Overlooked Albums #16: Laura Nyro - More Than A New Discovery

This album was retitled The First Songs when it was reissued on Columbia in 1973. I prefer the original title, which highlights Nyro’s rare talent. She was still a teen when she wrote and recorded the album’s twelve songs, all bearing an uncanny musical sophistication that belied her years. As an artist, Nyro had everything: a gift for melody, a poet’s turn of phrase, a rich voice, and a virtuoso playing style. What she lacked was a talent for self-promotion.

The music business soon took notice of Nyro. Three of the album’s songs became hits for other artists: Wedding Bell Blues (The 5th Dimension), And When I Die (Blood, Sweat & Tears), Stoney End (Barbra Streisand). These songs have become so well known than you’ll likely hear them on your next elevator ride. But the hits only gives us a distorted view of the record. There’s a great deal more under the surface.

Mixing styles and genres came easy to Nyro. A child of the city, she grew up listening to jazz standards played by her musician father. The musical education continued past her door, with subway doo-wop singers, black gospel, girl-group hits played around the dial, soul music, Broadway show tunes, and torch ballads. Nyro wasn’t bound by any genre; this synthesis was effortless, like a walk through her Bronx block. 

A song like Leslie Gore’s You Don’t Owe Me was a rare thing at the time. Most female songwriters were still following the conventions of the pop tune. Nyro broke the floodgates open with these songs, where the feminine point of view is paramount. Ten years before Patti Smith, she was singing “I was raised on the good book Jesus till I read between the lines”. The lyrical palette is rich throughout the album: “He pays the monthly bill with daily charm” (Flim Flam Man); “Life turns like the endless sea, death tolls like a vesper bell” (Buy And Sell); “All I ask of living is to have no chains on me” (And When I Die). 

The torch ballads are worthy of Cole Porter. Among them is I Didn’t Mean To Hurt You, a perfect blend of melody, vocal phrasing, and touching lyrics that has become a standard.

The album’s recording was a tough process, with Nyro fighting hard to keep her own arrangements. This prompted a move from Verve to Columbia, where she would remain for the rest of her career. At Columbia, she made four outstanding, well-received albums that cut a path for future singer-songwriters. Artists as diverse as Todd Rundgren, Elton John, and Jenny Lewis have acknowledged her influence.

Just as her career was taking off, Nyro announced her retirement from the music business, moving to a fishing village with her carpenter husband. She even severed her ties with her longtime agent, David Geffen, who went on to become one of the richest men in America as a record label and film company owner. 

This retreat from the limelight is still puzzling forty years later. It should be understood, though, that Nyro never sought the kind of notoriety that would enslave her to an image, and she would never change a note in a song to fit a commercial trend. To be rich and famous was never a motivation; it was always about the integrity of the music.

When Nyro came back in 1976 with Smile, a pattern was set. She would put out records when she was ready, play at venues where she felt comfortable, and control every detail of her career. The themes of the songs drifted to the sociopolitical, but the spark of genius remained. Between albums she divorced, raised a son, moved into the lesbian social world, and found love.

Nyro died from ovarian cancer on April 8, 1997. She left behind a legacy of great recordings that beg to be rediscovered. Above all, she was an independent spirit that never compromised. Life truly had no chains on her.