FEATURE:
From The Bronx to Bexleyheath…
Kate Bush and the Influence of Laura Nyro
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ONE would not imagine that…
an artist from The Bronx would impact an icon born in Bexleyheath. Though both areas start with the letter b, would they intersect and match up? The late Laura Nyro – who died in 1997 – is not someone one would typically associate with the sound of The Bronx. That said, can we say Kate Bush is typically of any place or time?! Both artists are synonymous with their beautiful and intimate songwriting, their octave-spanning vocals and their sheer musicianship and exceptional songwriting. Nyro achieved critical acclaim with albums like Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (1968) and New York Tendaberry (1969). She has gained a lot of posthumous praise. Possibly more loved and known in the U.S., Bush is someone who is better-known in her home nation. Bush has also never really cited female singers in interviews as being influential. She has named the likes of The Beatles, Elton John, and Roxy Music, though she has stayed clear of naming women, lest people compare her. As an artist, she did not want to get compared or too influenced by them. She said early on how she did not make the sort of music Carole King did. In the sense she did not want to be a confessional songwriter writing about love in the same way. Having been compared to Joni Mitchell, Bush has never really alluded to that too much – only to say that she loves Mitchell and her music makes her shiver. One cannot help but to hear the essence and influence of Laura Nyro in Kate Bush.
Before coming onto a closer examination – thinking about albums like The Kick Inside and Lionheart (both 1978) -, this is a timely feature, as there is a new documentary being made about the legendary Laura Nyro. Pitchfork explains in more detail:
“Vistas Media Capital has announced plans for a new documentary about Laura Nyro, the late singer-songwriter, activist, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee. The as-yet-untitled film will be produced by Ben Waisbren and music producer Bonnie Greenberg, with Nyro’s son Gil Bianchini serving as an associate producer, reports Deadline. A director has yet to be announced for the documentary.
“I was first attracted to Laura Nyro’s music and life story by what David Geffen so poignantly said about her in Susan Lacy’s 2010 feature film Inventing David Geffen,” Waisbren said in a statement to Deadline. “Her lyrics touched and galvanized a generation of women—words that have resonance today.”
At age 19, Laura Nyro made a name for herself at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival where she effortlessly sang her way through folk, jazz, and blues songs. David Geffen convinced her to be his first-ever client as a music manager immediately afterwards, and he helped her sign a deal at Columbia Records. Nyro’s first three records became increasingly more successful, as did her collaborative singles with artists like Barbra Streisand and the 5th Dimension. Her work went on to have a profound impact on Joni Mitchell, Elton John, and Kate Bush.
Nyro died from ovarian cancer in 1997 at age 49. Her final studio recordings were released in 2001 on the posthumous album Angel in the Dark. In 2021, Nyro was celebrated with a career-spanning box set titled Laura Nyro: American Dreamer”.
There have been references to Kate Bush and Laura Nyro. The below, a review of The Kick Inside from Laura Snapes for Pitchfork, sort of jokingly reefers to the relationship between the artists’ music:
“Besides, Bush had always felt that she had male musical urges, drawing distinctions between herself and the female songwriters of the 1960s. “That sort of stuff is sweet and lyrical,” Bush said of Carole King and co. in 1978, “but it doesn’t push it on you, and most male music—not all of it, but the good stuff—really lays it on you. It’s like an interrogation. It really puts you against the wall and that’s what I’d like my music to do. I’d like my music to intrude.” (Evidently, she had not been listening to enough Laura Nyro.) That reasoning underpinned Bush’s first battle with EMI, who wanted to release the romp “James and the Cold Gun” as her first single. Bush knew it had to be the randy metaphysical torch song “Wuthering Heights,” and she was right: It knocked ABBA off the UK No. 1 spot. She soon intruded on British life to the degree that she was subject to unkind TV parodies”.
I do think that, on The Kick Inside, you can see that Bush had been listening to Laura Nyro. If Bush was not consciously following Nyro, you can hear parallels between them. Listen to Nyro’s classic albums and what defines them. The vocal richness and emotional depth. There are acrobatics to an extent, but it is more nimbleness and something operatic. If you listen to songs like Wuthering Heights, Them Heavy People and Symphony in Blue (Kate Bush; from The Kick Inside and Lionheart), one can trace a line back to Laura Nyro albums like Eli and the Thirteenth Confession. That album was released in 1968 so, as a nine/ten-year-old, I suspect that some of tones would have resonated – if, indeed, Nyro was featured on station in 1968 and would have made their way to East Wickham Farm in Welling.
One can argue that a teenage Bush would not have been diving into the catalogue of Laura Nyro. Someone more at home with the albums of Elton John or Roy Harper, a lot of her inspiration came from male artists. Certain phrases and melodies from Nyro were present in Kate Bush’s music. More than anything, the amazing and iconic Laura Nyro laid a trail and path for the likes of Kate Bush. If Bush was more experimental regarding personas and characters in her songs, it is more the texture and style of Nyro’s music that you can directly link to Bush. Now that a Laura Nyro documentary is announced, it will show how she has influenced artists such as Kate Bush – in addition to affecting musicians such as Joni Mitchell, Tori Amos, Elton John, and Patti Smith. One of the most inspiring artists of her time, Nyro would have been seventy-five this October.
I know Laura Nyro would have been proud of the fact her music has survived and been cherished for so long. I listen to the first couple of Kate Bush albums, and I can definitely detect the importance of Nyro (the fact both women wrote, arranged and performed their own music). Some say that the reason Tori Amos was successful in the U.S. is because of Kate Bush and the influence she had on her – even if Bush herself has never been truly recognised in the U.S. until now. A remarkable songwriter with such reach, beauty and honesty in her songs, Laura Nyro definitely made it possible for someone like Kate Bush to take that foundation and sound and take it to the next level. One can argue that Kate Bush’s brilliant voice, melodies and way with intonation and phrasing have led to a new generation of artists, thought I would urge people to listen to Laura Nyro and the clear similarities – even if Kate Bush took her music in a new direction by 1980’s Never for Ever. The announced Laura Nyro documentary will not only celebrate this much-missed artist who made an impact in her short life. I also hope that it means that her incredible work will…
GET more focus and praise.