LAURA NYRO – CHRISTMAS AND THE BEADS OF SWEAT LP – Nr MINT A1/B1 UK 1970 ORIG FOLK ROCK

Laura Nyro – Christmas And The Beads Of Sweat
(CBS Records  1970  64157)
Matrix No’s: A2/B1 – UK Pressing

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some light surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

Sleeve in Very Good+ condition
– some rubbing/ringwear and discolouration/foxing
Original CBS Inner Sleeve

Laura Nyro (born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (1968) and New York Tendaberry (1969), and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and the 5th Dimension recording her songs. Wider recognition for her artistry was posthumous while her contemporaries such as Elton John idolized her. She was praised for her strong emotive vocal style and 3-octave mezzo-soprano vocal range.

Between 1968 and 1970, a number of artists had hits with her songs: The 5th Dimension with “Blowing Away”, “Wedding Bell Blues”, “Stoned Soul Picnic”, “Sweet Blindness”, and “Save the Country”; Blood, Sweat & Tears and Peter, Paul and Mary with “And When I Die”; Three Dog Night and Maynard Ferguson with “Eli’s Comin'”; and Barbra Streisand with “Stoney End”, “Time and Love”, and “Hands off the Man (Flim Flam Man)”. Nyro’s best-selling single was her recording of Carole King’s and Gerry Goffin’s “Up on the Roof”.

Nyro was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2010, and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.

Christmas and the Beads of Sweat is the fourth album by New York-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro. The album was released on the Columbia Records label in November 1970 after Nyro had recorded it in the early summer with producers Felix Cavaliere and Arif Mardin. Whilst Nyro had handed over production reins, she was still in control of the project and co-arranged her compositions.

All songs written by Laura Nyro, except where noted.

Side one

1. “Brown Earth” – 4:09
2. “When I Was a Freeport and You Were the Main Drag” – 2:42
3. “Blackpatch” – 3:33
4. “Been on a Train” – 5:49
5. “Up on the Roof” (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) – 3:13

Side two

6. “Upstairs by a Chinese Lamp” – 5:34
7. “Map to the Treasure” – 8:08
8. “Beads of Sweat” – 4:47
9. “Christmas in My Soul” – 7:00

• Laura Nyro – piano, vocals, arrangements

Additional musicians on side one

• Barry Beckett – vibraphone
• Felix Cavaliere – organ, bells, producer
• Roger Hawkins – drums
• Eddie Hinton – electric guitar
• David Hood – bass
• Jack Jennings – percussion
• Stuart Scharf – acoustic guitar

Other musicians The album credits these musicians but does not indicate which tracks they played on.

• Duane Allman – guitar
• Richard Davis – bass

Additional musicians on side two

• Alice Coltrane – harp
• Dino Danelli – drums
• Cornell Dupree – electric guitar
• Joe Farrell – woodwinds
• Ashod Garabedian – oud
• Ralph MacDonald – percussion
• Chuck Rainey – bass
• Michael Szittai – cimbalon

Technical

• Arif Mardin – arrangements, conductor, producer
• Roy Segal – engineer
• Tim Geelan – engineer
• Jerry Lee Smith – assistant engineer
• Doug Pomeroy – assistant engineer
• Beth O’Brien – cover portrait