Disc of the day
The Pop Group - Y
For connoisseurs of pop-as-rupture-in-the-space/time-continuum
Features Disc of the day
Laura Nyro
Gonna Take A Miracle
(CBS, 1971)
A record as brilliant and affecting as it is fascinating and uplifting.
Nyro wrote pop-soul songs covered by Blood Sweat & Tears, Barbra Streisand, Three Dog Night and, most effectively, The Fifth Dimension, and in the late '60s recorded a trio of superior singer-songwriter albums. Then, in 1971, came this album of soul covers. As somewhat of a soul snob, I would normally have run a mile. But a colleague on Melody Maker insisted I listened to it, and as I had not long joined the music weekly it didn't seem wise to refuse. I've been grateful ever since. At first distinctly Noo Yoik in persona, Nyro had worked in 1970 with the Southern players of the Muscle Shoals house band but now, paying homage to the black styles that informed her writing, she worked with the nascent Philadelphia International team: producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff; arranger Thom Bell; much of the MFSB rhythm section (Vince Montana, Ron Baker, Roland Chambers, Norman Harris); and as very prominent backing singers, Labelle, just making their transformation from Patti LaBelle & The Blue Belles. Throughout, Nyro channels everything that is cherishable and lasting about soul music. Starting with a delightful and mostly a cappella cover of The Shirelles' I Met Him On A Sunday and continuing with that delicate treasure, The Bells, Marvin Gaye's song for The Originals, Nyro sets a tone of both serious homage and joy. Motown gets a good airing - Dancing In The Street, You've Really Got A Hold On Me, Jimmy Mack, Nowhere To Run - and it's a gas to hear one of the key house bands of the '70s reinterpreting the work of one of their foremost predecessors. One and all have great fun on the uptempo songs, and hearing Labelle do the Vandellas is a real treat. But the ballads and least orchestrated songs are the ones that leave the strongest impression. The gentle doo wop of The Charts' 1957 A-side Desiree, and Nolan Strong & The Diablos' The Wind (1954) raise goosebumps while the title track, a mid-'60s song by Teddy Randazzo, is a genuinely love-affirming song of fidelity. Nyro died in 1997 aged just 49 - a terrible, terrible loss.
Geoff Brown
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 19/01/2010
Further Listening
The 5th Dimension - Up, Up & Away The Definitive Collection (Arista)
Labelle - Moon Shadow (Warners, 1972)
Laura Nyro - New York Tendaberry (Columbia, 1969)
Previous Disc of the day
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The Pop Group - Y
For connoisseurs of pop-as-rupture-in-the-space/time-continuum
6:00 AM GMT 11/03/2010
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St Vitus Dance - Glypotheque
Belfast combo return unannounced, go sardonic pop-folk.
6:00 AM GMT 09/03/2010
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Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax (Sex Mix)
Frankie 12" brings the full 16 min 24 of filth.
6:00 AM GMT 01/03/2010
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One of the best albums of all time, without a doubt.
Posted by seekmagic at 1:57 PM GMT 30/01/2010 Report Abuse
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One of the best albums of all time, without a doubt.
Posted by seekmagic at 1:58 PM GMT 30/01/2010 Report Abuse
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