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Product details
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Track Listings
| 1. Luckie |
| 2. Lu |
| 3. Sweet Blindness |
| 4. Poverty Train |
| 5. Lonely Women |
| 6. Eli's Comin' |
| 7. Timer |
| 8. Stoned Soul Picnic |
| 9. Emmie |
| 10. Woman's Blues |
| 11. Once It Was Alright Now (Farmer Joe) |
| 12. December's Boudoir |
| 13. The Confession |
| 14. Lu |
| 15. Stoned Soul Picnic |
| 16. Emmie |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Consider the curious fate of singer-songwriter Laura Nyro's 1968 big-label bow: though it contained no less than three songs ("Stoned Soul Picnic," "Sweet Blindness," and "Eli's Coming") that became hits (the first two for Fifth Dimension, the last for Three Dog Night), Nyro's own endlessly influential collection barely dented the Top 200. And in an era of supposed pop emancipation and enlightenment, Nyro was booed off the stage at the vaunted Monterey Pop Festival a year earlier. Those facts merely hint at the true gifts and stubborn instincts of an artist who took her cue for hook writing from the Brill Building's prime, then seamlessly fused it to her far-ranging passions for soul, jazz, gospel, and no small amount of personal drama. Carole King was seldom this exotic and compelling, nor Joni Mitchell so pop perfect. "Once It Was Alright Now (Farmer Joe)" even recalls Brian Wilson's most ambitious musical gambits, its suite format playfully interspersing three different tunes and styles, standing the standard verse-chorus-verse form on its head in the bargain. Long a treasured musical touchstone for other artists (Nyro influenced everyone from Phoebe Snow to Tori Amos), this reissued edition now contains beautiful, spare solo demos for "Lu," "Stoned Soul Picnic," and "Emmie" as bonus tacks, along with newly penned liner notes. --Jerry McCulley
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Laura Nyro became the main exponent of the singer/songwriter tradition of the 1960s, and, unknown to many, influenced such a diverse range of artists, from Joni Mitchell and Rickie Lee Jones to Todd Rundgren and R.E.M.
Her compositions touched on joy, sorrow, pain, death, murder, and wide-eyed innocence, and her vocals encapsulated all her emotion and passion perfectly.
Nyro's second album, 1968's ELI AND THE THIRTEENTH CONFESSION, is quite simply a must-have for the music lover's record collection. There was never anything quite like it back in the late 60s and there is nothing like it now either. Never has an artist - and one of so few years (she was 20 when it was recorded but still a teenager when the majority was written) - brought such wild, passionate, "madcap energy" into a studio work and explored so many different themes and emotions when she could hardly have seen the world.
Nyro's wide-eyed innocence benefits cuts like "Sweet Blindness", a gloriously jaunty gospel-pop number extolling the joys of alcohol, and "Once it Was Alright Now (Farmer Joe)", a mini-suite that only a composer of Nyro's calibre and energy could pull off.
She explores gospel, pop, jazz, blues, rock, classical, opera, and Broadway drama on this enthralling mix of styles and sounds, and it is such an original, innovative work that one would be hard pressed not to find a place for it among the greatest records of all time.
Nyro influenced many with her savvy blues voice that could shoot up high into soprano territory at any moment (see the operatic arpeggio at the introduction of "Timer"), and though her songs from this era were wild and passionate, they are all joined by an effortless sense of melody. Each and every song bears multiple hooks and Nyro possessed a Bacharach-David sophistication, even so early on in her career.
Every single number on this album is essential, with Nyro singing of joy and love on the opening three cuts ("Luckie", "Lu", and "Sweet Blindness"), descending into dark passion on "Poverty Train", "Lonely Women" and "Eli's Comin'", the three bluesiest compositions on ELI, coming back with lush, blue-eyed gospel soul on "Timer", "Stoned Soul Picnic", and "Emmie", and finishing with four difficult, passionate compositions that are perhaps the forgotten gems of the record - "Woman's Blues," a foray into neo-classical/blues territory, "Once it Was Alright Now (Farmer Joe)", an ambitious mini-suite, "December's Boudoir", a moody, exotic classical-inspired piece, and "The Confession", an acoustic gospel featuring some of Nyro's wildest, most passionate vocals.
There are also three beautiful demos of "Lu", "Stoned Soul Picnic" and "Emmie" added to the expanded 2002 reissue of the record, which features new liner notes and a full set of lyrics as well as some great photographs.
Laura Nyro is a criminally underrated artist, and remains something of a cult figure, even so many years after her death. But this makes for something special: ELI AND THE THIRTEENTH CONFESSION is a buried treasure in rock music, and once the intoxicating passion of Laura Nyro is uncovered, there is no turning back.
Her compositions touched on joy, sorrow, pain, death, murder, and wide-eyed innocence, and her vocals encapsulated all her emotion and passion perfectly.
Nyro's second album, 1968's ELI AND THE THIRTEENTH CONFESSION, is quite simply a must-have for the music lover's record collection. There was never anything quite like it back in the late 60s and there is nothing like it now either. Never has an artist - and one of so few years (she was 20 when it was recorded but still a teenager when the majority was written) - brought such wild, passionate, "madcap energy" into a studio work and explored so many different themes and emotions when she could hardly have seen the world.
Nyro's wide-eyed innocence benefits cuts like "Sweet Blindness", a gloriously jaunty gospel-pop number extolling the joys of alcohol, and "Once it Was Alright Now (Farmer Joe)", a mini-suite that only a composer of Nyro's calibre and energy could pull off.
She explores gospel, pop, jazz, blues, rock, classical, opera, and Broadway drama on this enthralling mix of styles and sounds, and it is such an original, innovative work that one would be hard pressed not to find a place for it among the greatest records of all time.
Nyro influenced many with her savvy blues voice that could shoot up high into soprano territory at any moment (see the operatic arpeggio at the introduction of "Timer"), and though her songs from this era were wild and passionate, they are all joined by an effortless sense of melody. Each and every song bears multiple hooks and Nyro possessed a Bacharach-David sophistication, even so early on in her career.
Every single number on this album is essential, with Nyro singing of joy and love on the opening three cuts ("Luckie", "Lu", and "Sweet Blindness"), descending into dark passion on "Poverty Train", "Lonely Women" and "Eli's Comin'", the three bluesiest compositions on ELI, coming back with lush, blue-eyed gospel soul on "Timer", "Stoned Soul Picnic", and "Emmie", and finishing with four difficult, passionate compositions that are perhaps the forgotten gems of the record - "Woman's Blues," a foray into neo-classical/blues territory, "Once it Was Alright Now (Farmer Joe)", an ambitious mini-suite, "December's Boudoir", a moody, exotic classical-inspired piece, and "The Confession", an acoustic gospel featuring some of Nyro's wildest, most passionate vocals.
There are also three beautiful demos of "Lu", "Stoned Soul Picnic" and "Emmie" added to the expanded 2002 reissue of the record, which features new liner notes and a full set of lyrics as well as some great photographs.
Laura Nyro is a criminally underrated artist, and remains something of a cult figure, even so many years after her death. But this makes for something special: ELI AND THE THIRTEENTH CONFESSION is a buried treasure in rock music, and once the intoxicating passion of Laura Nyro is uncovered, there is no turning back.
24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It may be a travesty of justice that someone with such original songwriting talent should have remained a cult figure throughout her lifetime. She remains so today, a number of years after her death, but her popularity is steadily rising.
At the infamous 1967 Monterey Pop Festival she was booed off stage, her tightly harmonic song structures must have stood in stark contrast to Jimi Hendrix's wildly loose improvisations. While her summer of love sentiments were pure (e.g. 'Stoned Soul Picnic' and 'The Confession' where "Love is surely gospel"), grand pianos would always be out of step with the hobo, outlaw acoustic guitar or the violent excess of the electric one.
What may have contributed to Laura'a lack of commercial success during her career was her unique talent to harness surprise and unexpectancy. Each individual song she wrote was more melodically mobile than most other artists' entire albums. The breathless tempo changes of 'Luckie', the extraordinary vocal diversity of 'Lonely Women', the constant reinvention of 'Eli's Comin' where, like the rest of her work, you don't know from bar to bar where she's goning to take the song. She may have taken influence from Motown, but as a songwriter she had more in common with Captain Beefheart, totally disregarding any sense of conventional song structure.
It's a sad testiment to today's music that over 35 years later 'Eli and the 13th Confession' still sounds remarkably original. It's a pity that groups like Coldplay obviously haven't listened to this album, they might learn something about developing a dynamic melody.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I bought this on vinyl when it first came out and now I own it on CD. There are utterly sublime moments of real, top flight musicality and even Ms Nyro's occasional over-the-top emotional moments don't detract. The session musicians are on peak form, and it sounds as fresh now as it did then. The production (nearly always overlooked) is brilliant and the arrangements sparkle. I can imagine this isn't to everyone's taste but should be heard at least twice. This is a true original. It's been said in other reviews but the styles of the songs do truly reflect the amazingly diverse influences happening in the sixties. Her voice on occasion sounds like Dionne Warwick, at other times ethereal and floating as on December's Boudoir and so sorrowful on Lonely Women - 'no children to be grandma to.....'. When you compare the plain musical daring on this album with the sanitised mush young people are subjected to now it is no wonder that the best music of this era is being joyfully rediscovered.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Masterpiece, if there ever was one.
I don't get why this album isn't seen high up in yer all time greatest album lists. Well, I suppose I do really. It's too un-rock, original etc. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Shemba
'Til the End of Time
I find it hard to write a review about something as profound as Laura Nyro's 'Eli and the Thirteenth Confession', an album which has struck such a chord with me - it's music that... Read more
Published on 16 Dec 2009 by Stew Carr
Sheer brilliance
I have owned my precious vinyl copy of 'Eli' for 40 years. It has given me pleasure all the way from university to (active) retirement. Then... Read more
Published on 16 Oct 2009 by C. T. Mallett
Great? In parts...But...
After hearing Stoned Soul Picnic on a 60's compilation [and liking it] I thought I'd check out Laura's highly praised '13th Confession' ... Read more
Published on 6 Mar 2009 by colin
Music
If You Like Northen Soul You Should Love This, Maby It Is Northen Soul ????? But Whatever This Is, It Is Probably Unlike Anything You Have Ever Heard, Brilliant, Very Uplifting,... Read more
Published on 9 Feb 2009 by Boots
wow classic buy this its fantastic if you love the 60s buy it!!
this is so fresh and its a shame she is not as known as say carole king she one talented lady she got booed of the montreqoal pop festival in the 60s its crazy her arrangements are... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2009 by Mr. S. L. Smith
Super Ride Inside Her Love-Thing
Almost 40 years after its creation, Eli & The Thirteenth Confession remains one of the most remarkable albums ever made. Read more
Published on 15 Nov 2007 by G. Fielder
Monterey
I have to say, it's a complete myth that Laura Nyro was booed at Monterey - she wasn't. The sleeve notes on the DVD are wrong. Read more
Published on 21 April 2007 by Mr. P. J. Sutton
A CLASSIC!
I bought my original mono copy of "Eli" unheard from a bargain bin in W.H. Smiths (with Moby Grape and Peanut Butter Conspiracy!) in the 60s. Read more
Published on 10 May 2006 by Bernie the Boogie Man
Magnificent.
One of the great forgotten talents of the '60s, New York-born Laura Nyro was just 21 when she recorded this album. Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2002
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