poet & interviewer
I’m going to say it: This is a perfect record. It’s like stepping into the world of Schoolhouse Rock and getting to live there, with all that sunshiny 70s soul. Why Phoebe Snow isn’t a household name can only be because she so strenuously resisted categorization.
Stone. Classic.
I mean COME ON, this record has “Chain Of Fools,” “Since You’ve Been Gone,” and the absolutely deadly “Ain’t No Way,” which my friend bassist John Kennedy describes as “baby-makin’ music.” The band alone is worth the price of admission — Spooner Oldham, Jimmy Johnson, Bobby Womack, Joe Newman, King Curtis, Frank Wess, and many more.
Did I already say “stone classic”?
Confession: I’m not much of a Laura Nyro fan. Everybody likes what they like, and she’s never particularly appealed to me. When I heard this album a couple weeks back, though, I looked at her in a new light. Nyro is joined on Gonna Take A Miracle by Labelle, and that makes all the difference. Her voice sounds strong and assured in this soul setting, and Labelle really ties the room together. Lots of Motown classics on this album, too, and you just can’t go wrong with the team of Holland-Dozier-Holland.