LAURA NYRO HEAR MY SONG: THE COLLECTION 1966-1995 (BOXSET)

19-CD LIMITED EDITION DELUXE BOX SET FROM ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY, OUT NOW

 Be ready for the deepest dive yet into the womblike creativity of the idiosyncratic, unmistakable musical force that is Laura Nyro. Acknowledged as a genuine original, expressing a whirlpool nexus of R&B, doowop, Broadway, opera, folk and her own individual sort of soul, she thought like a bandleader even when she was solo.

“She wrote songs that had no kind of fixed compass point. They remain as unique and absolutely spellbinding to this day as when I first heard them in the ‘60s.” – Sir Elton John, 2024

ORDER HEAR MY SONG: THE COLLECTION 1966-1995 (BOXSET) (OUT NOW)

• 10 Original Studio Albums, 6 Live Albums including 2 Previously Unreleased Live Concerts, Laura’s original demo tape from 1966 and bonus disc of rarities including mono versions, alternative versions and live tracks

• All albums remastered especially for this collection

• All housed in a deluxe, lift-off lid box

• Coffee-table book with in-depth liner notes by Vivien Goldman, foreword from Sir Elton John and testimonials from Charlie Calello, Will Lee, John Sebastian, Jackson Browne, Clive Davis, Lou Adler, Randy Brecker, Bernard Purdie, Scott Billington, John Sebastian and Gary Burden

• Rare, previously unseen photographs including intimate family shots illuminate the book

Included within this set are all of Laura’s ten studio albums: More Than A New Discovery (1967), Eli And The Thirteenth Confession (1968), New York Tendaberry (1969), Christmas And The Beads Of Sweat (1970), Gonna Take A Miracle (1971), Smile (1976), and Nested (1978), Mother’s Spiritual (1984), Walk The Dog & Light The Light (1993) and her posthumously released masterwork Angel In The Dark (2001). Six live albums: Spread Your Wings And Fly: Live At The Fillmore East (1971), Season Of Lights… Laura Nyro In Concert (1977), Live / The Loom’s Desire (1993 & 1994), and two previously unreleased concert recordings from San Francisco (1994). Rounding off this complete collection is Laura’s first ever demo tape Go Find The Moon (1966) and a collection of Rarities. All remastered and housed in individual sleeves with original artwork.

At the centre of this deluxe package is a 94-page coffee table hardback book with liner notes by acclaimed author Vivien Goldman, forewords from Sir Elton John, Laura’s son Gil Bianchini, and brother Jan Nigro. Featuring contributions and testimonials from Charlie Calello, Will Lee, John Sebastian, Jackson Browne, Clive Davis, Lou Adler, Randy Brecker, Bernard Purdie, Scott Billington, John Sebastian and Gary Burden. Never-before-seen photographs and intimate family shots illustrate this detailed compendium.

During the singer/songwriter movement in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Laura Nyro was one of the most celebrated artists of her day. She penned soulful, literate songs that took the folky introspection of her peers and infused it with elements of soul, R&B, jazz, and gospel, giving them an emotional heat that set her apart. Nyro was a hugely respected recording artist, whose confident piano work and rich, expressive vocals made other sonic trailblazers such as Miles Davis and Alice Coltrane navigate towards her. She has influenced the greatest of songwriters – Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Elton John, Neil Young, Carole King, Kate Bush and Elvis Costello among them.

That influence continues today being heard in the works of Alicia Keys, Tori Amos, Suzanne Vega, Jenny Lewis and more. Nyro’s wonderfully expressive and poetic songs – of which many became major hits by other artists, most notably The 5th Dimension, Three Dog Night and Barbra Streisand – remain hallmarks of outstanding quality. ‘Eli’s Comin’, ‘Gibsom Street’, ‘Wedding Bell Blues’, ‘And When I Die’, ‘Stoned Soul Picnic’, ‘Map To The Treasure’, ‘Sweet Blindness’ and ‘Stoney End’ are magnificent examples.

Nyro was 18 years old when she signed her first recording contract and wrote the songs for which she is likely to be best remembered. By the time she was 22, she had become one of the most successful composers in American popular music. But at the age of just 24, she drew back from her creativity and fame, battered and drained by the sheer energy and nerve required to sustain her career. Fortunately for those of us who loved her music, that was not the end of the story. She returned briefly to the fray for three turbulent years in the mid-to-late 1970s, and then enjoyed a final decade of artistic achievement and public acclaim, before illness took her from us at the tragically early age of 49 in 1997.

Nyro found her early fame challenging yet despite living under an unrelenting spotlight, she was able to create this series of utterly beautiful and stunningly unique albums.

Eli And The Thirteenth Confession was Featured in Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and Uncut’s 100 Greatest Albums of All Time as well as being deemed by New York Times as, “one of the 1960’s most influential pop recordings”.

“An optimist might suggest that 1968’s Eli And The Thirteenth Confession lives on in martyrdom, its influence apparent on everyone from Kate Bush and Tori Amos to St. Vincent and Joanna Newsom. But Laura Nyro’s effervescent second album deserves more explicit canonization…..Forty-six years after Thirteenth Confession, and thanks in large measure to it, we’ve come to accept and nurture strident, talented, slightly idiosyncratic female artists.” – Rolling Stone

TRACKLISTING

CD 1. More Than A New Discovery

2. Eli And The Thirteenth Confession (Mono)

3. Eli And The Thirteenth Confession (Stereo)

4. New York Tendaberry

5. Christmas & The Beads Of Sweat

6. Gonna Take A Miracle

7. Smile

8. Nested

9. Mother’s Spiritual

10. Walk The Dog & Light The Light

11. Angel In The Dark

12. Spread Your Wings And Fly: Live In 1971

13. Seasons Of Lights: Live In 1977

14. The Loom’s Desire: Live in New York 1993

15. Live In San Francisco, 28th April, 1994

16. Live In San Francisco, 7th May, 1994

17. The Loom’s Desire: Live in New York 1994

18. Go Find The Moon (The Audition Tapes)

19. Live & Rarities

LAURA NYRO – AMERICAN DREAMER: 1967 – 1978

8 LP limited edition deluxe box set

ORDER

AMERICAN DREAMER

Madfish are extremely proud to present:

LAURA NYRO – AMERICAN DREAMER

An 8LP Deluxe Vinyl Box Set housing seven of Laura’s breathtaking original albums – More Than A New Discovery, Eli And The Thirteenth Confession, New York Tendaberry, Christmas And The Beads Of Sweat, Gonna Take A Miracle, Smile & Nested, alongside an original LP of Rarities & Live Recordings.

During the singer/songwriter movement in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Laura Nyro was one of the most celebrated tunesmiths of her day. She penned soulful, literate songs that took the folky introspection of her peers and infused it with elements of soul, R&B, jazz, and gospel, giving them an emotional heat that set her apart. Nyro was a hugely respected recording artist, whose confident piano work and rich, expressive vocals made other sonic trailblazers such as Miles Davis and Alice Coltrane navigate towards her. She has influenced the greatest of songwriters – Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Elton John, Neil Young, Carole King, Kate Bush and Elvis Costello among them. That influence continues today being heard in the works of Alicia Keys, Tori Amos, Suzanne Vega, Jenny Lewis and more. Nyro’s wonderfully expressive and poetic songs – of which many became major hits by other artists, most notably The 5th Dimension, Three Dog Night and Barbra Streisand – remain hallmarks of outstanding quality. ‘Eli’s Comin’, ‘Gibsom Street’, ‘Wedding Bell Blues’, ‘And When I Die’, ‘Stoned Soul Picnic’, ‘Map To The Treasure’, ‘Sweet Blindness’ and ‘Stoney End’ are magnificent examples. Nyro was 18 years old when she signed her first recording contract and wrote the songs for which she is likely to be best remembered. By the time she was 22, she had become one of the most successful composers in American popular music. But at the age of just 24, she drew back from her creativity and fame, battered and drained by the sheer energy and nerve required to sustain her career. Fortunately for those of us who loved her music, that was not the end of the story. She returned briefly to the fray for three turbulent years in the mid-to-late 1970s, and then enjoyed a final decade of artistic achievement and public acclaim, before illness took her from us at the tragically early age of 49 in 1997. Nyro found her early fame challenging yet despite living under an unrelenting spotlight, she was able to create this series of utterly beautiful and stunningly unique albums.

LAURA NYRO – AMERICAN DREAMER IS OUT NOW

  Tracklisting

MORE THAN A NEW DISCOVERY 

Goodbye Joe

Billy’s Blues

And When I Die

Stoney End

Lazy Susan

Hands Off The Man

Wedding Bell Blues

Buy And Sell

He’s A Runner

Blowin’ Away

I Never Meant To Hurt You

California Shoe-Shine Boys

ELI AND THE THIRTEENTH CONFESSION 

Luckie

Lu

Sweet Blindness

Poverty Train

Lonely Women

Eli’s Comin’

Timer

Stoned Soul Picnic

Emmie

Woman’s Blues

Once It Was Alright Now (Farmer Joe)

December’s Boudoir

The Confession

NEW YORK TENDABERRY 

You Don’t Love Me When I Cry

Captain For Dark Mornings

Tom Cat Goodbye

Mercy On Broadway

Save The Country

Gibsom Street

Time And Love

The Man Who Sends Me Home

Sweet Lovin’ Baby

Captain Saint Lucifer

New York Tendaberry

CHRISTMAS AND THE BEADS OF SWEAT

Brown Earth

When I Was A Freeport And You Were The Main Drag

Blackpatch

Been On A Train

Up On The Roof

Upstairs By A Chinese Lamp

Map To The Treasure

Beads Of Sweat

Christmas In My Soul

GONNA TAKE A MIRACLE WITH LABELLE

I Met Him On A Sunday

The Bells

Monkey Time / Dancing In The Street

Desiree

You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me

Spanish Harlem

Jimmy Mack

Wind

Nowhere To Run

It’s Gonna Take A Miracle

SMILE

Sexy Mama

Children Of The Junks

Money

I Am The Blues

Stormy Love

The Cat-Song

Midnite Blue

Smile

NESTED 

Blue (The Song Of Communications)

Rhythm And Blues

My Innocence

Crazy Love

American Dreamer

Springblown

The Sweet Sky

Light (Pop’s Principle)

Child In A Universe

The Nest

RARITIES & LIVE RECORDINGS 

Stoney End (Single Version) (Mono Version)

Lu (Demo)

Stoned Soul Picnic (Demo)

Emmie (Demo)

Eli’s Comin’ (Single Version) (Mono Version)

Save The Country (Single Version)

In The Country Way (Album Version)

Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing (Recorded Live 30 May 1971, Fillmore East, USA)

(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (Recorded Live 30 May 1971, Fillmore East, USA)

O-o-h Child (Recorded Live 30 May 1971, Fillmore East, USA)

Up On the Roof (Recorded Live 30 May 1971, Fillmore East, USA)

Someone Loves You (Demo)

Get Off My Cap (Demo)

Coffee Morning (Demo)

Medley – Emily-Nested (Live)