Laura Nyro

[copley]

Sadly we lost Laura 15 years ago today 8th April 1997. I was lucky enough to see her in London at the Union Chapel in 1994. Laura loved soul especially Motown and used to sing her favourites at concerts. Many of these have turned up as bonus tracks but the first song link is still not officially released. There has been a rumour going round for years that Laura sung versions of ‘My Baby Must Be A Magician’ & ‘The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game’ but I have never found anything or anyone to back this up.







RIP.

[R. Mark Desjardins]

As gifted a songwriter as Laura Nyro was, she wasn't able to connect to the mass music buying public, and that was the saving grace that made her so special to her cult following. Her vocal collaboration with Labelle is a stripped down version of street corner harmony which is a timeless tribute to her soulfulness. In an interesting twist to the contentious issue of covering another's artists material to reach mass market appeal, many African American recording artists scored top 10 hits with their renditions of Nyro's material. Motown singers regularly recorded her compositions on albums. I found this "faux" Nyro tribute that a Supremes fan created, imagining an entire album that Jean, Mary and Cindy might have recorded. Ironically, the one song they did cover, "Time And Love", which features the same musical backing as the version Diana Ross recorded as well, does not appear on this imaginary album.

[stephanie]

Jean, Mary and Cindy would have done well on these songs.

[drlorne]

You show more respect and interest than motown did on some of its Supremes albums. The back could be used as a front as well.

[bradsupremes]

I designed that mock Supremes sing Laura Nyro album cover.

[dzMusica]

She sounds like Martha on Nowhere to Run LOL

[R. Mark Desjardins]

bradsupremes
You did a wonderful job of imagining what could have been. The other faux Supremes covers I have seen online may also have been done by you. Much respect!

[R. Mark Desjardins]

Laura Nyro's son, Gil Bianchini, a hip-hop recording artist, accepted her posthumous induction award to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this past April. After putting behind a troubled youth, Bianchini, aka Gil-T, aka Thoroughbred, is currently working on a tribute recording to his late mother, sampling some of her most iconic lyrics. In 2009, his godmother, Patti LaBelle invited him to share the stage to perform. One of Nyro's most beloved sings, "And When I Die" incorporates the lyrics, "And when I die, there'll be one child born to carry on." Here's hoping that comes true.
For more background on Gil Bianchini and his struggle to have access to his mother's legacy, check out the following site.

http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-06-...ra-nyro-s-son/

[R. Mark Desjardins]

This afternoon while vinyl record bin diving, I came across a copy of The Fifth Dimension's Stoned Soul Picnic recording and noticed two Laura Nyro tracks. Not sure of how many of her songs they covered over their career, I checked out the Fifth Dimension's 2 CD Anthology set and was surprised to see that Laura had written seven songs on that compilation! Now that she has been recognized by the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame for her amazing songs, hopefully more cover recordings will likely be released. Good songs never grow old, they just lay waiting to be newly discovered and appreciated by a new generation.

[zebop]

I know the 5th Dimension did a cover of "He's a Runner" too..

[Joe Dabbs]

Reading this post reminded me to pull out one of her early LP's [[probably her first) with "Billy's Blues" over the weekend. A beautiful song that carried me way back...what a voice!