflected arrangement (gorgeous sax solo from jazz great Bill Perkins), "Black Patch":

[geoff85]

Dear geoff85,
The 5th Dimension were so instrumental in bringing the magic of Laura Nyro to a wider audience. Here, with each member taking a solo, in a great jazz-inflected arrangement (gorgeous sax solo from jazz great Bill Perkins), "Black Patch":

I have heard that song once or twice both versions. Nyro's version is another example of a song that could have easily fit into the Lamont/Dozier catalogue(along with her songs lu and luckie).Cool little tune.

[danlindroos]

Hi, Geoff !:))

Thank you for your most kind words !
Yes, I used BIAB ( Band In A Box from
PG Music ) backing up my lead that
I played with my semi-acoustic
Ovation Celebrity (US built) !!:))

Cheers
Dani