Sold Date:
April 14, 2023
Start Date:
December 19, 2022
Final Price:
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Laura Nyro : Christmas And The Beads Of Sweat
Columbia KC30259 - Stereo
Cat No: PPAN KC30259
Format: 180 gram LPx1 - standard sleeve
Re-mastering by: Ray Staff at Air Mastering, Lyndhurst Hall, London
Laura Nyro's third Columbia effort is easily the equal of her previous two. The overwhelming strength of her song writing and distinctive arrangements fuel Christmas and the Beads of Sweat. Her unmistakable style of delivery maintains the continual examination of herself as a performer. The results are uniformly interesting and provocative as she continues to draw upon her love of jazz, folk, and R&B. Conceptually, this album is as potent as her previous effort, New York Tendaberry, but in a much different way. Rather than hanging together thematically, Christmas and the Beads of Sweat features two inclusive and distinctive sides of music -- with different musicians and producers for each. The first five tracks feature Nyro backed by the Swampers from Muscle Shoals, AL, and include the talents of Roger Hawkins (drums), Eddie Hinton (guitar), Dave Hood (bass), Barry Becket (vibraphone), and Jack Jennings (percussion), with Arif Mardin producing. While this pairing might seem initially incongruous, the quintet had been concurrently working with the likes of Dusty Springfield and Cher and had gained a rightful reputation as a consummate backup band. The final four pieces are steeped in noir more atypical of her previous efforts. The all-star cast of New York City session heavyweights are led by Felix Cavaliere (producer) and features fellow Rascals member Dino Danelli (drums), Ralph McDonald (percussion), Chuck Rainey (bass), Cornell Dupree (guitar), Duane Allman (guitar), and Alice Coltrane (stringed harp), among others. As with all of Nyro's recordings, at the heart of this effort are her ageless compositions and arrangements. A motif connecting such disparate tunes as the upbeat "When I Was a Freeport and You Were the Main Drag" to the hauntingly beautiful "Christmas in My Soul" and "Beads of Sweat" is the aching hollowness that came with the disillusionment that Vietnam, Kent State, and racial relations brought upon America in 1970. As she had done with "Save the Country" some four years earlier, Nyro's cathartic expressionism is captured at its most fervent on this album. Lindsay Planer/AMG
Personnel: Acoustic Guitar – Stu Sharf* (tracks: A1 to A5)
Bass – Chuck Rainey (tracks: B1 to B4), Dave Hood* (tracks: A1 to A5)
Cimbalom [Cimbalin] – Michael Szittai (tracks: B1 to B4)
Drums – Dino Danelli (tracks: B1 to B4), Roger Hawkins (tracks: A1 to A5)
Electric Guitar – Cornell Dupree (tracks: B1 to B4), Eddie Hinton (tracks: A1 to A5)
Harp – Alice Coltrane (tracks: B1 to B4)
Organ, Bells – Felix Cavaliere (tracks: A1 to A5)
Oud – Ashod Garabedian* (tracks: B1 to B4)
Percussion – Jack Jennings (tracks: A1 to A5), Ralph Macdonald (tracks: B1 to B4)
Performer – Boys From Mussel Shoals* (tracks: A1 to A5)
Vibraphone – Barry Becket* (tracks: A1 to A5)
Woodwind – Joe Farrell
Produced by - Arif Mardin, Felix Cavaliere
Arranged by - [Musical Arrangements] – Arif Mardin, Laura Nyro
Conductor – Arif Mardin
Engineer – Tim Geelan
Engineer [Assistant] – Doug Pomeroy, Jerry Smith
Tracklisting
Side A : 1. Brown Earth 2. When I Was A Freeport And You Were The Main
Drag 3. Blackpatch 4. Been On A Train 5. Up On The Roof
Side B: 1. Upstairs By A Chinese Lamp 2. Map To The Treasure 3. Beads Of
Sweat 4. Christmas In My Soul