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"Smile": Laura Nyro's 1976 Album Returns To CD From Iconoclassic

October 21, 2013 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

Laura Nyro - SmileIconoclassic Records is giving fans of the late Laura Nyro a reason to Smile with tomorrow’s expanded reissue of the singer-songwriter’s 1976 album of the same name.  Smile marked Nyro’s return to music after a four-year hiatus following her Gamble and Huff-produced Philly soul gem Gonna Take a Miracle. This reissue – which appends three bonus tracks receiving their first domestic release – is the latest in Iconoclassic’s impressive series which also includes reissues of Season of Lights (1977), Nested (1978) and A Mother’s Spiritual (1984).

Much had changed for Laura Nyro since the R&B-flavored LaBelle collaboration Gonna Take a Miracle.  She married and divorced David Bianchini, and during the recording of Smile, was faced with the death of her mother from ovarian cancer, the same disease that would take her own life two decades later. Despite these challenges and heartaches, Nyro sounded to be in relatively content territory on much of Smile. Charlie Calello, with whom she had worked on 1968’s Eli and the Thirteenth Confession, returned as producer for the first time in almost a decade, and she brought a clutch of new, timely, and intensely personal compositions to the studio.

This time, the prevailing sound was jazz-influenced, with the Brecker Brothers, Will Lee, Hugh McCracken and Rick Marotta among the players. The result made Nyro sound a bit like Joni Mitchell to casual listeners, despite the fact that Nyro’s earliest pop/jazz forays predated the famous Canadian’s. It was impossible to hear the albums’ opening cut, Moments cover “Sexy Mama” (the album’s lone song not written by Nyro), and not hear a bit of Court and Spark.  But elsewhere, Smile couldn’t have been mistaken for anything but the work of the boundary-breaking, genre-bending Laura Nyro.  She’s playful adopting the voice of a rather perceptive feline in “The Cat-Song,” heartbroken but guardedly optimistic on “Stormy Love,” and wounded but stronger on the ironically upbeat “Money,” likely a jab at her former manager David Geffen.  “Midnite Blue” is a love song likely aimed at then-boyfriend Greg Bennett; the impressionistic and musically spellbinding “I Am the Blues,” on the other hand, builds on its lyrical conceit with a variety of evocative images.

After the jump: more details including the full track listing and pre-order links!

With its diverse assortment of original songs from one of the most original voices in all of popular music, Smile performed mildly well.  It peaked at No. 60 on the albums chart, and led to a full-band tour which would be preserved on Season of Lights. A 2008 Japan-only reissue appended three unreleased songs in demo form: “Someone Loves You,” “Get Me My Cap” and “Coffee Morning.”  While “Coffee Morning” was issued in the U.S. on Legacy’s Playlist: The Very Best of Laura Nyro, “Someone Loves You” and “Get Me My Cap” both make their U.S. debuts on Iconoclassic’s Smile.

Like Iconoclassic’s past Nyro reissues, Smile features a detailed new essay from biographer Michele Kort.  Original album artwork and lyrics have also been reprinted.   Vic Anesini has remastered the album at Battery Studios.  It’s out tomorrow, and can be ordered at the links below!  (For more on Laura Nyro’s remarkable career and catalogue, please visit our Back Tracks feature!)

Laura Nyro, Smile (Columbia LP PC-33912, 1976 – reissued Iconoclassic CD ICON 1034, 2013) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

  1. Sexy Mama
  2. Children of the Junks
  3. Money
  4. I Am the Blues
  5. Stormy Love
  6. The Cat-Song
  7. Midnite Blue
  8. Smile
  9. Someone Loves You (Demo)
  10. Get Me My Cap (Demo)
  11. Coffee Morning (Demo)

Tracks 9-11 first released on Smile, Columbia (Japan) SICP-1956, 2008

Categories: News Tags: Laura Nyro

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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Comments

  1. Zubb says

    October 21, 2013 at 8:03 pm

    Nice to see Iconoclassic is still putting out reissues. We don't hear much from that label.

    Reply
  2. Kevin says

    October 22, 2013 at 8:37 am

    They should put out the complete Laura Nyro Live in Japan.

    The Japanese CD is ridiculously overpriced

    Reply
    • Deege says

      October 22, 2013 at 1:55 pm

      They did release a full version of "Season of Lights." http://www.iconoclassicrecords.com/catalogue/season/season.html

      Reply
      • Deege says

        October 22, 2013 at 1:56 pm

        Whoops, just realized you are talking about a different live CD!

        Reply
  3. Kevin says

    October 23, 2013 at 8:44 am

    The USA version of Live in Japan was heavily edited.

    Reply

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