Come On People, Come On Children: Omnivore Reissues Laura Nyro's 1994 Japan Concert, Premieres 1966 Audition Tape

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55 years ago, Laura Nyro released her first album on Verve Folkways. It lived up to its hyperbolic title, for the Bronx-born singer-songwriter was, indeed, More Than a New Discovery. The Second Disc celebrated Laura's legacy with a vinyl reissue of that album's original mono mix as well as with A Little Magic, A Little Kindness: The Complete Mono Albums Collection on CD. Earlier this year, the U.K.'s Madfish label announced American Dreamer, a vinyl box bringing together her 1966-1978 LPs plus a smattering of bonus tracks. Now, Omnivore Recordings is adding two more significant releases to the Nyro catalogue.

On July 16, Omnivore will release Tree of Ages: Live in Japan, following that rare set on September 10 with Go Find the Moon: The Audition Tape presenting Nyro's earliest, never-before-released recordings. Both of these titles will be issued on CD and digital, with the latter also arriving on vinyl; both were restored and mastered by Michael Graves and produced by Cheryl Pawelski and George Gilbert with the approval of the Laura Nyro Trust.

Trees of the Ages: Live in Japan was first issued in that country in 2003 as An Evening with Laura Nyro but has been out-of-print ever since, save for a truncated version from the U.S. EMI Special Markets label. The album comprises 16 tracks recorded at Kintetsu Hall in 1994 as well as five additional tracks recorded at On Air West. At the piano and accompanied by a trio consisting of Diane Wilson, Dian Sorrell, and Diane Garisto, Nyro ran through her classic songbook ("And When I Die," "Wedding Bell Blues," "Save the Country," "Emmie") as well as spellbinding covers of Bacharach and David ("Walk on By"), Smokey Robinson ("Ooo Baby Baby"), and The 5 Royales/The Shirelles (Lowman Pauling and Ralph Bass' "Dedicated to the One I Love"). Omnivore's reissue of this beautiful, intimate performance features all-new artwork and promises to restore the once-rare concert to its rightful place in the Nyro live canon.

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On September 10, Go Find the Moon: The Audition Tape will follow. It captures the summer 1966 performance of 18-year-old Laura Nyro auditioning for Milt Okun and Artie Mogull. The audition went so well that Mogull signed the young artist and budding songwriter to a management contract and Okun promptly booked studio time with arranger Herb Bernstein to record her debut album, More Than a New Discovery. At the audition session, Nyro performed a pair of the remarkable songs that would soon appear on that LP, "And When I Die" (subsequently a top five hit for Blood, Sweat, and Tears in a dramatically-rearranged, western-tinged version), and "Lazy Susan." She also previewed an embryonic "Luckie," the final version of which would be included on her even more acclaimed sophomore album, Eli and the Thirteenth Confession. "Enough of You," "Go Find the Moon," and "In and Out" were never released in studio form, making their appearances here all the more welcome. The audition tape is rounded out with fragments of "When Sunny Gets Blue," "Kansas City," and "I Only Want to Be with You," hinting at the stylistic diversity that informed Nyro's passionate songwriting and performing.

Jon Kruth has written the liner notes for Trees of the Ages while Jim Farber has provided the notes for Go Find the Moon. Omnivore will offer a special bundle of the Go Find the Moon LP with a numbered lithograph print of the cover limited to 200 units. You'll find pre-order links and track listings for both titles below.

Laura Nyro, Trees of the Ages: Laura Nyro Live in Japan (Universal Japan UICY-1139, 2003 - reissued Omnivore, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore)

Dedicated to the One I Love
Ooh Baby Baby
Woman of the World
Louise's Church
Lite a Flame (The Animal Rights Song)
Walk the Dog & Light the Light (Song of the Road)
The Japanese Restaurant Song
And When I Die
To a Child
The Descent of Luna Rose
Wild World
Save the Country
Wedding Bell Blues
Trees of the Ages/Emmie
Walk on By
Let It Be Me
Oh Yeah Maybe Baby (The Heebie Jeebies)
Wind
Broken Rainbow
My Innocence/Sophia
Art of Love

Laura Nyro, Go Find the Moon: The Audition Tape (Omnivore, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Omnivore)

And When I Die
Lazy Susan (False Start)
Enough of You
In and Out
Go Find the Moon
Luckie/Studio Talk
When Sunny Gets Blue (Fragment)/Kansas City (Fragment)/I Only Want to Be with You
Lazy Susan

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.