Customer Reviews

Time and Love: The Music of Laura Nyro

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this cd is not laura nyro. it is a tribute to laura nyro as interpreted by different artists. i think part of the reason that some people are less than enchanted with the cd is that they are expected singers striving to be laura nyro. that is not the case. whether it is jane siberry's creative medley, or sweet honey in the rock's brilliant take on 'when i die', you must realize that the artists are giving you what laura nyro means to them. if one has ever heard dana bryant's lone cd, her piece on this cd is readily heard as raw emotion. if you want to listen to laura nyro then you shoudl purchase some of her work. if you want to appreciate how influential her music was for a variety of artists, then purchase this cd.

First of all, let me say that I can't believe that this album is viewed so negatively by some of the other reviewers. Maybe they want more "carbon copy" renditions or maybe they just want to hear their favorite old folkies (Baez, Judy Collins, etc.) instead of newer acts. Too bad. Get over it. This is one of the finest tribute albums I've ever heard. The women on this album use Nyro's best work as a jumping off point for their own talented versions. Beth Nielson Chapman's powerhouse take on "Stoney End" is so beautiful that it nearly makes me weep every time I hear it. The Roches' playful harmonies on "Wedding Bell Blues" would surely make Nyro smile. I heartily recommend this CD and put it in the same category as the Harry Nilsson Tribute, "Everybody Loves Harry."

This tribute to Laura Nyro is uneven at best. It features some well produced and interpreted cuts (Phoebe Snow, Jill Sobule), some straighforward and well done interpretations (Beth Nielsen Chapman, Roseanne Cash) and some perfectly awful renditions (Lisa Germano's moribund Eli's Coming and Dana Bryant's unlistenable Woman's Blues). I would not recommend it to anyone just getting aquainted with Nyro's work, but true fans may find it an interesting if uneven addition to their collection.

Shortly after Laura Nyro's death I bought this CD. I was deeply disappointed that her contemporaries weren't present, as I would have expected the likes of Ms. Streisand, Mitchell, Raitt, Ronstadt, etc. to step forward to remember this wonderful songwriter. Still, the artists on the CD have provided a great diversity of interpretations of Laura Nyro's better-know tunes. Sure there is some unevenness to the the disk. However, I've been impressed that the collection as a whole has really grown on me. I've had it for a few years now, and I enjoy it more and more. It lacks the emotional punch of Laura Nyro's renditions, but these articulations are soothing and enjoyable none-the-less.

Laura Nyro, who died early this year at 49, never had a hit, but five of her white-soul songs made it to the Top 10 courtesy of other artists (mostly the 5th Dimension). As such, her music seems particularly ripe for a tribute album, and "Time and Love" is far stronger than most similar records. Credit goes not only to Nyro's hooky, Tin Pan Alley-style songs-all written before she turned 25-but to the terrific collection of women who interpret them. Jill Sobule and the Roches turn in appropriately adorable versions of "Stoned Soul Picnic" and "Wedding Bell Blues," Rosanne Cash and Beth Nielsen Chapman give strong, straightforward readings of "Save the Country" and "Stoney End," Holly Cole steams up "Sweet Blindness," the marvelous Jonatha Brooke does a subtle take on "He's a Runner," and Lisa Germano turns "Eli's Comin'" brilliantly into a spooky, ominous mood piece. "Time and Love" wouldn't be an official tribute album if there weren't some failed attempts; here they come courtesy of Sweet Honey in the Rock, who moan through a melody-free incantation of "And When I Die," and Leni Stern and her long, New Agey guitar-instrumental reading of "Upstairs by a Chinese Lamp." But this CD is a perfect introduction-or addition-to Nyro's work.

Most of these covers do not "get" Laura Nyro's music. They are boring deconstructions which miss the essence, the structure and the ambience of Nyro. Her artistry as a composer is dismissed and her artistry as a performer is glaringly unapproachable by these performers. Laura's music is so personal maybe it never was meant for anyone else to perform, or to put it another way, maybe I am such a major Nyro fan I will never accept anyone else doing her songs, although many have made her songs famous in the past. On the other hand, they are great songs, and if only there was an original cast album of the show "Eli's Comin" which played briefly in New York a few years back Laura's songs would shine anew. An update - the new cd by Judy Kuhn is a much much better appreciation of Laura Nyro's songs - beautifully conceived, performed and realized. Thank you Judy!

"Time & Love: the Music of Laura Nyro" has been somewhat unfairly maligned as a throwaway disc. Published in the year she passed away, the music is somewhat of a grab bag of different styles. But some of it works exquisitely. Of my two very favorites is the amazing version of "Time & Love" by Phoebe Snow that creates a new percussion part with the drums mixed loud as a modern march that makes you feel that time keeps ticking on. Phoebe's voice is so lovely that she embodies the lyric and flies into the high range to squeal added emotional value, "Now a woman is a fighter, gathered white or African; A woman is a woman inside, Has miracles for her man." The other track in which I delight is Leni Stern's instrumental take on "Upstairs by a Chinese Lamp." I always thought this was one of Nyro's most lovely melodies. Stern's languid guitar improvises but never violates the melody; it is like a soft gentle kiss. Jill Sobule does an excellent version of "Stoned Soul Picnic" giving energy and punch to the melody with Nyro's glorious lyric, "And from the sky comes the Lord and the lightnin'." Beth Nielsen Chapman has one of the clearest voices in pop with excellent phrasing that makes her an ideal interpreter of others' music. On "Stoney End," she moves into the lyric like a new residence backed by a band with Benmont Tench's keyboards, "I can still remember him with lovelight in his eyes, but the light flickered out and parted as the sun began to rise." The Roches should win a Quirky Award with their blend that sounds off-center and yet perfectly right. They deliver a unique take on "Wedding Bell Blues" that sounds as if they've got one toe on the planet. Some of the tracks are more experimental without a strong payoff. Holly Cole's version of "Sweet Blindness" has maximum reverb that has potential. However, the slower rhythm mutes the urgency of Laura's version in which she sounds like a girl breathlessly chasing love to Cole who sounds more like a girl who really wants a bottle. The one track that does not work for me is the closing "Woman's Blues" by Dana Bryant who talk-sings the track into drudgery. There are enough gems here to show how well Laura's music lends itself to interpretation. Now 10 years since Laura's been gone, her music continues to reach and inspire me. Enjoy!

I finally got to hear this tribute album to the wonderful music of Laura Nyro. This album has very little of the joy of Laura's music. Except for Honey Cole's version of Sweet Blindness, the whole album sounds like a funeral. Most of the artist's voices were just too small to do justice to the music. Overall this is a very depressing album. I was sorely disappointed.

A lot of great music came out during the seventies. I think it directly correlates that the Americanization of the "bong", but that is only speculation.

One of the artists that I somehow learned about was Laura Nyro. To look at her you would conclude that she belonged in the seventies. Let's put it this way, when she toured in Seattle I bet she never made it to Nordstroms. More importantly, who is Laura Nyro?

Laura wrote songs such as "Stoned Soul Picnic" recorded by the Fifth Dimension, "When I Die", recorded by Blood Sweat and Tears and "Eli's Comin" recorded by Three Dog Night. Finally someone must have told her to record her own songs and boom the albums started rolling off the racks.

Fast forward to 1997, when I was reading the newspaper and there on the front page of the Entertainment Section was a lengthy article on Laura Nyro. It went on about her writing and singing legacy and then talked about her untimely death with cancer. It hit me then, that I should have replaced some of her albums with new CDs.

Soon after her death, a number of musicians put together a CD of her music. And what a great collection of songs and talent, and in some ways, her story comes full circle. Once again, other musicians are recording her songs. I am sure you will recognize the songs and artists and the liner notes tell a more accurate history than I have just portrayed. My favorite songs are "Sweet Blindness" and the acoustical version of "Upstairs by a Chinese Lamp". Furthermore, "Wedding Bell Blues" and "Save the Country" are Family sing-a-longs.

Laura's music deserves far better than this sorry piece of garbage. Skip it and instead buy the originals by Nyro herself.