"The group’s musical cocktail of symphonic arrangements blended with horns and pop was met with particular contempt by Rolling Stone magazine..."

"... which tended to look askance at anything but unadulterated rock, the music historian John Covach said. Writing in the magazine in 1969, Jon Landau said, 'The listener responds to the illusion that he is hearing something new when in fact he is hearing mediocre rock, OK jazz, etc., thrown together in a contrived and purposeless way.'"

From "David Clayton-Thomas, Lead Singer of Blood, Sweat & Tears, Dies at 84/He was also the key lyricist of the Grammy-winning, genre-blending band, whose hits included 'Spinning Wheel,' 'And When I Die' and 'You’ve Made Me So Very Happy'" (NYT).

The headline gives the impression that Blood, Sweat & Tears wrote "And When I Die." In the 7th paragraph of the obituary, Laura Nyro is given proper credit. Save your "when I die" bons mots. Laura Nyro died 29 years ago. 

Sweet blindness.

This is from the "Francis Albert Sinatra Does His Thing" TV special, in November 1968:

Also from 1968, the same Laura Nyro song, from Liza Minelli on "The Ed Sullivan Show":

I'm watching these old videos because I just finished listening to Andrew Hickey's podcast, "500 Songs Bonus: 'Stoned Soul Picnic" by Laura Nyro'" on Patreon (which you need to subscribe to and really should).

Goodbye to Richie Havens.

The wonderful singer and guitarist — the first act at Woodstock — was 72.

I saw him in concert not long after that, on November 1, 1969 in Ann Arbor, opening for Laura Nyro. Quite beautiful, those 2, each performing the theater of getting enraptured and carried away by the music.

"Nominees for the 2012 class of inductees into the Rock and Roll Non-Country Popular Music of the 1950s and Beyond Hall of Fame."

"First-time nominees include Heart, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, The Cure, The Spinners, Eric B. & Rakim, Guns N' Roses, the Small Faces/Faces, Rufus with Chaka Khan, and Freddie King. The Beasties and Chilis return to the ballot, as do Donna Summer, Donovan, Laura Nyro, and War. First-time eligibles this year but not nominated include Crowded House, Guided by Voices, the Jayhawks, Lyle Lovett, Salt N Pepa, Soundgarden, They Might Be Giants, and Yo La Tengo."

Says Adam at Throwing Things, pointing to a link to throw in your opinion.

My opinion is just that I love Donovan and Laura Nyro (and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a bit ridiculous, but I always pay attention and I've visited the place more than once).

ADDED: Saffron!

I'd vote for Donovan and Laura Nyro.

The new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominees.

ABBA, the Chantels, Jimmy Cliff, Genesis, the Hollies, KISS, LL Cool J, Darlene Love, Laura Nyro, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Stooges and Donna Summer.

Such are the nominees this year for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Patrick Goldstein moans:

It's pretty pathetic when you consider that you can vote for the Chantels and Darlene Love, but not for Linda Ronstadt, Steve Miller, Chicago, Rush, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper, Journey, Dire Straits or Stevie Ray Vaughan, just to name a few of the ineligible worthies... Those of us who are actual voters are asked to choose a maximum of five nominees, using numbers (1-2-3-4-5) to signify our preferences. You can do the same. Here's how I'd make my choices as of now, but I'm open to being swayed by any especially passionate or persuasive arguments:

1) The Stooges....

2) The Red Hot Chili Peppers....

3) Laura Nyro. (Nearly forgotten today, she was a seminal influence on Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Rosanne Cash and untold other singer-songwriters.)

4) LL Cool J....

5) KISS....

Laura Nyro, nearly forgotten?! Crazy! Can you surry? Can you picnic? Perhaps you think no one even asks questions like that anymore, but we do.

"The Holy City of" .... New York.

I asked a while back what the standard was for calling a city "the holy city of [name of city]." Najaf seems to qualify by some standard I was trying to detect. No place in the United States ever gets called "the holy city." Of course, this is testimony to the separation of church and state, a truly great idea. But if we were going to call a U.S. city holy, which one would it be? There are some interesting choices possible, but this morning the lyrics of this song were running through my head and I realized that Laura Nyro had long ago suggested the Holy City of New York:

... New York tendaberry
Blue berry
Rugs and drapes and drugs
And capes
Sweet kids in hunger slums
Firecrackers break
And they cross
And they dust
And they skate
And the night comes
I ran away in the morning
Now I'm back
Unpacked
Sidewalk and pigeon
You look like a city
But you feel like a religion
To me
New York tendaberry
True berry
I lost my eyes
I east wind skies
Here where I've cried
Where I've tried
Where God and the tendaberry rise
Where Quakers and revolutionaries
Join for life
For precious years
Joined for life
Through silver tears
New York tendaberry

Lawprofs will recognize that Nyro had a Seeger-type definition of religion.