Gonna Take a Miracle

Gonna Take a Miracle
Studio album by Laura Nyro & Labelle
Released	November 17, 1971
Recorded	May-June 1971 Sigma Sound Studios Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Genre	Soul
Length	33:36 (original) 41:49 (2002 reissue)
Label	Columbia
Producer	Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (B-) link PopMatters (favorable) link Rolling Stone (favorable) link
Laura Nyro & Labelle chronology
Christmas and the Beads of Sweat (1970) Gonna Take a Miracle (1971) Smile (1976)

Gonna Take a Miracle is the fifth music album by New York-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro. Nyro was backed up on the album by the vocal trio Labelle.

Gonna Take a Miracle was released on the Columbia Records label in November 1971, a year after its predecessor, Christmas and the Beads of Sweat. The album is Nyro's only all-covers album, and she interprets mainly '50s and '60s soul and R&B standards, using Labelle as a traditional back-up vocal group.

Nyro had originally hatched the idea to do a covers album during 1970, and on her tour to support the Christmas and the Beads of Sweat album she introduced several of the songs that would later appear on Gonna Take a Miracle, including "Spanish Harlem" and "Dancing in the Street."

Gonna Take a Miracle remains a critics' favourite Laura Nyro record for its laidback atmosphere and impressive soul grooves and musicianship, as well as classic "Philadelphia soul" production from Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. It was Nyro's last commercially successful album, peaking at #46 on the Billboard 200, then known as the Pop Albums chart, as well as an impressive #41 on the Black Albums chart.

It was Nyro's last album for more than four years as she turned her back on the music industry to get married and live a rural life away from the spotlight. Nyro's work with Patti LaBelle on the album formed a lifelong friendship.

In 2005, Word magazine voted Gonna Take a Miracle among the 60 Best Underrated Albums of all time.

Overview

Nyro first met Patti LaBelle in 1970 when she was about to give an interview to LaBelle's manager Vicki Wickham. Wickham brought LaBelle along to the interview, where she engaged in deep conversation with Nyro. They went on the road together, with Nyro cooking for LaBelle. When time came to record Gonna Take a Miracle, Nyro called up LaBelle, who also brought along her vocal partners in Labelle, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash.

Studio time was booked for a week in the hot summer of 1971 in Philadelphia, the centre of the soul movement. Rather than Nyro alone, the album's strength lies in the performance of the whole cast, including legendary producers Gamble and Huff and a stunning band of musicians.

The album was recorded very quickly and retains a "rough-and-ready" quality. It also breaks the cycle of Nyro's predominantly moody, piano-based works. This is a soul/R&B record, featuring traditional soul touches and R&B grooves.

Nyro was the main selector of material for the album, and chose songs she was influenced by growing up in the Bronx of the 1950s and 1960s. The songs include The Shirelles' "I Met Him on a Sunday," The Originals' "The Bells" (written by Marvin Gaye), Smokey Robinson & the Miracles' "You've Really Got a Hold on Me," Ben E. King's "Spanish Harlem," The Charts' "Deserie/Desiree," Curtis Mayfield's "The Monkey Time", and The Royalettes' "It's Gonna Take A Miracle."

The album balances the grittier numbers with the more ethereal soul ballad, "The Wind" and the sultry love ballad, "Désiree." Nyro, Labelle, and Gamble & Huff expertly mixed genres including doo-wop, soul, R&B, pop, Brill Building, and gospel. "Despite Gamble and Huff's presence on the project, Nyro remained fully in charge."

Track listing

The 2002 remaster

During the summer of 2002, the Legacy imprint of Columbia Records reissued the album in re-mastered and expanded format. The additional tracks were all recorded live at New York's Fillmore East and were later issued on the live album Spread Your Wings and Fly: Live at the Fillmore East May 30, 1971. They are "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "Ooh Child", and "Up on the Roof", all fitting with the covers theme of the original album.

The reissue features photographs and recording details, as well as new liner notes by Amy Linden and a back-cover personal recollection by Patti LaBelle. The reissue was released alongside similar versions of Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry, and were produced and directed by the same Columbia/Legacy team.

Miscellanea

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (January 2009)

• Nyro had known of Patti LaBelle since she was introduced to the Labelle song "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman" as a teenager.
• Labelle had covered Nyro's "Time and Love" on one of their albums before recording on Gonna Take a Miracle began.
• Nyro had already decided to record an R&B/soul covers album in Philadelphia with Gamble and Huff before inviting Labelle to perform.
• When the recording schedule grew tight, Patti LaBelle bet Leon Huff $1,000 that they could record the vocals in one day. LaBelle won the bet, and the album consists of first-take vocals.
• Labelle accompanied Nyro at her closing 1971 concerts.
• Nyro had performed some of the songs already in concert before she included them on the album.
• It was the last Laura Nyro album for more than four years.
• Journalist/writer Baz Bamigboye considers it to be one of his favourite albums.
• Music from Gonna Take a Miracle appears in the 2004 film A Home at the End of the World, starring Colin Farrell.
• Singer Jenny Lewis of the band Rilo Kiley credits the album as a major influence on her 2006 solo album Rabbit Fur Coat.

References

• Allmusic
• Michele Kort's biography Soul Picnic: The Music and Passion of Laura Nyro (ISBN 0-312-20941-X)