the of mirror eye

* Laura Nyro and LaBelle: I Met Him On A Sunday (2.5 mb) | You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me (6.0 mb) | Jimmy Mack (3.5 mb)
From Gonna Take A Miracle : Columbia/Legacy : CK 85762

I can’t tell you just how much I love Laura Nyro. She’s an amazing songwriter who writes within traditional genres but brings her own skewed musical sensibilities to the table. And the results are stunning. Her previous efforts (look here) explored the pop world. Taking that genre and completely making it her own. She does the same on this, her exploration of soul music. Laura Nyro, along with friends Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash, and the production team of Gamble & Huff, managed to create a wonderful combination of soul music filtered through Nyro’s musical sensibilities.

Laura and Patti became so close that Laura sometimes hit the road with the group, hanging out and cooking for them. It was in that spirit that Nyro phoned up her new friends to invite them to sing on Gonna Take A Miracle. The sessions were in LaBelle’s home base of Philidelphia and were produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff…. The studio was booked for a week, yet by the 6th day, nothing had been recorded because everyone was having way too good a time vibing. The schedule grew so tight that Patti actually bet Huff a sizeable chunk of cash that the songs could be knocked out in a few hours. According to Vicki, Gonna Take A Miracle is first takes, partially because everyone knew all the songs by heart, but mainly because there was simply no time. That probably explains why “Jimmy Mack” starts off with an electronic whir and Laura quietly saying “Jimmy” as if she’s testing the microphone. Give all praise due to goofing off and then getting down to business, because Gonna Take A Miracle shimmers with energy and honesty. (

from the liner notes)

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I apologize for the late posting. I tried to “fix” the router, which instantly made the interweb unreachable for a number of hours. What can I say…I have a way with electronics!