Search - Laura Nyro :: Mother's Spiritual

Laura's Greatest Along with "New York Tendaberry"

Charles A Carlino | U.S.A. | 05/29/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While "Mother's Spiritual" is as far removed from "New York Tendaberry" as imaginable, where NYT was aggressive, sad, frantically emotional, and sometimes disturbing (though ultimately satisfying), MS is gentle, flowing, reassuring and nurturing. It's an exquisite piece of work with a continual flow, and it's a true shame that Columbia/Sony has not seen fit to release this title on CD. (It was only been released as a rare German import over a decade ago.)"

STOP HERE ! This is the one to buy next.

A music fan | Shrewsbury, Ma. United States | 04/27/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I will be breif as the other reviews also state the case very well, but any fan of Laura's should own this CD. I have had it since the day it came out and it gets better with each succesive listen. Laura continued to make great music througout her carreer and this is one of her finest, most personal, works lyrically. However, it is the melodies that rival her greatest works and will continue to bury themselves into your skull until they rest within your soul. Let's face it, soul is what this beautiful and sensitive woman was ultimately all about. Her passing has been one of the most profound losses of my life. Some may think that strange as I never met the woman but her music always spoke passionately to me. That wonderful music is her legacy and any fan must own this album. It is discraceful that Sony has not seen fit to release this CD domestically but this Line import is priced reasonably so what are you waiting for ?"

Call her Mellow Nyro

running_man | Chesterfield Twp., MI | 05/08/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"'Mother's Spiritual' was released in 1984, and stands as one of Laura Nyro's most consistent efforts. The overall sound renders a sort of sophisticated easy-listening experience, and the messages convey a pacifist, motherly, Mother Earth-loving dialog. There is an abundance of soft, smooth-flowing, gentle, soothing compositions, often supported with a jazzy, quick-strum electric guitar rhythm. While many of the songs do not exercise Laura's vocal cords as diligently as, say 'Billy's Blues', she is obviously in fine voice. In a unique twist, Laura credits herself with providing "harmonics", her own overdubbed background vocals on a number of tracks.



'Mother's Spiritual' is, at the time of this writing, one of the rarest and most expensive CD's being sold at Amazon. I used a similarly hard-to-find cassette tape to make this review. Not many of the songs can be found on other discs. In fact, studio versions of the title track and 'To a Child' are only available on a Japanese import CD called 'Premium Best'. Live versions of those two tracks, along with 'Trees of the Ages' and 'Sophia' can be found on a number of Nyro's late 1980's and later CD's, including 'The Loom's Desire', 'Live In Japan', and 'Live At the Bottom Line'. That means that only 4 of the 14 tracks are available in some format other than on this disc itself. Not a situation to make happy campers out of Laura's rather rabid fan base.



The best songs on 'Mother's Spiritual' are, for the most part, those Laura chose to include in her concert setlists. 'To a Child', capturing both the joys and trials of parenting ("so serene, read about us in a magazine, then why are we crying at the washing machine?"), became a fan favorite at Laura's latter performances, and with good reason: it is one of her finest compositions ever. 'Melody In the Sky' is an often jazzy mix of several tempo's, along with some soaring vocals from Laura. 'A Free Thinker' hawks individuality on the back of an intriguing melody with lyrics like "while hawks destroy and healers send joy". 'Roadnotes' is a smooth flowing river of a song, while 'Sophia' is the most fiesty track, finishing with an excellent guitar/dulcimer coda. Laura presents the title track solo on piano, with only a bit of violin support, and reveals herself as an old-school lyricist with lines like, "the ocean sings to me that love is always alive and part of thee".



'Talk To a Green Tree' and 'Trees of the Ages', introducing side two on the original vinyl version of the work, are probably the most generic tracks, although the former features a funky John Bristo electric lead guitar, and the latter a contribution from Todd Rundgren on synthesizer. Rundgren fleshes out the 1980's sythesizer sound once again on 'Man In the Moon'. The more upbeat numbers are Nyro's celebration of liberty, 'The Right To Vote' ("thank you sirs for the right to vote, the microwave and old mink coat"), and 'The Brighter Song' with it's piano-based, bouncy melody. 'The Wilderness', along with 'Late For Love', are two of at least five songs where Nyro adds her own background vocals, and both are more subdued, thoughtful compositions. 'The Wilderness' includes baby sounds (Laura's own child?) and compelling lyrics such as, "I don't want to crush the wilderness in you child, or the wilderness in me. How do we keep them both alive?". The baby sounds return in the brief 'Refrain' which in a reprise tips a hat to 'To a Child'.



As a previous reviewer noted, it's quite disappointing that two of Laura's finest mid-period works, 'Nested' and 'Mother's Spiritual' are basically unavailable to us. I would add Laura's mid-1970's live album, 'Season of Lights' to that list. Whoever is preventing the release of these recordings is keeping some of the finest music ever performed out of the ears and minds of the masses whom Laura touched as few performers can, and that's a crying shame. Laura's musical expression of her lifelong pursuit of liberty is in dire need of liberation."