With the 1971 release
Gonna Take a Miracle,
pop composer and vocalist
Laura Nyro completed her four-album/four-year deal for
Columbia.
Nyro's passion for
R&B can be traced back to some of her earliest compositions, such as
"Wedding Bell Blues" and
"Stoned Soul Picnic" -- both of which were covered by the
R&B vocal quintet
the Fifth Dimension. More recently, her version of
"Up on the Roof" was one of the highlights of
Christmas and the Beads of Sweat. So, enthusiasts who had paid any attention at all to the course of
Nyro's career would not have been surprised by her direction on this project. As much as
Gonna Take a Miracle is indeed a
Laura Nyro album, it could likewise, and perhaps more accurately, be described as a collaborative effort between
Nyro and the female
soul trio
LaBelle -- featuring
Patti LaBelle,
Nona Hendryx, and
Sarah Dash -- as well as producers
Kenny Gamble and
Leon Huff. It is ultimately this team that is responsible for the album's overwhelmingly solid results. Leading off in an apropos style is a succulent cover of the
Shirelles hit
"I Met Him on a Sunday." The vocal performance is structured as a round -- with each woman singing a consecutive line. The song is rightfully returned to the street corner
doo wop tradition from which it originated with the simplicity of unadorned vocals creating an inconspicuous
a cappella symphony.
Nyro has never sounded so comfortable, easy, or "in her element" than she does backed by an all-star
Philly soul ensemble that
Gamble and
Huff assembled for these sessions. The material reaches beyond just the sounds of Philadelphia, with
Motown (
"You've Really Got a Hold on Me" and
"Nowhere to Run") and
Brill Building (
"Spanish Harlem"), as well as lesser-known covers of the
Charts'
"Desiree" and the Baltimore-based
Royalettes "It's Gonna Take a Miracle." ~ Lindsay Planer
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