Laura Nyro - Eli & The 13th Confession (Exp)

One of the ten best albums of the 60's

If you had any association with the local NYC music scene in the late 60's you could not have overlooked Laura Nyro. This album had hits, but it also had depth. Certainly, not a top ten for recording values, she still lays down some amazing riffs that predict latter day Traffic, fusion jazz--pop covers aside, "It looks good and dirty, this shining night strip, if you don't get beat, you got yourself a trip" to this day describes so completely the feeling of stepping onto a NYC sidewalk with no particular destination in mind.
The fact that snippets of this concept album became hits for other acts--somebody was listening--should suggest there's more here than 'Stoned Soul Picnic' and 'Eli's Comin'--excellent as they are when Laura does them, there's better stuff here, and it's the whole of the album that sells the pieces.
This was never a hit but it had an impact. Back then, I knew a lady who owned two albums so she could listen to it without getting up to turn it over (record changer) and an AOR deejay who snuck in 'Once It Was Alright Now (Farmer Joe)' to tweak his listeners. He told me they tweaked right back, wondering who the hell she was. This is a gem. November 2, 2007

Remaster Disaster

I am a Nyrofanaticnut and I would think remastered would mean producing better quality sound or something. I listened to some of the samples. Well Sony (I guess) has turned out new additions of some of these songs that I do not like. They are not the original sound. I hate when that happens! I wouldn't touch this recording with a 10 foot pole. And by the way, this is exactly why Laura was never a "star". She was not into commercialism and the whole music business. She wasn't a star, she was an artist. There are not many people in this world with her freedom. October 6, 2007

Around the 1960s in 38 minutes

One of the essential pieces of the madcap magic jigsaw here ... occupied dorm turntables as often as, say, S&G's Bookends or Judy Collins Wildflowers. "Sweet Blindness" and "Stoned Soul Picnic" are eternal uppers, pure sunshine honey; "Eli's Comin'" and "The Confession" are two of the most sensitive sexy songs, ever. Jeez, that telescopic pop sound - piano, session drums and brass, plus Nyro just belting poems outta the cosmos. She was a genius lady of the tallest stature. If you don't know this LP, you don't know the Sixties (yet). August 23, 2007

Did not know about Timer

Eli and the Thirteenth Confession is an example of the superb talent Laura Nyro possessed for blending Tin Pan Alley and the Brill Building. Laura listed herself on the vinyl back cover as "the writer, composer, voices, piano and witness to the confession."
It is widely accepted that her earthy musical style and candid sexual imagery are about her men, e.g. Eli's Coming,""December's Boudoir," and "The Confession."
Her bi-sensual style in "Emmie" has become accepted as an open expression of same-sex attraction on Laura's part. The actual person, if a particular person, is still an intriguing poser.
She was reported to have said at concerts that the song "Timer" was about one of her pets. The opening musical phrasing conjures a pace and the lyrics evoke an imagery of a dog walk.
The song is her musings, e.g. "you're a fine one Timer you got me walking thru the gates of Space"
But, who was "My lady..., she broke down, she got up, she let go."?
Who was the muse for "I like her song and if the song goes minor - I won't mind"
Who is being put on notice in "And Timer knows the lady's gonna love again if you don't love me" and "The lady rambles never more if you love me true" and
"if you love me true - I'll spend my life with you - you and Timer."?
Is it the woman who was the inspiration for "Désiree" on the album Gonna take a miracle?
Is it the young woman silhouetted with Laura on the back cover of the vinyl album jacket of Eli and the Thirteenth Confession?
The silhouetted picture is worth 1,000 confessions and the image is an easy find on-line.
The songs are a treat, a treasure trove of her musical precocity and lyrical poetry. Even though the picture is not on the back of the CD, the re-mastered songs beat the dust off the vinyl.

by Ralph, let's call her Ralph.
July 23, 2007

CRACKED CASE

There's nothing bad to say about Laura Nyro and this fabulous album. But the "new" CD arrived in a cracked case, I won't use this seller again. July 3, 2007

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