Captain For Dark Mornings---Laura Nyro

[chunter5100]

I loved her more than I know how to say...I wanted to be her Captain of Grace...but I was so young..we loved her so much....so very, very much...

[docambra]

FRANK! Doesn`t she look Italian? WOW..! Maybe even Calabresi. NYRO (pronounced NEE-RO)  stage name) NIGRO is the family name.

[docambra]

FRANK! Doesn`t she look Italian?  WOW..!

[Lovemylovething]

Great song! Laura seemed to have a thing for Captains.... ;))

KUTVgroucho, Personally, I think the arrangements on her first 5 albums are pretty much perfect. They are quirky and cool, almost Big Band Swing sounding, and they tend to be full of little nuances, and musical surprises, which I think compliments her imaginative song writing very nicely - and her voice and piano, are always right up front, which for me, is the most important thing.

[googlechicken]

This song is amazing, I would love to hear Tori Amos cover this I think she could do it justice , but no one drives it like the owner!



[vermontcleric58]

Laura I love you. You are the greatest.

[PlaztecPpl]

too much soul for a white girl. rest in peace

[Grisostomo06]

Laura's singing is so beautiful and feminine.

[KUTVgroucho]

I've been listening steadily to Laura Nyro for a year and I am in love with her voice and her songs. Yet, I can't help but wonder if the traditional 60s pop strings and brass-heavy arrangements present on many songs, especially on those with different meters and tempi, don't weigh them down. I wonder if something more muted, subtle, or even avant garde might have complimented her voice and the material more effectively. This song in particular makes me think that. Thoughts anyone?

[lelehart3]

I wished she was still with us. We so need a spirit like hers. Her lyrics are BEAUUUUTIFULLL, Her voice is BEAUUUUTIFULLL. Her style is unbelievably unique.

[uvidman35]

The gift of music is a weightless signature that presses deeply into my living.

Laura Nyro came to me weightless, borne aloft upon the real-time dreaming of her singing, done with a voice made in heaven.

From Spanish Harlem to the steppes of Russia, our pure-toned soprano sang poetry into the aerial parts of me. Her voluptuous headwaters of trans-American musical currents keep me afloat upon the weightless

[magoo8454]

ONE NIGHT IN MILWAUKEE WISCONSIN, A VERY SPACY LOOKING LAURA NYRO WALKED SLOWLY ONTO A STAGE WHERE THERE STOOD A LONLEY LOOKING STEINWAY CONCERT GRAND PIANO. FOR THE NEXT 2 HOURS SHE PLAYED THE ENTIRETY OF THE SOON TO BE RELEASED NEW YORK TENDABERRY, ALONG WITH CUTS FROM ELI AND THE 13TH CONFESSION. WITHIN MINUTES I WAS A DEVOTEE. SHE CHANGED THE WAY I LISTENED TO MUSIC. SHE CHANGED THE WAY I LISTENED TO SINGING AND TO THE WAY I VIEWED SINGERS IN GENERAL. THANK YOU LAURA FOR OPENING MY HEART.

[cwarn56]

Just for the record Kate Bush released her first record 11 years after Laura Nyro. I always assumed that Kate was influenced by Laura, but in fact there is no evidence that she had ever even heard her music at that point (or since). Nyro was pretty well unknown here in the UK. Why does every one have to treat women artists in this way (witness the label "new Kate Bush" applied to every other new female act). Both are true originals and great artists. Just leave it at that.

[DarkeningSkies1]

@cwarn56 For a long time, the mainstream music industry was a real boy's club. I don't think they liked sharing the spotlight, particularly, but to be fair they do it to male artists all the time as well. Frickin' boring, stale media.

[candelise]

@cwarn56 Perhaps the question should be put to Kate!

[christoddur]

There would be no Kate Bush or Tori Amos without Laura Nyro, and she did it 20 years before they did!!! AMAZING!!!!

[DJKevLux]

The Definition of Soul.

[TheGringopobre]

bella por siempre

[coracleman]

while I adore Laura Nyro and recognise that she influenced many artistes, I think that her influence on Kate Bush was minimal - it doesn't explain KB's mime and dance influences present in so many of her videos. LN shares a vocal clarity with KB, and they are both in comparable in their own fields. The resemblance ends there though.

coraclewoman

[mjs3888]

Comparing others to Laura Nyro is inevitable because of how many people either were influenced by her or shamelessly and blatantly copied her. However, Laura herself is unique and those who are compared to her pale in comparison.

[candelise]

@coracleman True, Laura was not a member of the amateur dramatics' club that is the rule of most artists today.

[briarhillgirl]

NEEDS TO BE IN R&R HALL OF FAME.....OVER DUE! 

[misspeggy7]

her voice is clear as a bell...hits notes off the charts. Her talent is beautifully haunting! I miss her. Died of ovarian cancer at a young age.

[mjs3888]

Kate Bush owes her career to Laura Nyro. There would be no Kate Bush if she didn't exist.

[poeticjournalism]

this has got to be the most undercompensated genius of her generation.

[candelise]

@poeticjournalism I was listening to Alice Cooper on the radio recently and he said that Laura was perhaps the most underrated artist of all time.

[clucaspik]

And they won't even put her in the R@R Hall of Fame.

[STEViEmando]

Brings back a whole heap of memories of lazy afternoons with a beautiful girl in my arms.

[chunter5100]

Laura influenced everyone...including Todd Rundgren, all my friends who were in Rock bands at the time....3 Dog night, Blood Sweat & Tears, you name it...actually, we thought she was holy...we thought she was a gift from God.....and now I think we were right....god I loved her...and I miss her so very, very much...

[docambra]

Wow....! Such references, with such depth..~I can`t imagine this lady..growing up with such rich exposure. How can anyone be so blessedly HIP? She was the ultimate in creation and delivery. I`m very sure her notoriety was very much controlled by she herself..! Those artists who benefited from her songs gave her the satisfaction she wanted..! Laura Nyro was a profound success...YES...

[1carlex]

I am rediscovering Laura Nyro like never before. Sure we all knew that she wrote many of the Fifth Dimension hits, but her voice is WAY better than I remember and she is probably the greatest female song writer ever! She should have been the star that Linda Rondstadt and Joni Mitchell were!

[candelise]

@1carlex Perhaps if she had followed David Geffen and signed onto his Asylum label, as he thought that she would do, the perception of her today would be different as she would've been the star Geffen had planned. Still, I think that it was always her choice, for better or for worse, to stay in New York with Columbia.

[wygakyl]

@1carlex

[LapisGarter]

Sounds a lot like Kate Bush.

[candelise]

@LapisGarter You mean the other way round, considering the time that this was recorded.

[Hilary54able]

@LapisGarter Yes, Kate Bush!

[unadin]

Laura Nyro chose the selections for the compilation, "Stoned Soul Picnic" shortly before her passing. I've never understood why she did not include this song. I love it.

[babshabits]

i played new york tendaberry until it was warped

[magdaszabo]

@babshabits twice. three times maybe. hah. g-d, i love every album.

[supernuke]

I just discovered Laura Nyro by chance and it was the most amazing thing to happen to me in a long time. This is the best music I have ever heard. She touches my soul like no other artists can her haunting tunes are so emotionally charged and powerful! And she did so much at such a young age! I am a college student now and I cannot imagine being able to do what she did! It's such a shame she dies so young, but we will always have this exemplary music to remember her by.

[danpeak]

So many tender memories connected with Laura Nyro and her music for me. And when I was a young young woman how I hoped against hope that like me she loved women too. I thought it was just a fantasy and then much later I found out she had a long time woman lover- Ahhh it was heaven to me. Because she was the kind of woman I would fall in love with because she was the kind of woman I would be. Because I connected so deeply with her heart and essence.

[cecilton]

A total disgrace of the music industry that Laura Nyro has not been recognized for her body of music and her genius.

[erebus99]

Oh, Laura - Memories reach back like a long thin string into the past and find an anchor. You will never die so long as one heart is wrapped in your sweet mystery.

[computopp]

She invented her own musical language but she really had to; there was no other way to express her kind of life.

Strangely she seemed an adult by 18 but returned to childhood innocence by 40.

I don't think we will ever understand how she created this music.

But I listen in awe.

[candelise]

A favourite song of Joni Mitchell as I recall.

[eihwazone]

what a beautiful voice.....love the song.....zgirl

[SandozSaxonWilliams]

after hearing this song there was no turning back for me...

[alaphize]

I first dicovered her via The Confession tune, over half my life ago now..and assumed it was Minnie Ripperton or someone equally amazing. Fascinated to learn this soulful voice came outta a white bird(!!) Love her. All the true greats seem to leave this plane b4 we're ready for it. But the music lives ON ;)

[David56ization]

I heard Laura Nyro quite by chance whilst in Canada and asked who she was, i think she is fab and have bought a lot of her albums including the one this is taken from.

How did i miss her?

My teenage children love her too

[Fabs151]

I had completely forgotten NYTendaberry from the earliest days of discovering this unique and splendid artist and her voice in the early 70's. For those just finding her, you be sure to enjoy her many sadnesses and gifts. Eli, Emmy....profound melody, startling soul.

[SandozSaxonWilliams]

which album is this from?

[GuynamedDavid]

Hi. I find 'Dark Mornings' as track 2 on my New York Tendaberry CD.

[SandozSaxonWilliams]

I've never wanted an album so much...I haven't gotten this excited about an artist for a long time, just recently discovering her...

thank you...

[LittleGanimed]

Mmmm :) Excellent!

[italobambino43]

That is the beauty of seeing a star rise! I was saddened when I heard of her untimely death. I have six of her albums, I was collecting sixtie's music heavily in the 80's when I was in my late teens. I, like you feel the same way about artists I saw rise during my era, now they are over 25+ years in the business. In my opinion, quality endures the test of time, and these artists and there contributions will live forever. This song still gives me chills, her voice is haunting, her words profound!

[Elyscomin]

I am an old man now, was there when Laura "hit the scene" and instinctively knew that one day I would be reading endearing comments like the ones posted here.

[ShameOfTheSun]

Wow The learning curve just got wider , perfection , beautiful song and music , I fell in love before the first listening , spellbound . thanks sots

[chunter5100]

I saw Laura live in 1970 - in LA...at the troubadour...just her and the piano...words fail me when describing how she changed my life...I miss her......but we have her music....the best part of her....and that will live forever.....

[nyroruls]

I was there also. We're some of the most fortunate people in the world. I've spent 40years turning people on to her. Never did a more beautiful soul share life with us.

[pdppdppdp2]

She was a genius.

Not that it matters- her "real" last name was Nigro (I went to the same high school she did, with her brother, Jan).

A truly brilliant artist.

[billyguns2]

100 years from now history will note that Laura Nyro was one of the greatest songwriter performers of the twentieth century and, for my money, of all time. She reaches way down deep into our souls.

[moonchildiva]

There's only ONE Laura Nyro, there's no one like her, I don't think there ever WILL BE. She just sends chills down my spine, even after all these years. Her music changed my life.

[SamHeald]

@moonchildiva There have been a few copycats though.

[Toyboy789]

I just keep coming back to this one truly great song . . . again, and again . . . and again. Laura lives!

[jcisbell]

I wonder if she influenced Donald Fagen's writing?

[atisaseret]

She influenced So So many Writers and she's RARELY acknowledge. A tremendous Musical Genius!

[wolfey7]

Stunning song...I had never heard it til now! Thanks. At first, I too thought it was some early Kate Bush, also one that i love.  Laura has captured my heart.

[InsaneNeverMoore]

Kate Bush, who I love, knows who Laura Nyro was. Starch, you're glib. Nyro was simply the best. This woman wrote "Poverty Train in the 60's. No one has ever compared to Laura Nyro. I love Kate Bush. The Kid

[InsaneNeverMoore]

Kate Bush, who I love, knows who Laura Nyro is. No comparison. Kate is Kate, Laura, Laura. One of the greatest ever.

[allwayssearching]

absolutely no comparison to Kate Bush. you must be deaf.........

[jcisbell]

Why the hostility? Just because you can't hear it doesn't mean it's not there. I can hear it, but I don't call you deaf. Maybe you just had a bad day.

[kelmeister01]

Captain say yes-sssssssssssssssss

[calicopoet]

Why has she fallen into oblivion? She should be remembered with Joplin, Morrison, Hendricks and Cass Elliot and other great 60s performers. Damn shame young folks aren't hearing her poetry and amazing voice.

[moonwarrior5]

she passed away I think in 1999. She had ovarian cancer

[calicopoet]

I guess, I was a little unclear. My wife and I attended one of her last concerts at Berkeley School of Music in Boston in 1998 or 1999. Her voice was as powerful as ever. I was shocked when she died jus a few months later.

[heru1966]

I bought the New York Tendaberry album after hearing Eli and The 13th Confession. This is one of my favourite songs. It really evokes the early 70s. By the way, she looks beautiful at 0:03 ;-)

[calicopoet]

No one  has ever hit those high notes with such beauty as Laura Nyro. Not only was she a wonderful performer but a terrific poet as her words were magical.

[calicopoet]

No one has ever hit those high notes with such beauty as Laura Nyro. Not only was she a wonderful performer but a terrific poet as her words were magical.

[calicopoet]

No one other than maybe Rickie Lee Jones has ever hit those high notes with such beauty as Laura Nyro. Not only was she a wonderful performer but a terrific poet as her words were magical.

[tubinit2007]

One of my favorite songs and performances ever.

Don't know if I could've made it through college without

Laura Nyro's music to soothe me. She created a

personal, inner world in words and music.

I didn't always know what all the songs meant, but

I could feel her highs and lows.

Laura Nyro lives on in those of us who love her.

[STARCHYLDGOD]

Oh gosh she sounds like Kate Bush. And you all need to stop saying Kate Bush was influeced by Laura Nyro. First of all I doubt Kate Bush even knows who Laura Nyro is.....

[EmpressOfWyoming58]

Don't underestimate Kate. Lol.

[kwonder88]

i know --- i agree, i do in fact strongly think they have VERY different styles--- i wasn't referring to musical style, i was referring to vocals... in this track in particular, her voice sounds like kate's.

[kwonder88]

woah, i agree, she definately sounds a lot like kate bush, particularly kate in her early stages... excellent :)

[ilovelinus]

I don`t think that...laura had a different style from kate bush...completly different.

!

[criticzone]

Since the 1960's I have loved this woman's music.

In 1969, Eli and the thirteenth Confession must have played on my record player thousands of times. No female artist today has the scope of Laura Nyro. She was great to see in person too.

As a fan of Joni Mitchell, Wendy Waldman, and Essra Mohawk, Laura was the best.

[spareaxe]

Wow, this woman has such a visionary way of writing music. I just began to listen to her music and I am very impressed with her talent.

[AmbassadorButa]

I always knew the name but I am just now hearing some of her music. I'll be listening to a LOT more of it now. It's great to have a place to listen to this old stuff. If only I could live long enough to hear it all. Anyway I am very impressed with what I have heard thus far :)

[Gertrudis67]

Laura is the embodiment of the sixties. For those who weren't there, listen to Nyro, burn a little incense in the breeze and relax.

[myndae]

Yea, I also think she sounds a lot like Kate Bush in this song.

I think she definately influenced her.

Cool :-)

[xTjPx]

probably my favourite song by Laura Nyro what a talent,

I miss you.

[xTjPx]

@xTjPx Captain!

[clucaspik]

Way beyond pop music - soul classical.

[IanHunedoara8]

Laura Nyro was that artist whose music I always wanted to get to know better but never took the time. Like too many budding performers, we lost her too soon.

[AmericanFabricator]

She died decades after her "day".

[IanHunedoara8]

True, but after lifestyle thru chemicals I've learned to bend time.

[Akemra]

I discovered her music when i watched "A Home at the End of the World" I feel in love right then, i feel so lucky to have heard her voice and songs.

[danielalbertjoseph]

I love how this song ends, it always makes me feel like I'm on a wobbly wooden boat drifting out to sea in the morning fog with some dark handsome man with intense eyes and a anger problem. lol

As for the Kate Bush comment below, New York Tendaberry came out in 1969, years before Kate Bush's first album. If anything Kate Bush was inspired by her. =)

[artlongjr]

New York Tendaberry is one of my favorite albums ever, and Laura is one of my favorite artists ever. Totally unique, soulful and brilliant.

[wygakyl]

I can't get over this song..so much unexpected imagry-her delivery of this performance, the call and response of her instrumentation, astonishing sensual word imagry, the "ba ba's" after the first line of the 2nd verse,and so much more. This song hits me harder than the songs of Joni Mitchell, and that's hard to do.

[zenarcade64]

Love the song, album, and artist.

[nhbright]

One of my favorites- I played this album over and over

[myroseaccount]

Actually I think Kate Bush must have been influenced by Laura

[Dominicano1197]

she in fact was =]

both are absolutely special and beautiful and amazing women. The world has changed because of them, wouldn't you say?

[candelise]

You bet!!

[bukster1]

I was jut thinking that when I read your comment.

The influence is obvious...and amazing. This a great song. I must check the mucic shops for her albums.

[bukster1]

This was supposed to be a reply to myroseaccount's remark about Laura being a bit like Kate Bush. She certainly reminds me of Kate in this song.

For some reason, the above comment didn't become a reply. I must have hit the wrong button.

[wygakyl]

You guys were on to something when you mentioned Kate Bush as having to be influenced by Laura.This is about as out there on the border of pop and eclectic as you can get, but more eclectic. When she sings, "Die", with the dissonent string arraingement behind that line, well, I can't stop listening to it. I'll be in the stores on the weekend as well!

[myroseaccount]

She spawned a lot of imitators! She is greatly missed!

[jumesblant]

this must be one of the most beautiful songs....ever.

[unkpop]

Pleased to find this post. Really intense song...Drinkin' music.

[Lavxtee]

And dear Laura would've loved to join you for that good time...I know she's smiling down at us and praying for our souls....channel the music!

[whitebaba]

I love you, Laura. You're my soul sister.

[xdanielalbertjoseph]

One of my favorites as well. The emotional raw energy of this song is beyond anything I've ever heard before.

[pontello3]

this is one of my fav song ever

[supersexylaura]

Laura, I love you!

[jinalanguniafrika]

DIE! I WOULD LAY ME DOWN AND DIE!

yes, this song is so baad.!

[Dominicano1197]

I really hope you mean "bad" in the good way

[jinalanguniafrika]

yes, baaad meaning good...soulpower, knowhatimsayin?

[Dominicano1197]

why of course I do, *rises fist in the air* ;)

[peepingtomas]

I'm in love with Laura Nyro...

[Dominicano1197]

I FUCKING LOVE YOU FOR PUTTING THIS UP!!!!! I have been looking for the full song on youtube and everywhere else for YEARS. thanks so much!!!

[jackhillty]

"ba ba baba baba ba ba baba"

[wiim2000]

Thank you Laura, through this you justified and santified me, thank you

[falkez]

I love Laura ~ she will be with us through her music forever.

[padleynj]

Dearly missed.......

[zzyyxxo]

I loved this woman all through my teenage life, and I still do.

I play New York Tendaberry until it just couldn't play anymore.

[thursdayhooty]

thank you so much for posting this...NY Tendaberry is my all-time favorite of her releases.

[fadguru]

The whole Laura Nyro Experience is incredibly but pleasantly intense. In all my five decades of listening to music, she was the only musical artist who I felt, could literally paint with music and lyrics. All you need to do is give her your attention for five minutes.

[padleynj]

I found a singer/songwriter who is so much like laura, and she never heard of her...she brought chills to the bone like laura...I'm in love..She doesn't record...too bad..it's thrilling!!!

[rougeboi]

Laura Nyro was a gifted singer...LOVE this song..I'll be a fan for life!

[cecilton]

It's all very simple..Laura was an Angel with an incredible, beautiful, soul searing voice who was put on this earth to teach us all a message through her songs about the power of love. He voice, incredible talent and musical genius can sear right into your very being like no other singer ever could or ever will. Truly a musical genius. How luck we were to have her for the time she was among us. She sings for the universe now.

[okhan001]

she's incredible...i love Laura

peace

[zenarcade64]

Yes, this is the original (1969). From NY Tendaberry, her best album. Massive, those singers aren't even in the same league as Laura.

[Gertrudis67]

Is this the original "Captain For Dark Mornings" or a later recording? Her voice is very strong here and the music is beautiful. Thanks.

[MassiveNyro]

my favourite nyro song (at the moment:P)

if one ever has to prove to ignorant friends why nyro is the mother of tori amos, kate bush, suzanne vega etc... this would be the song to play to them.

[candelise]

That's about the BEST comment on Laura, pal! End of story.

[bolicsoundz]

I'm a huge fan of all 3 of those artists AND Laura, and I agree... I can hear Tori in the soft parts, Kate in the loud parts. don't know about Suzanne tho, I never heard her influence there