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Can you surry? Can you picnic? Laura Nyro, to use her own fanciful word, surried onto the scene 50 years ago with the release of her debut album More Than a New Discovery. Its title was certainly apt. Throughout the course of her life, Nyro wrote and introduced some of the most beloved popular songs of all time with her singular fusion of pop, jazz, R&B, soul, Broadway, gospel, and folk sounds. Today, Second Disc Records is proud to join Real Gone Music to celebrate the golden anniversary of Laura Nyro's debut as we announce a landmark 2-CD collection that was two years in the making!
A Little Magic, A Little Kindness: The Complete Mono Albums Collection is due on Friday, July 7. It features, for the very first time on CD, both of Nyro's original mono albums newly remastered by Vic Anesini at Sony's Battery Studios from the original master tapes, plus new-to-CD bonus tracks!
More Than a New Discovery, originally released on Verve Folkways in 1967, premiered the songs that Barbra Streisand, Blood Sweat and Tears, and The 5th Dimension would all take up the charts, including "Stoney End," "And When I Die," "Blowin' Away," and perhaps the most famous song Nyro ever wrote, "Wedding Bell Blues." This special edition restores the original album sequence and mono mix from the very first version of the album. In 1968, the pioneering singer-songwriter moved to Columbia Records to create her most acclaimed album, Eli and the Thirteenth Confession. Its haunting, passionate, and powerful songs were once again adopted by other artists such as Three Dog Night, Frankie Valli, and of course, The 5th Dimension. Featuring "Eli's Comin'," "Emmie," "Sweet Blindness," and the era-defining "Stoned Soul Picnic," this ultra-rare edition also makes its maiden appearance on CD.
A handful of bonus tracks round out this special package, including the Bones Howe-produced "pop" version of "Save the Country," and the CD debuts of the Verve "censored" single version of "Stoney End" and the single mix of "Eli's Comin'." John Sellards has beautifully designed our collection, incorporating the original artwork for both albums into a deluxe 24-page booklet. I've penned the liner notes, based upon my fresh interviews with two legendary music men: Charlie Calello, producer of Eli and the Thirteenth Confession, and Bones Howe, Laura's longtime friend and champion. All tracks have been sourced from the original master tapes!
A Little Magic, A Little Kindness: The Complete Mono Albums Collection pays tribute to one of pop's most enduring iconoclasts. A true labor love for all of us at The Second Disc and Real Gone Music, we hope it's a soul picnic you won't want to miss. Pre-orders can be placed at the links below, and it's due on July 7! Watch this space for news on the rest of Real Gone's stellar July slate!
Laura Nyro, A Little Magic, A Little Kindness: The Complete Mono Albums Collection (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
CD 1: More Than a New Discovery (Verve Folkways LP FT-3020, 1967)
- Goodbye Joe
- Billy's Blues
- And When I Die
- Stoney End
- Lazy Susan
- Hands Off the Man (Flim Flam Man)
- Wedding Bell Blues
- Buy and Sell
- He's a Runner
- Blowin' Away
- I Never Meant to Hurt You
- California Shoeshine Boys
- Stoney End (Original Single Version with Alternate Lyrics) (Verve Folkways single KF-5024. 1966)
CD 2: Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (Mono promotional edition of Columbia LP CS 9626, 1968)
- Luckie
- Lu
- Sweet Blindness
- Poverty Train
- Lonely Women
- Eli's Comin'
- Timer
- Stoned Soul Picnic
- Emmie
- Woman's Blues
- Once It Was Alright Now (Farmer Joe)
- December's Boudoir
- The Confession
- Eli's Comin' (Mono Single Version) (Columbia single 4-44531, 1968)
- Save the Country (Non-LP Single Version) (Columbia single 4-44592, 1968)
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Sounds great! What's the packaging like?
Thanks! It's housed within a double-disc jewel case (not a "fatboy") which contains a 24-page booklet with new liner notes; beautiful, rare color photos from the Sony archives; original album artwork for both LPs; and more!
SO excited about this! Can't wait!
I said this on my personal Facebook but I want to share it again here, because I am so proud this set is coming out under Joe's auspices.
When Joe and I first met and started discussing ideas for reissues we'd like to see in stores someday, I remember he mentioned three very specific ideas.
- Paul Williams, A Little On The Windy Side
- Bobby Darin, The Complete Motown Years
- Laura Nyro, The Mono Albums Collection
We try and (I hope!) succeed at being pretty humble here, but the fact that ALL THREE of these titles are real CDs you can buy online, in the seven years and change we've known each other? That's pretty dang cool, and like so many of you, I can't wait to have this set in my collection.
Perhaps now you could look at reissues of the two Paul Williams albums not on cd - "Crazy For Loving You" and "Classics"
I ask this question not to be combative but out of curiosity. Why the excitement over Mono albums making a reappearance? How are these different than the readily available stereo versions? Differences a casual non audiophile would enjoy?
Hi Ian, no offense taken! There are many reasons a fan might be excited over a mono reissue. It may be the way that person first heard the album. It may offer a new perspective to someone who's only heard the stereo version. In the case of these Laura Nyro reissues, the MORE THAN A NEW DISCOVERY mono has often been considered superior to the stereo mix. This is unsurprising as it was released in the waning days of the era when the mono mix was considered paramount and the stereo mix secondary. (Much the same as with "Sgt. Pepper"!) The mono mix offers a clarity, a definition, and a power I feel is lacking in the stereo version. As far as ELI & THE THIRTEENTH CONFESSION goes, the stereo mix was the only commercially available version, so the mono promo became a valuable rarity. Laura herself enjoyed listening to her mixes in mono - likely because mono replicated the AM radio sound she loved. We're happy to reissue both of these rare original LPs from the original masters, and we hope that longtime fans and those new to Laura's discography alike will enjoy them.
Even though I have the mono lps (and the singles too - I collect all things Nyro I can get my hands on), I am looking forward to this set. I am guessing you couldn't find the early recording of "Time and Love". It was recorded during Laura's first recording session along with "Wedding Bell Blues" and "Stoney End".
Hi there Dennis,
We did indeed search exhaustively, and no Verve outtakes are extant in the vaults (including the handful of SOUL PICNIC/ELI tracks reported to have been cut with Herb Bernstein at Verve before Laura's move to Columbia and work with Charlie Calello). I know I, too, would love to hear that recording of "Time and Love." We hope you enjoy this set nonetheless!
Wonderful! I preordered imediately. Put them on vinyl, and I'll gladly double dip. Laura rules !!!!!
Maybe not important to some, but will you be including tape box photos for the 2 albums in the booklet, especially for the 2nd one? I'm curious to see how these tapes came about and survived, since the first album was thought to have only survived in the remixed stereo Forecast version (basis for the later Columbia The First Songs version). I wasn't even aware there was a dedicated mix for the 2nd album, since to my knowledge all released versions including the white-label promo were folddowns.
Speaking of lost tapes, were you able to find a tape copy of the original stereo Folkways version? That one's not mentioned much, but it's actually very similar to the mono mix-wise. This post has more details: http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/time-and-love-the-laura-nyro-album-by-album-thread.190917/page-2#post-4699937
By the way, the link for "Wedding Bell Blues" is broken, but the videos are still up, just with different URLs.
WWB - MONO 45 RPM.wmv: https://youtube.com/watch?v=q8NiK3hRuTQ
WWB - MTAND White Label Promo Mono.wmv: https://youtube.com/watch?v=2XgGRVdSgA8
WBB - First Songs Stereo 1969 Columbia Mix.wmv: https://youtube.com/watch?v=K6RCgjcnDYg
WWB - MTAND Stereo Verve Folkways.wmv: https://youtube.com/watch?v=LkSnuv8oy_c
Hi Victor, Unfortunately, there simply wasn't enough room, even in the thick (24-page) booklet, to include photographs of the tape boxes. We do have loads of liner notes, beautiful photos of Laura, and original album artwork for both LPs.
But I did answer a number of questions about the genesis of the project, and our incredibly happy tape discoveries, over at the Hoffman forums. Take a look at the first couple of pages of this thread:
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/laura-nyro-a-little-magic-a-little-kindness-the-complete-mono-albums-collection-07-07-2017.670395/
Thanks!
AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS RELEASE!
Great job Joe!
What a great find!
Hi Victor,
I put up those samples quite a few years ago.
Here's a couple of other things:
-Steve Hoffman posted photos of the stereo Columbia master tape boxes from 1968 on the forum.
-Roy Halee (Columbia engineer) was one of the engineers for the remix job.
-I *think* they were told by the bosses to do a job on the stereo master tape because they would take possession of it in a few years. Probably negotiated by David Geffen to hand over the master in 5 years.
-I *think* they were told to sonically match the Verve mono WWB 45...which is a god awful compressed version of the nice mono album version. The 45 tries to turn the recording into Motown and fails.
-Anyways Roy "matches" the mono single by creating the reverb stereo (current version) of WWB. Likewise they may have remixed California ShoeShine Boys too. Plus one other song.
-Sometime during the "re-mix" session they come to the realization that the job that they are doing is BS. They write a bunch of fake notes on the tape box to end the session quickly. But the writing indicates they re-mixed the whole thing, which at most is probably 4 songs.
-This is the version that exists today. The only real atrocity is Wedding Bell Blues.
-sonically the "harmonica" channel is too hot on the Columbia version. Once that level is matched to the Stereo Verve(it's like a 40% volume drop)...everything falls into place. The distortion on Stoney End virtually goes away. The whole album takes on a much softer feel. Sounds nearly like the Verve Stereo version.
-IMHO - By far the best sounding Stereo pressing is the Audio Fidelity version from a few years ago. No other version comes close. The 1967 Verve is nice but even a mint copy isn't pressed as well as the Audio Fidelity. Yes it's the reverb mix of WWB but damn...everything else sounds pretty thrilling. And yes I turned the headphones around on my head.
-
I've listened to these albums several times already and am quite happy with them.