My college years as an undergraduate were years of transition. Having grown up in a small town in the Southwest, my youngest years were fairly sheltered. My choice to attend Colorado College in Colorado Springs was a choice to be out of state, in a smaller college, and to experience the Block System, a Colorado College innovation that had students taking one course at a time, each lasting four and a half weeks with a four day break from classes, beginning a new class after the so-called "block breaks." My time in Colorado College was rewarding. There was time for socializing, even in the most intense classes.
In the fifth block, shortly after New Years Day, I met a girl who was mentally agile, funny, and very cute. Her name was Kara, and she swept me off my reserved stance and kept me amused and attracted at the same time. One Friday afternoon, she said "we're going to Denver, I have two tickets to Laura Nyro." I replied "Okay, sounds like fun-who's Laura Nyro? Kara shot back "the best songwriter/vocalist I know of..."
We drove the hour drive to downtown Denver, parking close to the Concert Hall. We walked to our seats, and my attention was focused on Kara. The lights went down and a woman dressed casually, looking like a gypsy sat at the piano. Wedding Bell Blues came roaring out of Laura and her backing group, the incredible Patti Bell and the Blue Belles. As the concert went on, I was mesmerized by the voice of Laura Nyro, not to mention my realizing that she had written some of my favorite songs, but performed by other performers. That night, Laura's voice, soaring, diving, floating...became the sound of love to my naive young ears.
I equated Laura as providing one of the most enchanting evenings of music I had heard. I made it a point to buy her album with LaBelle shortly after her concert, and bought another for Kara.
As the years went on, I bought Laura Nyro albums as I ran into them. Her music became more thoughtful, innovative, and uniquely her own. I had gone back and bought her previous albums, loving each one for it's uniqueness both melodically and lyrically. She just got better and better. By the late Seventies, Laura had become a mother, divorced her husband, and with David Geffen's help, sold her early song catalog for several million dollars, making her wealthy enough to be able to sit out several years raising her son, only choosing to write music when she was inspired to do so. Her lyrical work reflected her independence, focusing on being a mother and autonomous woman. I made it a point to buy each album as it was released.
As the years passed, I never was able to get to another concert. Her voice that evening, gliding, spirited, pure, powerful, sincere...I never forgot. In the early Nineties, Laura was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She had a happy relationship with her partner in the hills of New England. She persuaded CBS Records to rework a proposed Best of Laura Nyro project into her personal choices of her songs that she felt expressed her best efforts. Her partner and a devoted appreciator of her work persuaded her to record a live album and final studio album. She was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an honor befitting the first female singer/songwriter that she was.
There are several albums I could have chosen to represent her work. CBS/Sony have released several fine concerts of hers, as well as reissuing most of her studio albums with bonus tracks.
The album that I am writing about is an album that was issued after Laura's death. In 2003, a special issue of a concert that was done in Japan. The performance is a bit of a throwback to the concert I had been so lucky to hear in 1971. The concert from Japan had been copyrighted after her death by her estate. The version I have was released by EMI Special Markets in 2003. This issue is a reasonably priced package that is performed beautifully by Ms. Nyro with a backing trio. The performance begins with Dedicated to the One I Love. This is a tune that goes back to her background in singing on the street corner with her friends and neighbors. Her vocal range is heard on this song, with backing vocals by a trio of talented women. Ooh Baby Baby follows, another tune that Laura sang with her street corner friends, long before she recorded it. She turns to her own songs, beginning with And When I Die from her More Than a New Discovery album. Her performance conveys the passion that so many cover versions of this standard cannot match. Save the Country follows, a plea from Ms. Nyro to make children and families as important as wars and aircraft carriers. Wedding Bell Blues, also from her first album, is sung in a manner that oozes blues tones and chords, as dirtily sung as the Fifth Dimension's version.
Walk On By, an exquisite Bacharach/David tune, allows Ms. Nyro to use their composition to soar and swoop with her amazing voice. The version here is every bit as excellent as the better known Dionne Warwick version. Let It Be Me is a soulfully rendered version of an American standard. Ms. Nyro follows it with a tune that strikes right to the heart of an important passion she had, treating animals with the same intensity that we have toward treating children. Louise's Church is another latter day Nyro composition which, though not as well known as her early compositions, is every bit as profound, both lyrically and musically. The album's final tune is Woman of the World, a Nyro tune in which she proclaims her status as a world class musician and as a women's rights advocate.
Laura Nyro was never the singer whose albums shipped gold. Despite the ups and downs that accompany an artist who does things her way, musically, Ms. Nyro rarely if ever disappointed her listeners. Her concerts were soulful, honest, and breathtaking. Her albums were honest, sharing her care for children, women, animals, and the Earth. Her integrity has never been doubted. Her creativity did not waver. She was the first prominent female singer/songwriter, and her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame membership reflects this status.
As for Kara and myself, we drifted apart. She was my first great love, and I think back to those times when I hear Laura Nyro sing from her heart. Sometimes love does not last, but my love for the music of Laura Nyro has never wavered and never will.
In the fifth block, shortly after New Years Day, I met a girl who was mentally agile, funny, and very cute. Her name was Kara, and she swept me off my reserved stance and kept me amused and attracted at the same time. One Friday afternoon, she said "we're going to Denver, I have two tickets to Laura Nyro." I replied "Okay, sounds like fun-who's Laura Nyro? Kara shot back "the best songwriter/vocalist I know of..."
We drove the hour drive to downtown Denver, parking close to the Concert Hall. We walked to our seats, and my attention was focused on Kara. The lights went down and a woman dressed casually, looking like a gypsy sat at the piano. Wedding Bell Blues came roaring out of Laura and her backing group, the incredible Patti Bell and the Blue Belles. As the concert went on, I was mesmerized by the voice of Laura Nyro, not to mention my realizing that she had written some of my favorite songs, but performed by other performers. That night, Laura's voice, soaring, diving, floating...became the sound of love to my naive young ears.
I equated Laura as providing one of the most enchanting evenings of music I had heard. I made it a point to buy her album with LaBelle shortly after her concert, and bought another for Kara.
As the years went on, I bought Laura Nyro albums as I ran into them. Her music became more thoughtful, innovative, and uniquely her own. I had gone back and bought her previous albums, loving each one for it's uniqueness both melodically and lyrically. She just got better and better. By the late Seventies, Laura had become a mother, divorced her husband, and with David Geffen's help, sold her early song catalog for several million dollars, making her wealthy enough to be able to sit out several years raising her son, only choosing to write music when she was inspired to do so. Her lyrical work reflected her independence, focusing on being a mother and autonomous woman. I made it a point to buy each album as it was released.
As the years passed, I never was able to get to another concert. Her voice that evening, gliding, spirited, pure, powerful, sincere...I never forgot. In the early Nineties, Laura was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She had a happy relationship with her partner in the hills of New England. She persuaded CBS Records to rework a proposed Best of Laura Nyro project into her personal choices of her songs that she felt expressed her best efforts. Her partner and a devoted appreciator of her work persuaded her to record a live album and final studio album. She was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, an honor befitting the first female singer/songwriter that she was.
There are several albums I could have chosen to represent her work. CBS/Sony have released several fine concerts of hers, as well as reissuing most of her studio albums with bonus tracks.
The album that I am writing about is an album that was issued after Laura's death. In 2003, a special issue of a concert that was done in Japan. The performance is a bit of a throwback to the concert I had been so lucky to hear in 1971. The concert from Japan had been copyrighted after her death by her estate. The version I have was released by EMI Special Markets in 2003. This issue is a reasonably priced package that is performed beautifully by Ms. Nyro with a backing trio. The performance begins with Dedicated to the One I Love. This is a tune that goes back to her background in singing on the street corner with her friends and neighbors. Her vocal range is heard on this song, with backing vocals by a trio of talented women. Ooh Baby Baby follows, another tune that Laura sang with her street corner friends, long before she recorded it. She turns to her own songs, beginning with And When I Die from her More Than a New Discovery album. Her performance conveys the passion that so many cover versions of this standard cannot match. Save the Country follows, a plea from Ms. Nyro to make children and families as important as wars and aircraft carriers. Wedding Bell Blues, also from her first album, is sung in a manner that oozes blues tones and chords, as dirtily sung as the Fifth Dimension's version.
Walk On By, an exquisite Bacharach/David tune, allows Ms. Nyro to use their composition to soar and swoop with her amazing voice. The version here is every bit as excellent as the better known Dionne Warwick version. Let It Be Me is a soulfully rendered version of an American standard. Ms. Nyro follows it with a tune that strikes right to the heart of an important passion she had, treating animals with the same intensity that we have toward treating children. Louise's Church is another latter day Nyro composition which, though not as well known as her early compositions, is every bit as profound, both lyrically and musically. The album's final tune is Woman of the World, a Nyro tune in which she proclaims her status as a world class musician and as a women's rights advocate.
Laura Nyro was never the singer whose albums shipped gold. Despite the ups and downs that accompany an artist who does things her way, musically, Ms. Nyro rarely if ever disappointed her listeners. Her concerts were soulful, honest, and breathtaking. Her albums were honest, sharing her care for children, women, animals, and the Earth. Her integrity has never been doubted. Her creativity did not waver. She was the first prominent female singer/songwriter, and her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame membership reflects this status.
As for Kara and myself, we drifted apart. She was my first great love, and I think back to those times when I hear Laura Nyro sing from her heart. Sometimes love does not last, but my love for the music of Laura Nyro has never wavered and never will.
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