8 Apr 2015

Marty Duda's artist of the week: Laura Nyro

From Nine To Noon, 11:06 am on 8 April 2015

Although she wrote some of the biggest hit songs of the late 1960s and early 1970s, Laura Nyro has never gotten the recognition that her fans feel she deserves. With a sound and style that falls somewhere between Carole King and Joni Mitchell, Laura emerged from the New York City folk scene of the 1960s with her debut album in 1967, one that spawned hit records for The 5th Dimension, Blood, Sweat & Tears and Barbra Streisand with songs like Wedding Bell Blues, And When I Die and Stoney End. By 1968 she was signed to Columbia Records thanks to her association with up and coming record man David Geffen and the hits just kept on coming, again for other artists covering her songs. Laura continued recording, garnering critical acclaim, but few sales until she retired in the mid-1970s. She re-emerged a few years later and recorded sporadically until her death, from cancer at age 49, in 1997.