Dreams of a Kitten by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Dreams of a Kitten

Page 209

highly acclaimed work that cemented Nyro's artistic credibility.

"Time and Love" and "Save the Country" emerged as two of her

most well regarded and popular songs in the hands of other

artists. During the weekend after Thanksgiving in November 1969,

she gave two concerts at Carnegie Hall. Her own recordings sold

mostly to a faithful cadre of followers. This prompted Clive

Davis, in his memoir, to note that her recordings, as solid as

they were, came to resemble demonstrations for other performers.

In 1969, Verve reissued Nyro's debut album as “The First Songs.”

The same year Geffen and Nyro sold “Tuna Fish Music” to CBS for

$4.5 million. Under the terms of his partnership with Nyro,

Geffen received half of the proceeds of the sale, making them

both multi-millionaires.

Nyro's fourth album, “Christmas and the Beads of Sweat,” was

released at the end of 1970. It contained "Upstairs By a Chinese

Lamp" and "When I Was a Freeport and You Were the Main Drag" and

featured Duane Allman and other Muscle Shoals musicians. The

following year's “Gonna Take a Miracle” was a collection of

Nyro's favorite "teenage heartbeat songs," recorded with vocal

group Labelle and the production team of Kenny Gamble and Leon

Huff. With the exception of her attribution of "Désiree,"

originally "Deserie" by the Charts, it was Nyro's sole album of