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Wedding Bell Blues 3:290:00/3:29
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Stoned Soul Picnic 4:010:00/4:01
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Billy's Blues 4:490:00/4:49
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Poverty Train 4:270:00/4:27
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Sweet Blindness 4:440:00/4:44
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Mercy on Broadway 2:320:00/2:32
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Time and Love 4:150:00/4:15
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Angel in the Dark 3:450:00/3:45
“When I write music I see all the rivers flowing ... sensual, spiritual, religious, animal, intellectual.”
— Laura Nyro
On April 14th, 2012, Laura Nyro received a long awaited induction into the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame. One of the great singer-songwriters of our time, she released 22 critically acclaimed albums and wrote literally dozens of songs that have become firmly fixed in the popular music canon, from her debut in 1966 at the age of 19 to her untimely death in 1997. Her music wasn’t just widely recorded, it also catapulted other performers up the charts, among them The 5th Dimension (Stoned Soul Picnic, Sweet Blindness, Wedding Bell Blues), Blood, Sweat & Tears (And When I Die), and Three Dog Night (Eli’s Comin'). Barbara Streisand charted three consecutive times with Nyro’s songs. Weaving together a combination of pop, jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, rock, and soul, Nyro produced something genuinely rare in the world of pop music: an original sound, fired by a unique vision. Her influence on generations of performers is undeniable and may be one of her greatest legacies. Iconic singer-songwriter Elton John summed up Nyro’s influence on his own work: “The soul, the passion, just the out-and-out audacity of the way her rhythmic and melodic changes came were like nothing I’d ever heard before.” Laura’s passing at age 49 robbed popular music of one of its purest lights.
Click on this link to the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame for what they consider to be the 10 essential Laura Nyro recordings.
Laura Nyro Discography
Studio albums
- 1967 – More Than a New Discovery (later reissued as Laura Nyro, 1969, and as The First Songs, 1973)
- 1968 – Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (reissued and remastered with bonus tracks, 2002, Columbia) US No. 181
- 1969 – New York Tendaberry (reissued and remastered with bonus tracks, 2002, Columbia) US No. 32
- 1970 – Christmas and the Beads of Sweat March 2008 – BMG Sony (US division)
- 1971 – Gonna Take a Miracle (with Labelle) (reissued and remastered with bonus tracks, 2002, Columbia)
- 1976 – Smile
- 1978 – Nested (reissued and remastered, 2008)
- 1984 – Mother's Spiritual
- 1993 – Walk the Dog and Light the Light
- 2001 – Angel in the Dark (posthumous album recorded 1994–1995)
Live albums
- 1977 – Season of Lights (reissued and remastered, 2008)
- 1989 – Laura: Live at the Bottom Line
- 2000 – Live from Mountain Stage (recorded 1990)
- 2002 – Live: The Loom's Desire (recorded 1993–1994)
- 2003 – Live in Japan (recorded 1994)
- 2004 – Spread Your Wings and Fly: Live at the Fillmore East (May 30, 1971)
- 2013 – Live at Carnegie Hall: The Classic 1976 Radio Broadcast
Compilation albums
- 1972 – Laura Nyro sings her Greatest Hits (Japan only)
- 1980 – Impressions
- 1997 – Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro (reissued 2011 as The Essential Laura Nyro, Sony Music)
- 1999 – Premium Best Collection-Laura Nyro (Japan only)
- 2000 – Time and Love: The Essential Masters
- 2006 – Laura Nyro-Collections (Sony Europe)
To learn more about Laura Nyro read Michelle Kort's well written biography,
Soul Picnic: The Music and Passion of Laura Nyro.
Soul Picnic: The Music and Passion of Laura Nyro.