I wasn't at Monterey. Consequently, I don't really know what Laura Nyro did there that turned so many people off. She must have done something, because the word was so thick that it convinced me that there wasn't any point bothering with her first album. It took a lunatic friend of mine, barging into my apartment a couple of weeks ago, frothing at the mouth about the record, to get me to listen to it seriously. All I can say is I'm glad he did.

Laura Nyro's music is a mixed marriage of diverse styles. Her melodies and lead vocal betray a Bachrach-David type of sophistication. Her harmony and some of her rhythms show she's been influenced either directly or indirectly by Curtis Mayfield's Impressions. To that nucleus she adds a rock, almost soul, beat with lyrics that occasionally sound like sophisticated Bobbi Gentry ("Lets go down by the grapevine/drink your daddy's wine.") In both lyrics and melodies there is a generally attractive combination of the ornate and elementary.

Laura is at her best when she leans more towards the simple side. Perhaps "Lu" shows that side best. The chorus, which contains the Impressions' lyric phrase "keep on pushin' " is exquisitely simple and driving. The beat hits very hard and it can sweep you off your feet. The whole chorus sounds like it was drawn from the same bag as Steve Miller's "Pushed Me To It," it has that same type of harmony only done with infinitely more grace.

She's at her worst when she breaks her rhythms too much and misuses her falsetto. I say misuses because she employs both beat changes and falsetto on practically every cut, sometimes, as on "Lu," to great effect. However, when she overdoes it, she clutters the track up with superfluous emoting. In such cases, both techniques begin to sound like artificial gimmicks. The introduction to "Timer" is subject to both of these faults and severely damages what is in other ways a fine cut. Similarly, "Poverty Train" which has a powerful chorus, might have been more effective if the arrangement had been tighter. Yet, even with defects, that cut comes out very powerfully.

The cumulative impact of Laura's excesses make this a difficult album to listen to all the way through. Yet the strong cuts (which far outnumber the weak ones) when listened to individually, reveal the mark of an original and brilliant young talent. When she gets into a steady, solid groove, whether fast or slow, she can make you feel it deep down inside. Dig her especially on "Luckie," "Eli's Comin'," "Stone Soul Picnic," (which the Fifth Dimension took note for note) and "Emmie."

Laura Nyro has a long way to go. But she also has a lot going for her: a fine voice, a great melodic and lyrical sense, and plenty of style. What she mainly needs now is little more self-restraint and control. It will come. (RS 18)

JON LANDAU