10 Best Laura Nyro Songs

Despite writing hit songs in the late 1960s and her induction into the rock and roll hall of fame, Laura Nyro is a niche figure compared to contemporaries like Joni Mitchell and Carole King. But the piano playing singer-songwriter from the Bronx made some stunning records. She was a couple of years ahead of the curve with her confessional, impressionist songs – other songwriters who followed in Nyro’s wake, like Mitchell, Elton John, and Todd Rundgren have admitted her influence on their own style.

While Nyro’s filed under pop singer-songwriter, her work took on influence from the other sounds around her growing up in New York, like soul and Broadway. Nyro’s music was also marked by untamed tempo changes and crescendos driven by her powerful voice. Her free-spirited music resulted in some great records that have flown a little under the radar.

“When I write music I see all the rivers flowing … sensual, spiritual, religious, animal, intellectual.”

Laura Nyro

All of my favourite Nyro songs come from her initial burst of creativity between 1967 and 1971. In 1971 she married and retired from music, and her recording career was sparser thereafter. Even after she returned to music following her divorce, she only made another four studio albums before her premature death from ovarian cancer at the age of 49. Nyro

#10 The Bells

from Gonna Take a Miracle, 1971
Nyro’s fifth studio project was a change in approach from her free-flowing original songs. Gonna Take a Miracle was a collaboration with vocal group Labelle, utilising the Philly soul sound with production from Gamble and Huff, and comprising of covers from the late 1950s and early 1960s. ‘The Bells’ was a relatively recent song, written by Marvin Gaye for The Originals in 1970, and its intricate melody showcases Nyro and Labelle’s vocal abilities.


#9 New York Tendaberry

from New York Tendaberry, 1969
Where Nyro’s lyrics are often arty and ambiguous, ‘New York Tendaberry’ is like a sweet and simple tribute to her city. Closing the vivid impressionism of 1969’s New York Tendaberry, the title track is delivered in a straightforward fashion, with just Nyro at her piano.


#8 Gibsom Street

from New York Tendaberry, 1969
Nyro had full control of New York Tendaberry – she recorded the base tracks solo, before bringing other musicians in to overdub. This was a tricky job, as Nyro recorded with little regard to tempo, slowing and speeding up as her muse took her.

“My first session with them, I had about twelve horns in the middle of ‘Gibsom Street,” said Nyro. “They were playing it very clean, and I wanted it to be over-emotional, so I got an idea. I said to them, ‘Now when you play it, make believe you’re Indians on the warpath,’ because that fit the music and the feeling I wanted. And they all looked at each other – Indians? On the warpath? And they played like Indians on the warpath, and I got what I wanted.”

Laura Nyro

#7 When I Was a Freeport and You Were the Main Drag

from Christmas and the Beads of Sweat, 1970
This song almost feels like self-sabotage – Nyro writes a catchy piano hook here, backed by a groove from the Muscle Shoals musicians. But then she burdens it with a cumbersome title. ‘When I Was a Freeport….’ was the second single from Christmas and the Beads of Sweat. The lead single was a cover of Goffin and King’s Up on the Roof’, Nyro’s only top 40 hit as a recording artist.


#6 Stoney End

from More Than A New Discovery, 1967
Nyro’s first album was released while she was still a teenager, and Nyro didn’t play piano or arrange her songs, resulting in an album of straightforward pop. But it puts the spotlight on Nyro’s excellent songs, and these songs later became hits in the hands of Barbra Streisand, The 5th Dimension, and Blood, Sweat, and Tears. ‘Stoney End’ was taken to US#6 by Streisand in 1971. Nyro’s original juxtaposes a gospel-tinged sound with lyrics that question religion.


#5 Beads of Sweat

from Christmas and the Beads of Sweat, 1970
Nyro is backed by a killer band on ‘Beads of Sweat’. She’s usually soulful and introspective, but Duane Allman on lead guitar and Chuck Rainey on bass add muscle, resulting in a song that’s both ethereal and earthy. I always assumed it was about sex, but other commentators have speculated that it’s about a native American ritual.

Listen to the wailing
Of the rain in the river
Rain on the river banks.


#4 Upstairs by a Chinese Lamp

from Christmas and the Beads of Sweat, 1970
Nyro’s fourth album is a like a halfway point between Eli and Tendaberry – the first side features straightforward songs, including a cover of Carole King’s ‘Up On The Roof’, while the second side is more free-flowing and mystical, with Alice Coltrane backing Nyro on harp. ‘Upstairs by a Chinese Lamp’ is from the second side, and it’s built around a gorgeous piano line from Nyro.


#3 Stoned Soul Picnic

from Eli and the Thirteenth Confession, 1968
Nyro was clearly a creative artist with an individual streak, but she was a talented enough writer to produce hit songs for others. ‘Stoned Soul Picnic’ became a #3 Billboard hit for The 5th Dimension. It’s notable for Nyro’s wordplay – she sings of “sassafras and moonshine”, and invites the listener to “surry down”. She never explained the latter, although I always assumed it was a contraction of “so hurry”.

The 5th Dimension also covered Nyro’s ‘Wedding Bell Blues’ – the lyrics of which read “But kisses and love won’t carry me ’til you marry me, Bill”. Coincidentally, group members Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. were engaged to be married when the band recorded in in 1968.


#2 Eli’s Coming

from Eli and the Thirteenth Confession, 1968
Nyro had much more creative input into her second album. This allowed her to inject more of her musical personality into these songs. Nyro’s piano underpins her version of ‘Eli’s Coming’, later a top ten hit for Three Dog Night. I’m bemused as to why Nyro’s version wasn’t the hit – her take features her rich, multi-layered vocal arrangements, and a drum and bass outro groove that wasn’t retained on the cover.


#1 Captain for Dark Mornings

from New York Tendaberry, 1969
1969’s New York Tendaberry is Nyro’s most untamed record, with Nyro’s free-flowing piano and vocals punctuated by orchestral interjections. The songs are dramatic, and feature little rock instrumentation. ‘Captain for Dark Mornings’ is a good example of Nyro’s approach, with the simpering verses building into huge vocal crescendos and rousing orchestral sections. I have no idea what it’s about (“I’ve been sold by sailors, I’ve been worn by tailors, soldiers wound me”) but I love it anyway.

Did I underrate your favourite Nyro tune?

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37 Comments

  1. I love Laura Nyro so much — I would go so far as to say she is in my top 5 artists (at least)! Eli and the Thirteenth Confession is probably my favourite album (the beautiful ‘December’s Boudoir’ and ‘Emmie’, plus the title track…), but some of the songs from her first collection — like ‘Stoney End’ and ‘Wedding Bell Blues’ — are really perfect pop songs too.

    • Great that someone in the blogosphere is a big fan. Eli is my favourite from her too, although New York Tendaberry pushes it close.
      I would have liked it if she’d gone back and re-recorded the first album later in her career. Feels like her artistic vision wasn’t realised, even though the songs are good.

  2. An artist i need to explore more- I loved Eli and The Thirteenth Confession. I recently bought Gonna Take A Miracle but haven’t played it yet. Thanks for the guide to her music.

  3. I have been listening to Eli for 50 years. For me it is one of the greatest albums ever made. I feel the same about New York Tendaberry. Christmas and the beads of sweat is nearly equal. Gonna take a miracle and the first songs are also near the top.They make up 5 phenomenal albums. They have been with me all of my life. Some people like Smile but it did not hit me as much. One song from a later album really moves me, The title song for Mothers Spiritual. I can listen to it over and over and never get enough. Oddly the Japanese restaurant song is really great. The later albums are good but not as great for me but I know that some people really like them. Each of these albums have great songs. A recent song to have surfaced – The moon song – would have really been great for the first album. Too bad we don’t have a produced version of it only a demo. This woman had the talent of Gershwin and it should be recognized as such.

    • Thanks for writing in! I’ve been enjoying revisiting Nyro over the last couple of weeks – I’ve owned the first three for 10 or 15 years (I wasn’t even alive 50 years ago), but Christmas and Miracle are newer to me.
      I have been listening to Smile a little – it sounds like Nyro, but I’m not sure if the songs are quite there like they were before. She is quite sophisticated for a pop composer who placed a bunch of songs on the charts – I don’t know enough Gershwin to make the connection.

  4. Top Laura Nyro songs
    You don’t love me when I cry
    Mercy on Broadway
    Captain Saint Lucifer
    Buy and sell
    Blowing away
    Lazy Susan
    Spanish Harlem
    Up on the Roof
    Wedding Bell Blues
    Stoney End
    I never meant to hurt you

  5. You should make a list of the best Laura Nyro cover versions cuz that would be cool. I think I actually did about 10 years ago. Some of the songs you got here were on it.

  6. Awesome!!

    And When I Die – Blood Sweat and Tears
    Stoney End – Barbra Streisand
    Wedding Bell Blues – 5th Dimension
    Emmie – Ronnie Dyson
    Stoned Soul Picnic – 5th Dimension
    He’s a Runner – Blood Sweat and Tears
    Eli’s Coming – Three Dog Night
    I Never Meant to Hurt You – Barbra Streisand
    Blowing Away (or Sweet Blindness maybe) -5th Dimension
    Time and Love – The Supremes

    • Lots of stuff from her first two albums, right? She got more idiosyncratic and harder to cover after that.

  7. Laura Nyro is an artist that I always felt I should be into – probably because because the cognoscenti and the bloggerati are. However, I listened to New York Tendaberry and just couldn’t get into it. Maybe it’s not her, it’s me.

    How good is Stoned Soul Picnic though? Great record (I’m talking about the 5th Dimension cover).

    • New Yorkers like her better than other people do. I never knew anyone besides New Yorkers who like her. I don’t know why.

        • I think you’re probably the first person outside of New York who I ever heard say they like her. And usually they’re downright hostile. Or else they just say something like “interesting”. But kind of sarcastically.

  8. I find your playlist very intriguing, Graham. Laura Nyro is one of those artists whose name I’ve heard on various occasions but for some reason never checked out. Her vocals are stunning and these songs are pretty good. I guess this means I got some more homework to do!

    • She’s interesting- she’s part singer-songwriter, but lots of other stuff as well like jazz and blues.

  9. I’ve known her more for the songs that someone else covered. But the two songs that I know and like a lot are Beads of Sweat and Stoney End. I started to listen Saturday night and Sunday…I like all of these but didn’t know a few of them until then.

    • Beads of Sweat is pretty cool with Rainey and Allman going for it – she didn’t really explore that rock sound much anywhere else.

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Aphoristic Album Reviews is almost entirely written by one person. It features album reviews and blog posts across a growing spectrum of popular music.

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Graham Fyfe has been writing this website since his late teens. Now in his forties, he's been obsessively listening to albums for years. He works as a web editor and plays the piano.

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