Review: Map To The Treasure - Reimagining Laura Nyro

In most conversations about great songwriters of the 1960's, it's fairly common to hear the same names over and over, especially on what might be considered the first tier of songwriters. But there is a second tier that is bursting at the seams with talent that's no less great and loaded with names that most folks recognize. One of those many names is Laura Nyro.

Laura Nyro, 1968

Laura Nyro was one of those songwriters whose own recordings had their audience, but they didn't sell tons of records. Her fame came from the number of her songs that had been recorded by big name artists such as Barbra Streisand, The 5th Dimension, Blood Sweat & Tears, and Three Dog Night. In that light, it's interesting when you listen to Laura's recordings of her songs that were made popular by cover versions, as Laura's originals can often sound for all the world like demo recordings, as Columbia boss Clive Davis once suggested. But like many gifted artists, once you get past the hits and start listening to Laura's other material, you begin to realize the level of artistry that you're dealing with. There was quite a bit of intensity and depth in her music, and it can make the hits appear somewhat shallow in comparison. For these reasons and others, Laura's writing is often cited as highly influential by performers such as Rickie Lee Jones, Todd Rundgren, Kate Bush, and Elton John, who directly credits her with inspiring "Burn Down The Mission", from his 1970 album, "Tumbleweed Connection".

Fresh out of high school, Laura Nigro changed her professional name to Nyro, after trying out several others. She was fast becoming known as a songwriter and soon, "And When I Die" was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary, earning Laura a then very respectable fee of $5000. She made her professional debut at the Hungry I in San Francisco, far away from her native New York, as a means of coping with stage fright. Shortly after, Nyro signed a record deal with the Verve/Folkways label. Producers unsure of Nyro’s piano ability used session pianist Stan Free on most of the cuts. Released in January 1967, "More Than A New Discovery" was not an immediate hit, but attracted a cult following. (In 1973, the album was re-titled "First Songs" and re-issued with a different song order by her new label, Columbia.) Nyro's second major public appearance of 1967 was at the famed Monterey Pop Festival.

More importantly, the album attracted a stampede of artists eager to record her songs. Among the songs on the album were "Wedding Bell Blues", "Stoney End", "Billy’s Blues" as well as "And When I Die". The 5th Dimension struck gold repeatedly with Nyro’s music by recording "Blowing Away", "Wedding Bell Blues", "Stoned Soul Picnic", "Sweet Blindness", "Save The Country" and "Black Patch". Other artists who had hits with her songs included Three Dog Night and Maynard Ferguson , both of whom recorded "Eli's Coming", Barbra Streisand hit with "Stoney End", and of course, Blood Sweat & Tears who had a huge hit with "And When I Die". Nyro was also seriously considering an offer from Blood Sweat & Tears to become their new lead singer, following the departure of Al Kooper. But her manager, David Geffen, had other ideas, bringing her to legendary Columbia producer, Clive Davis, who signed her as a solo artist. David Clayton-Thomas then became the new voice of BST in time for their landmark second album.

Just as a quick sample, I'm certain that most of you are familiar by now with The 5th Dimension's recording of "Wedding Bell Blues". It was one of their biggest hits and is also one of Laura Nyro's best known songs, but I'll bet that proportionally, fewer folks refer to Laura's as their go-to version. I'm a bit surprised that I've chosen this song to highlight, as I took an awful lot of guff about it back when The 5th Dimension's version was a hit, due to my name being Bill, so I suppose this is cathartic for me in some way. With all of that in mind, here's Laura Nyro's recording of "Wedding Bell Blues" from her 1967 Verve album, "More Than A New Discovery".

Nobody was more shocked at the 50th annual Grammy Awards in 2008 than jazz piano legend Herbie Hancock, when his album of Joni Mitchell interpretations, "River: The Joni Letters", won Album of the Year and Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Hancock had faced stiff competition from big selling artists like Kanye West, Foo Fighters, Amy Winehouse, and Vince Gill. "River" was only the second Jazz album to win Album of the Year in Grammy history; the first being the now-classic "Getz/Gilberto" by Stan Getz and João Gilberto in 1965. That's the one with "The Girl From Ipanema" on it.

Why I bring this album up is to point out that great Pop songwriting and traditional Jazz can intersect with most pleasant results. Granted, Joni Mitchell is one of our most gifted and adventurous artists whose musical influence far outweighs her record sales, but she is not alone in that. Lucky for us, those artists who are to follow, both women and men, who are inspired by Joni's work, and by that of Laura Nyro, will likely bestow us with works of great power and imagination in the years to come. It does make me sad just a bit to know that the most virtuosic artists of their respective time are rarely rewarded with sustainable sales of their music during their peak run, and especially after the hits slow down. The respect and accolades always seem to come later, after they've left us, or in Joni's case, retired.

But the reference to Herbie Hancock's breakthrough success with his Joni Mitchell album also applies to today's featured recording. Pianist Billy Childs recently released his new album "Map To The Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro". Like Hancock, Childs wisely invited some of the best instrumentalists and female vocalists of our time to assist with bringing the songs of a profoundly gifted songwriter to new life. By working directly with them on the interpretations, instead of simply having the ladies do their vocal over an already done arrangement, these recordings acquire a depth that would be impossible otherwise.

There's plenty more that I could tell you about this album, but this short video will give you more useful information about the project in 6 minutes than I could in several paragraphs. So, with that in mind, kick back and enjoy.

This is the sort of project that is a whole 'nother kind of tribute album. It's one thing to ask different musicians to contribute their signature piece of the puzzle and then assemble them into a whole. That approach is perfectly fine, and it usually works well. But it's quite a different thing to create a fresh, new interpretive foundation, and then add the extra spin of the individual vocalists' take on each song. The results here are fantastic, and I'm certain that Laura Nyro herself, if she were still with us to hear this music, would be humbled and thrilled. Both Billy Childs and producer Larry Klein have much to be proud of here. The album is now available at Amazon, or your local indie record shop that hopefully has a decent selection of Jazz.

Laura Nyro left this life at the age of 49, due to ovarian cancer. There's a surprisingly thorough biography of Laura on Wikipedia that is actually more informative than her own website. There is also a documentary film about Laura, to be called "December's Boudoir" that is in progress. They are in the funding stage and are seeking any and all film footage of Laura that may be out there. The music of Laura Nyro is not only in print, but has been recently remastered. If you don't feel the need to own every one of her albums, there is a fine 2 disc anthology, which Laura herself had signed off on prior to its release in 1997. There's also a couple of 'Essential' collections out there too. Whichever route you choose, they'll all lead you to a good place.