Walk the Dog and Light the Light
Encyclopedia
Walk the Dog and Light the Light is the ninth studio album by Bronx-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved considerable critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry, and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and The 5th...

. It was released in the late summer of 1993, more than nine years after its predecessor, Mother's Spiritual
Mother's Spiritual
Mother's Spiritual is the eighth studio album by New York-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro and her ninth original album in total, including the 1977 live album Season of Lights....

. It followed Nyro's 1989 live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...

 Laura: Live at the Bottom Line
Laura: Live at the Bottom Line
Laura: Live at the Bottom Line is the second live album by New York-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro and her tenth original album in total, including the 1977 live album Season of Lights....

, and the atmosphere here is similarly laidback and easygoing.

It was the last album of new original material that Nyro released during her lifetime, although she began recording another album in 1994, which was released in 2001 as Angel in the Dark. Walk the Dog and Light the Light received positive critical notices, and Nyro supported the album with a string of intimate dates with a harmony vocal group.

Overview

Walk the Dog and Light the Light grew out of Nyro's 1988 tour, which resulted in her live album Laura: Live at the Bottom Line. Thus, the music is similarly laidback and features largely the same cast of musicians, including percussionist Nydia "Liberty" Mata, with whom Nyro had collaborated since the mid-1970s.

The album is produced by Nyro with Steely Dan
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...

 producer Gary Katz. The sound is smooth and soulful, with Nyro's rich and smokier vocals singing her lyrics concerning topics such as feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...

, animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...

 and Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 rights.

Track listing

All tracks composed by Laura Nyro; except where indicated
  1. "Oh Yeah Maybe Baby (The Heebie Jeebies)" (Hank Hunter, Phil Spector
    Phil Spector
    Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....

    ) 3:18
  2. "A Woman of the World" 4:13
  3. "The Descent of Luna Rose" 3:37
  4. "Art of Love" 3:41
  5. "Lite a Flame (The Animal Rights Song)" 3:22
  6. "Louise's Church" 3:37
  7. "Broken Rainbow" 3:57
  8. "Walk the Dog and Light the Light (Song of the Road)" 3:48
  9. "To a Child" 3:32
  10. "I'm So Proud/Dedicated to the One I Love
    Dedicated to the One I Love
    "Dedicated to the One I Love" is the name of a song written by Lowman Pauling and Ralph Bass. Pauling was the guitarist of The "5" Royales, the group that recorded the original version of this song, Bass was the producer. A version by The Shirelles was a minor hit for them in 1959. The "5" Royales...

    " (Curtis Mayfield
    Curtis Mayfield
    Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...

    /Ralph Bass
    Ralph Bass
    Ralph Bass , born in The Bronx, New York of an Italian-American-Catholic father, and a German-American-Jewish mother, was an influential rhythm and blues record producer and talent scout for several independent labels and was responsible for many hit records. He was a pioneer in bringing black...

    , Lowman Pauling) 3:40

Personnel

  • Lead voice, harmonies and keyboard: Laura Nyro
  • Drums: Bernard Purdie
    Bernard Purdie
    Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie is an American session drummer, and is considered an influential and innovative exponent of funk...

  • Bass: Freddie Washington
    Freddie Washington (bassist)
    "Ready" Freddie Washington is an American session bassist who has played with artists such as Herbie Hancock, Michael Jackson, Al Jarreau, Aaron Neville, Lionel Richie, Anita Baker, B.B...

    , Jerry Jemmott
  • Guitars: Elliott Randall
    Elliott Randall
    Elliott Randall is an American guitarist, most known for being a session musician with popular artists. Randall has played the well-known guitar solos from Steely Dan's hit "Reelin' in the Years" and Fame. Legendary Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page has reputedly said that Randall's solo on...

    , Michael Landau
    Michael Landau
    Michael Landau is a prolific session musician and guitarist who has played on a large number of albums since the early 1980s with artists as varied as Seal, James Taylor, Helen Watson, Richard Marx, Steve Perry, Pink Floyd and Miles Davis...

    , Ira Siegal
  • Percussion: Bashiri Johnson, Eric McKain
  • Harp: Ellen Uryevick
  • Strings: Juliet Haffner, Sue Pray, Julie Green, Jeanne Le Blanc, Marilyn Wright, Belinda Whitney Barat, Joyce Hammann, Beryl Diamond, Rani Vaz, Laura Seaton, Gene Orloff, Sanford Allen, Mindy Jostyn
  • Horns: Lou Marini
    Lou Marini
    Lou Marini, Jr. is an American saxophonist, arranger and composer. He is noted for his work in the jazz, rock, blues and soul music traditions.-Early life and range of musical experience:...

    , Roger Rosenberg, Randy Brecker
    Randy Brecker
    Randal "Randy" Brecker is an American trumpeter and flugelhornist. He is a highly sought after performer in the genres of jazz, rock, and R&B, and has performed or recorded with Stanley Turrentine, Billy Cobham, Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Sandip Burman, Charles Mingus, Blood, Sweat & Tears,...

    , Lawrence Feldman
  • Saxophone Solo: Michael Brecker
    Michael Brecker
    Michael Leonard Brecker was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Acknowledged as "a quiet, gentle musician widely regarded as the most influential tenor saxophonist since John Coltrane," he has been awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer and was inducted into Down Beat Jazz...

  • Flute Solo: Lou Marini
  • String Arrangements: Laura Nyro and Carlos Franzetti
  • Horn & Flute Arrangements and additional production assistant: David Frank

In popular culture

  • The song "Broken Rainbow" had been written and recorded for an Oscar
    Academy Awards
    An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

    -nominated documentary of the same name in 1985, and was issued in live form on 1989's Laura: Live at the Bottom Line
    Laura: Live at the Bottom Line
    Laura: Live at the Bottom Line is the second live album by New York-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro and her tenth original album in total, including the 1977 live album Season of Lights....

    .
  • "To a Child" was originally included in a different version on 1984's Mother's Spiritual
    Mother's Spiritual
    Mother's Spiritual is the eighth studio album by New York-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro and her ninth original album in total, including the 1977 live album Season of Lights....

    .
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