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Today in rock history: on this date in 1971, prolific New York City singer and songwriter Laura Nyro released her fantastic all covers album, Gonna Take A Miracle. After striking up a friendship with legendary soul singer Patti Labelle, Nyro invited her and the rest of her singing group, Labelle, to record this fantastic collection of classic soul and pop songs with her. Focusing on songs from her youth, Nyro revisits hits made popular by The Shirelles, Ben E. King, Smokey Robinson and Curtis Mayfield on the record and adds her own flair to them. The album was produced by pioneering Philadelphia soul architects Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and is often cited as one of the most underrated pop records of all time. Nyro, who was responsible for writing hits for artists like The 5th Dimension, Three Dog Night and Barbra Streisand, opted to rely on songs written by others for this, her fifth album, and began a lifelong friendship with Patti Labelle that lasted until Nyro’s untimely death in 1997. The record charted well on both pop and R&B album charts and is often referred to as one of Laura Nyro’s best and most adventurous works.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1971, hell-raising British rock and roll band the Faces released its second album of that year: A Nod Is As Good As a Wink... to a Blind Horse. Following its sophomore release, Long Player, released in February ’71, The Faces' third album proved to be the rowdy band’s biggest and most successful international release. Led by singer Rod Stewart, the band consisted of members who’d previously been part of British mod trendsetters Small Faces as well as Ronnie Wood, fresh from his stint with The Jeff Beck Group. The album contained the band’s biggest and best-selling single, “Stay With Me,” a bluesy, rollicking tune about one night stands that remained a Rod Stewart live concert staple far into his successful solo career. The album cracked the top 10 on album sales charts in England as well as in America and came packaged with a massive foldout collage poster that was scattered with various pictures of the band spread all around it. Read our review of Stewart's recent Tampa show here.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1966, singer/songwriter Jeff Buckley was born in Orange, California. The son of renowned folk singer Tim Buckley, Jeff’s reputation and style was built during the years in which he performed as an acoustic one-man act throughout coffee houses in New York City in the early 1990s. By 1994, Buckley had gained worldwide acclaim and praise when his first full-length album, Grace was released. Mixing an angelic voice, deeply personal lyrics and teen idol good looks, Buckley was poised for success. Sadly, less than three years after the release of his landmark album, the young singer/songwriter’s career would come to an abrupt end when he passed away due to drowning at the age of 30 in Memphis, Tennessee.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1970, Elton John recorded a live, in-studio broadcast session for New York City radio station that more than proved the young British performer’s charisma and talent. The session was incredibly well-received and became an in-demand recording making it a highly bootlegged session and a hot item. To counter the illegal distribution of this fantastic, sparse recording that featured only Elton with his bassist and drummer in tow, an officially released live album was packaged to commemorate this session that helped develop Elton John as the superstar he’d become not long afterwards. The aptly titled 17-11-70 was released as Elton’s fifth overall full-length album and the very first live album of his career. The officially released album charted well, reaching the top 20 in England and the top 10 in America on album sales charts when it was released in April of 1971. Containing many of his own compositions he’d written with co-writer Bernie Taupin up to that point, the record also included a spirited version of the Rolling Stones classic “Honky Tonk Women” as well as a version of Elton’s own “Burn Down The Mission” that was performed as a medley including a take on The Beatles’ “Get Back” as well as “My Baby Left Me,” an Arthur Crudup song popularized by Elvis Presley in the 1950s.
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