Customer Reviews

Gonna Take a Miracle

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Laura Nyro originally made her name as the author of a host of tightly-written pop songs that hit big when covered by other artists--but by 1970 she had acquired a reputation as one of the most flatly uncompromising recording artists of her era, a woman who wrote, performed, and recorded without any significant concern for prevailing tastes. Then, just as she seemed to have reached this point of self-definition, she suddenly shifted gears and went into the studio with soul-singing trio LaBelle for an homage to the pop songs of the 1950s and 1960s that had originally inspired her.

The result was GONNA TAKE A MIRACLE, an album that is generally regarded as Nyro's most widely accessible work. Opening with a near-acapella rendition of "I Met Him On A Sunday" that divides the song neatly between all four singers, Nyro then launches out on a host of other old favorites with her own voice shining like a diamond against the sultry stylings of LaBelle, giving each tune a noticeably different twist from its original incarnation.

Both "The Bells" and "Desiree" suddenly seem as if they had been written with Nyro alone in mind, beginning gently but building a series of dynamic shifts; "Spanish Harlem" is a beautifully rendered selection; and the more vibrant numbers like "Dancing In The Streets" and "Nowhere To Run" crackle with energy. This one of those rare releases of which you can truly say every single cut is first rate all the way.

The most powerful thing about the recording is, I think, its spontaneity. According to the liner notes by Amy Linden, the singers were having such a good time together that they didn't actually bother to record anything until the last day--and then they popped out one number after another with little preparation. In any other hands the results would probably have been extremely uneven, but with Nyro and LaBelle it has an enchanting immediacy. They just stepped up the mikes and did it, and their joy in both the music and each other rings through every single cut.

GONNA TAKE A MIRACLE is not Nyro's most personal statement, nor does it really offer her at the highwater mark of her artistry--but it is a beautiful little jewel that her fans will adore and which newcomers will likely find much easier to grasp than her more complex work. A truly vibrant, memorable, and just down right fun album. The remaster also offers Nyro performing live, doing brief intros of "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "O-o-h Child" to full length versions of "Natural Woman" and "Up On The Roof"--bonus tracks that truly deserve the title "bonus." Recommended.

--GFT (Amazon Reviewer)--

In his book, About A Boy, Nick Hornby describes Rachel, the single mother his character Will falls in love with in the latter part of the book as reminding him of Laura Nyro as she appeared on Gonna Take A Miracle. That's what got me into Laura Nyro, that simple description. Having bought the album earlier this year and finally gotten around to listening it, I was stunned at how Nyro's vocals fit sassy Motown numbers like velvet. Gonna Take A Miracle is her and LaBelle, i.e. Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx, and Sarah Dash, doing Motown and other R&B covers, and they do them splendidly. This is an example of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's production, soon to gain them fame in the Philly Sound. Laura and her new friends simply jam on the danceable songs, clearly enjoying themselves.

There are three Martha and the Vandellas songs done here. The first is "Dancing In the Street," which is the second part of a medley, the first part being the Curtis Mayfield-penned and (I believe) sung by Major Lance. Both parts have piano (by Nyro) and a percussion section that simply jams. Their repeated "don't forget the Motor city" attests to their influences. The other is "Jimmy Mack" which has a snappy pop/soul sound complete with clapping. Sheena Easton's did a version with similar tempo in 1986. And last up is "Nowhere To Run," which has the same jamming sound as "Dancing In The Street."

They do an acapella version of the Shirelles' "I Met Him On A Sunday" before doing the Originals "The Bells," their soaring harmonies doing great justice. Their cover of Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "You Really Got A Hold On Me" gives the original a run for its money from the sassy uptempo rhythm and harmonies that suddenly springs up after the leisure part. I thought the Beatles' cover of it was great, but now, looks like I have to give this cover more consideration.

Laura's voice has never been more splendid than on the ballads, which include the title track, originally done by the Royalettes, a piano ballad sweetened by strings and the harmonies of LaBelle, and "Desiree," originally done by the Charts, with ringing vibes accompanying Nyro's resounding vocals. And a backing brass section helps them out on their cover of Ben E. King's "Spanish Harlem."

The four bonus tracks are done live by her solo and include Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell's "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing," of which she sings a snatch of before seguing into "You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman." It looks like I found the definitive interpreter of this song-sorry Aretha and Carole King. Then it's "O-o-h Child" by the 5 Stairsteps and the Drifters' "Up On The Roof." These songs are just Laura on piano and nothing else. What a voice!

Having already written songs that would prove hits for other groups like "Stoned Soul Picnic," it isn't too surprising that she would splash into the Motown sea with her sistas. Laura Nyro's fifth album is just that, a miracle!

I bought this album when it first came out, and have come back to it again and again over the years. It is without a doubt one of my favorites. The instrumentation is understated, which allows the vocals to take center stage, and lets the songs speak for themselves. The songs segue into one another with a seamlessness that makes it almost impossible to start the album without wanting to listen to it in its entirety. Do NOT play this CD on shuffle! This was Laura Nyro's way of paying homage to the songs that gave her musical inspiration, and she crafted a fine tribute which has withstood the test of time. The vocals are a wonderful combination of Nyro's almost ethereal sounding voice with the more bluesy sound of LaBelle, and the effect is absolutely soulful. Record reviewers back in '71 criticized Nyro, a great songwriter at the height of the singer-songwriter era, for putting out an album consisting entirely of covers. They just didn't get it. It was all about the music. To me this album is an essential part of any collection of popular music of the last 30-40 years.

Laura Nyro, the idiosyncratic genius who created an inimitable style and an impressive body of work (all before the age of 25!), pays homage to the songs she spent her youth singing in the subways of New York. How fitting, then, that she should do it with arguably the best female vocal ensemble of all time, LaBelle (who were virtually unknown at the time of this recording). While Nyro's great writing can be found on her four previous albums, this record makes clear the roots she drew upon in her own compositions. With the assistance of Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash, Nyro soars: the vocal arrangements complicate these familliar songs, sometimes with a harsh dissonance ("You've Really Got A Hold On Me"), at other times with an unparalleled loveliness ("The Bells"), but always stretching the material past any comparison to the original versions. Both Nyro and the ladies of LaBelle were experiemntal in their treatment of R&B, rejecting commercial catchiness in order to touch the true heart of soul. You can feel it on this record: the community of sisters standing on the street corner singing "Met Him On A Sunday" for the love of song and each other. While the record is a collection of classics, these tunes are treated with such unabashed artistry, that songs like "It's Gonna Take A Miracle," "Dancing in the Streets" and "Spanish Harlem" (which in this treatment seems to be about Nyro herself) become completely new, and completely mezmerizing.

Laura Nyro's "Gonna Take A Miracle" is a classic CD. It sounds amazingly fresh and clear 31 years later. Columbia Records has done a good job of remastering and repackaging the CD. The added photographs in the booklet are a welcome remembrance of this classic singer. Recorded in Philadelphia and produced by the classic soul team Gamble & Huff, Nyro and Labelle capture the rock & roll rhythm of the streets of New York. "I Met Him On Sunday" rocks and pulses with energy. Nyro remakes Marvin Gaye's "The Bells," aching with the urgency of love, "What do I have to do to make you feel the tingling too?" Nyro & Labelle let loose on the medley Curtis Mayfield's "Monkey Time" and Marvin Gaye's "Dancing in the Street," "Are you ready? You get yours 'cause I got mine!" On "Desiree," originally done in 1957 by the Charts, they float etherially. Smokey Robinson's "You've Really Got a Hold On Me" oozes with energy. Nyro remakes Ben E. King's "Spanish Harlem," "with eyes as black as coal." Labelle helps Nyro bop through "Jimmy Mack" joyfully. "The Wind," orignially recorded by Nolan Strong & the Diablos, is a breathy choral hymn. My favorite track, on a CD where each track is a favorite when it plays, is Martha & the Vandella's "Nowhere to Run." The energy on this is incredible as Laura & Labelle climax, "No, no, ain't got nowhere to run to." The title track is a cover of a 1965 record by the Royalettes which Nyro remakes with such longing and feeling, "I promise you I will show you how much." Although this is where the original LP and CD ended, Columbia has added 4 bonus tracks from Laura's May 30, 1971 concert at Fillmore East & is well worth the price. At less than a minute, Ashford & Simpson's "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" is a beautiful chorus. This is followed by Carole King's "A Natural Woman" which Nyro remakes as her own as her voice hits the high notes on "you make me feel." One of my favorites from Laura's live show was the 5 Stairsteps' hit "O-O-H Child," which while only a minute and a half here, radiates such a positive energy that it's not be missed. The CD concludes with her live reading of King's "Up On the Roof." "Gonna Take A Miracle" pulses with the energy of a street urchin serenade. Essential listening! Enjoy.

I bought this on vinyl when I was 17, and now in my 40s it has stood the test of time as one of my favorite recordings--here's why.

The arrangements are of such high quality. By way of contrast, on The First Songs, the arrangements of her own compositions seem disjointed to me, as if the arranger didn't quite know what to do with her. On this recording however, the arrangements are all of one piece and the songs flow naturally one into another. They also feature very capable studio musicians.

Also there is such good in-studio chemistry between L.N. and the background vocalists from Patti Labelle's group, Labelle. This is established on the first track, which begins with only hand clapping and a cappella singing and establishes the theme of the session: "Nights in New York ... running down steps...into the echoes of the train station...to sing..."

But what most distinguishes this recording is that the session has that indefinable quality of being "inspired." To me singing isn't about the number of octaves in a vocalist's range, it's about telling a story. Billie Holiday did that in Jazz, Patsy Cline did that in Country and, in this recording, Laura Nyro does that on these early `60's pop songs. Each song is sung with such identification and intensity of feeling that it is spellbinding.

Laura Nyro was stunning in every respect - singer, composer, performer. Nobody hung it all out to dry quite like Laura Nyro. Eli and the Thirteenth Confession is a landmark album, as is New York Tendaberry. This effort stands apart, a nostalgic tribute to the pop classics Nyro grew up loving.

The bare bones recording and choice of LaBelle for background vocals are both inspired decisions, making for an effect that is casual and authentic. Chilling a cappella renditions of Desiree and The Wind offer a spiritual beauty, while Monkey Time and Dancing In The Street deliver feel good funk. (Plenty of vocal gymnastics from Patti LaBelle on those two in particular.) The bonus tracks seem to be taken from a college concert and include interesting renditions of classics like Up On The Roof, Ain't Nothin' Like The Real Thing, and others.

If you are only going to own one Nyro CD, it should be Eli and the Thirteenth Confession. If you want a quirky minor masterpiece, this is for you.

its amazing to realize that this album was recorded ..probably as first takes.24 yrs ago..here is laura in her prime...celebrating the music that she grew up listening to....the music stands on its own...the vocals soar into the heavens....you can hear a beautiful production of spanish harlem with its latin influence...the music is alive and vital and when it is up beat it is driving...and when softer...dream like...for ex the track desiree...laura was an original force in the music world whose revolutionary style influenced countless major songwriters...she took all of us along with her...and transported us with her music...

I have very few CD's that I can listen from the first to final track in one sitting without skipping over at least one or two. This is one of them. Find an imperfection! It is impossible. Laura captures a place and time that left us before I was born yet when I close my eyes and listen to her and LaBelle I am transported to New York, down those steps, and into the echoes of the train station where she would sing with harmony groups. I think she knew too much about music and that was why she wasn't as popular as she should have been. She knew too well how to make the songs a deep expression of her soul and that disturbed people. We lost her too darn soon.

You know the sensitive teenage girl from the Bronx who sang her heart out in subways and schoolyards so many years ago. Before fame, wealth, critical success and all the accolades came her way, Laura sang passionately for no one other than her beautiful inner self. Perhaps that's the beauty of this album. No, it's not just a tribute album to Smokey, Patti, Marvin, Martha & The Vandellas and others. This is Laura's roots album, her chance to say here's where I come from, here's to all the great singers and song writers of my youth. This is why I write the songs I write. This is why I sing. This is who I am.

Sadly Laura left us all too soon. She left behind a wonderful legacy of timeless upbeat songs, plantive ballards and desperate love-lost poems. She also left behind this marvelous tribute album to the hereos of her youth. Did I say this isn't a tribute album? Whatever you care to call it. It's Laura at one of her deepest most passionate moments.