Thursday, December 27, 2007

Laura Nyro revisited

For the last couple of days, I've been on a real Laura Nyro kick. I'm not really sure how it started, but I think it has something to do with one of my favorite Barbra Streisand tunes, Stoney End. As I looked up the song, I noticed that it was written by Laura Nyro, whom I vaguely remembered the name from my youth, and that she'd died around 1997. Other than that, she really didn't register so much. Upon looking further at her accomplishments, I was amazed at all of her songwriting credits--Eli's Coming, Wedding Bell Blues, Save the Country, even her version of Stoney End seems to have more soul and raw emotion than Barbra's. She wrote the tune And When I Die, which is a brilliant tune. Here's a video of her performing live:


I've been watching that clip again and again for the last couple of days. I really believe that music history didn't give her her due as a performer; not just as a composer/lyricist. I hope that you enjoy her and her music as much as I do.

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