LAURA NYRO – THE FIRST SONGS LP – Nr MINT A1/B1 UK 1973 CBS

Laura Nyro – The First Songs
(CBS Records  1973  64991)
Matrix No’s: A1/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 Excellent+ condition
– some wear to edges & some light rubbing
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.

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 early in the following year on the Verve Folkways imprint of the Verve Records label.

The name of the label was later changed to Verve Forecast, and the album was re-issued on that label as The First Songs in 1969. This re-issue has a different track order and revised cover design. It peaked at #97 on the Billboard 200, then known as the Pop Albums chart. Starting with this release, the song “Hands Off the Man” was retitled “Flim Flam Man (Hands Off the Man)”.