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Add New Review About The Artist The Reviews about Laura Nyro (page 1/1) save the country | Reviewer: Bill Herzfeld | 3/28/09 I recently was listening to a 1940's recording by Sister Rosetta Tharp, of "Down by the Riverside". In that amazing recording, the refrain is "I ain't gonna study war no more" (See the link to hear the recording.) http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php? storyId=95613983 So, did Laura Nyro hear that recording which later influenced the lyrics of "Save the country"? I have always loved Laura Nyro's music, had the pleasure to see her live twice, and the extreme pleasure to photograph her from backstage during her last performance in Hartford CT. A mixture of passion for her men and her woman | Reviewer: Ralph Bruno | 9/3/08 Hi RW Donn Upon your request, I listened to “Wedding Bell Blues.” Nothing in the song refutes Laura’s bisexuality. It’s not until four years later, in “American Dove” that she sings of the fulfillment of the love longed for, in “Wedding Bell Blues.” In “Amercian Dove” an original song honoring her fianće, she refrains, several times, “it’s been a long time comin, I mean love.” They marry in late 1971. In her Fillmore East performance of “American Dove” on May 30, 1971, and her recording of “Désiree” in July 1971, she sings heartfully toward both a man and a woman in less than 60 days. This suggests her bisexuality. Nor is this the first time! On March 3, 1968, Laura released Eli and the Thirteenth Confession. In addition to “Eli’s Comin,” in two other songs, she uses candid sexual imagery to describe her men. “Love my lovething. Super ride inside my lovething” (The Confession) and “I take my coffee in the mornin and all your love, a spoonful or so helps us grow”(December’s Boudoir). Another two songs, to her woman, are just as candidly sexual. “oo who stole Mama’s heart and cuddled in her garden? darlin Emmie, la la la, oo la la la…” (Emmie), and “I keep rememberin Indoors that I use to walk thru…I could walk thru them doors onto a pleasure ground, it was sweet and funny a pleasure ground.” (Timer). Ari Fox Lauren is a music theorist who made a study of Laura’s work. A major premise of her thesis is that Laura was heavily influenced by the music of Tin Pan Alley & the other composers of the American Songbook. Cole Porter is a composer in the American Songbook. On May 7, 1953, Porter opened Can-Can on Broadway. The song “C’est Magnifique” was all the rage. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Della Fitzgerald, et al covered it. Laura’s father played trumpet at the summer resorts of the “Borscht Belt.” She would have been immersed in the song. Some of the lyrics are: “When love comes in and takes you for a spin, oo la la la C’est Magnifique. When every night your love one holds you tight, oo la la la C’est Magnifique.” As with “C’est Magnifique,” ”Emmie” is about love, romance, and sex. However, in 1968, Emmie was “a love that dare not speak its name.” “Emmie’ was Pop’s first lesbian love song.” See LGBT wikia article link Re: “Emmie (Laura Nyro song)” http://lgbt.wikia.com/wiki/Emmie_%28Laura_Nyro_song%29 Argue all you want, you can’t get around "Désiree." In July 1971, she sang a song that she, uniquely, titled "Désiree." Her beloved’s name was DESIRE (Désiree) and Maria’s last name was DESIRE (Desiderio). http://free.napster.com/player/?play_id=10418612&type=track The song documents that in 1971, Laura and Maria were in limerence. Is it such a stretch to go back to 1967, especially, with “Timer” and “Emmie.”? No one seems to know exactly when, where or how Laura first met Maria? Is it so hard to accept that a woman so passionately loved by so many men and women, would herself have loved, passionately, both men and women? Thanks, any feed back is welcome. Add New Review About The Artist