More Than a New Discovery

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More Than a New Discovery
More Than a New Discovery cover
Studio album by Laura Nyro
Released January 1967
Recorded New York City, 1966
Genre Pop
Length 46:15
Label Verve/Folkways Records (UK)
Verve/Folkways Records (US)
Producer Herb Bernstein, Milton Okun
Professional reviews
Laura Nyro chronology
More Than a New Discovery
(1967)		 Eli and the Thirteenth Confession
(1968)
The First Songs
retitled re-release
retitled re-release

More Than A New Discovery is the debut album by Bronx-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro. It was recorded during 1966 and released at the beginning of the following year on the Folkways imprint of the Verve label (this imprint was changed to Verve/Forecast after Verve was threatened with legal action by Moses Asch who owned the Folkways label. The album was reissued, with a revised track order and with the song "Hands Off the Man" retitled to "Flim Flam Man", in 1973 by Columbia Records as The First Songs. It is this version that survives on CD formats, and gave Nyro a chart entry at #97 on the Billboard 200, then known as the Pop Albums chart.

The album is notable for producing a trove of hits for other artists. Blood Sweat and Tears scored with "And When I Die" (US #2), The Fifth Dimension with "Wedding Bell Blues" (US #1) and "Blowin' Away" (US #21), and Barbra Streisand with "Stoney End" (US #6). Various other artists covered songs from the album.

Contents

[edit] Background

Nyro signed to Verve Records after supplying Peter Paul and Mary with her song "And When I Die," which became a successful addition to the folk trio's repertoire. She recorded her debut in 1966 with Herb Bernstein and Milton Okun at the helm of proceedings. They did not allow Nyro to play piano on the pieces or to arrange them the way she would have liked, which led to Nyro in effect disowning her debut album. She was, however, at the helm of her 1968 Columbia Records debut, Eli and the Thirteenth Confession.

[edit] Overview

More Than A New Discovery is informed by the styles of Laura Nyro's youth. She had just turned 19 when she recorded the album, and the songs retain a youthful exuberance but glisten with beautiful pop melodies and fashionable, sturdy '60s arrangements.

Nyro's lyrics are already poetically-charged and mature, from the wise "And When I Die" to the observational approach of "Buy and Sell." Musically, the album was tailored to fit the landscape of most 1960s female pop singers and it often has the same soulful atmosphere of Dusty Springfield or the brash pop of Barbra Streisand, who took "Stoney End" to the charts three years later.

Vocally, the album finds Nyro giving some of her strongest performances. She convincingly tackles brassy gospel on "And When I Die," countered by the jazzy torch-song styling of "Billy's Blues," which remains one of her finest compositions.

Although Nyro's albums would become more influential and adventurous, More Than A New Discovery features the majority of her most famous and revered compositions. It produced more hits for other artists than any other Laura Nyro album.

[edit] Songs

"Wedding Bell Blues" was originally in effect a "mini-suite," featuring several dramatic rhythmic changes - a trait Nyro expanded on future albums. However, producer Herb Bernstein did not allow Nyro to record this version, which led to Nyro's dissatisfaction with the entire album. The "Wedding Bell Blues" single was released in September 1966 and remained on the "Bubbling Under" segment of the Hot 100 (then "Pop Singles") for several weeks, peaking at #103. Nyro would have scored her first chart entry had the single achieved three higher places.

For the single version of "Stoney End," Nyro was forced to rework some of the lyrics that referred to the Bible because Verve felt it would cause too much controversy.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Laura Nyro.

  1. "Goodbye Joe" – 2:38
  2. "Billy's Blues" – 3:20
  3. "And When I Die" – 2:40
  4. "Stoney End" – 2:46
  5. "Lazy Susan" – 3:53
  6. "Hands Off the Man" (retitled "Flim Flam Man" for re-release) – 2:29
  7. "Wedding Bell Blues" – 2:44
  8. "Buy and Sell" – 3:38
  9. "He's a Runner" – 3:40
  10. "Blowin' Away" – 2:23
  11. "I Never Meant to Hurt You" – 2:52
  12. "California Shoeshine Boys" – 2:45

[edit] Personnel

[edit] References