Laura: Live at the Bottom Line
Laura: Live at the Bottom Line is the second live album by New York City-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro and her tenth original album in total, including the 1977 live album Season of Lights.
| Laura: Live at the Bottom Line | ||||
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| Live album by | ||||
| Released | October 1989 | |||
| Recorded | New York City, 1988 | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 62:17 | |||
| Label | Cypress (UK) Cypress (US) | |||
| Producer | Laura Nyro | |||
| Laura Nyro chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   |
Nyro's long-time label Columbia Records wanted a brand new studio album from Nyro, who had stayed with the label despite not having had a reasonable commercial success for well over a decade. Instead, she decided she wanted to go on the road and record a new live album.
Columbia did not approve, and a deal was negotiated allowing Nyro to release the live album on a different label, Cypress, before returning to Columbia for another studio album.
Live at the Bottom Line was recorded at New York's famous intimate venue, The Bottom Line, and mixes some of Nyro's famous compositions with newer ones and also previously unreleased songs.
Overview
This live album, which follows twelve years after Season of Lights, was recorded during Nyro's tour in 1988. Her voice had been recovering after she gave up her smoking habit, and the atmosphere of the album is notably relaxed and entertaining. Recorded on Remote Recording Service's Black Truck with David Hewitt.
Nyro's six new songs here are often humorous and light-hearted in stark contrast to the wild and adventurous music on her earliest albums and the more world-conscious songs of her most recent studio albums. It was very well received by critics, and earned Nyro several new interviews and articles.
The album was not a commercial success, however, and Nyro would not release another live album during her lifetime. After the release of Laura: Live at the Bottom Line, Nyro recorded two new studio albums, of which only one was released, and a retrospective collection before her death in 1997.
Nyro paid $18,000 for a quarter-page black and white advertisement in Rolling Stone magazine.
Track listing
All tracks composed by Laura Nyro; except where indicated
| Track | Original album |
|---|---|
| "The Confession" | Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (1968) |
| "High-Heeled Sneakers" (Robert Higginbottom) | previously unreleased cover |
| "Roll of the Ocean" | previously unreleased |
| "Companion" | previously unreleased |
| "The Wild World" | previously unreleased |
| "My Innocence/Sophia" | Nested (1978) / Mother's Spiritual (1984) |
| "To a Child" | Mother's Spiritual (1984) |
| "And When I Die" | More Than A New Discovery (1967) |
| "Park Song" | previously unreleased |
| "Broken Rainbow" | previously unreleased / written in 1985 |
| "Women of the One World" | previously unreleased |
| "Emmie" | Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (1968) |
| "Wedding Bell Blues" | More Than A New Discovery (1967) |
| "The Japanese Restaurant Song" | previously unreleased |
| "Stoned Soul Picnic" | Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (1968) |
| "La La Means I Love You / Trees of the Ages / Up on the Roof" (Thom Bell, William Hart / Nyro / Gerry Goffin, Carole King) | previously unreleased cover / Mother's Spiritual (1984) / Christmas and the Beads of Sweat (1970) |
The song "Broken Rainbow" had been written and recorded for an Oscar-nominated documentary of the same name in 1985, and was included in re-recorded form on 1993's Walk the Dog and Light the Light.
The final song is a medley.
Personnel
- Laura Nyro - voice, keyboards
- Jimmy Vivino - guitar, mandolin, co-producer
- David Wofford - bass
- Frank Pagano - drums
- Nydia "Liberty" Mata - percussion
- Diane Wilson, Frank Pagano, Jimmy Vivino - harmony vocals
References
- Allmusic
- Laura Nyro
- Michele Kort's biography Soul Picnic: The Music and Passion of Laura Nyro (ISBN 0-312-20941-X)