Thank you for this reaction. Laura has been one of my all time favorites for 50 plus years. She was so talented. Some of her very popular songs she wrote when she was only a teenager. Taken way too soon.
Released in 1968 by Laura, it became a huge hit for The Fifth Dimension, who had several hits with Laura's songs. Included on Laura's album, "Eli and the Thirteenth Confession", this is beautiful with Laura's voice so dynamic and full bodied. "Surry" included in the lyrics several times were said to be the shortening of Let's Hurry. Great reaction Harri. Thanks Harri and Bennett. 👏👏 Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦
I'm 72 and have been a huge fan since I was 18! She was crazy talented and I love so many of her songs, but this has to be my favorite of all time. What a fabulous arrangement! For me, it epitomizes the best feeling of the 60s.
Also Christmas and the Beads of Sweat featuring Gregg Allman and was able to see her in Woodstock NY at a little place called Bear Theater. Sitting 4 rows from her. She was my top artist from 1967. Too bad she died from cancer .
@@PennYanTV In my opinion, Christmas and the Beads of Sweat was the third of Laura’s trilogy of the three greatest albums in a row any singer songwriter ever released along with Eli & the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry. It was Duane Allman that played guitar on Beads of Sweat, another great musical talent we lost way too early.
I was lucky enough to see her live twice, she just opened her mouth and it was amazing what came out of it, it was like listening to heaven. Both shows were at the Paramount Theater in Oakland California in the late 70s. Thank you Joanie for turning me on to Laura Nyro.
She was such a good songwriter. I had heard of her but I'm just finding out how many songs she wrote that I know of. I thought this sounded familiar. Yep, the Fifth Dimension. She's got a beautiful voice also.
This song was an anthem for 1968, as done by the Fifth Dimension but Eli and the Thirteenth Confession is a masterpiece. There will never be another Laura Nyro. I am so blessed to have been alive while she was. Seeing her live was transformative.
She wrote the songs that became my favourite Fifth Dimension songs. This one, Sweet Blindness, Save the Country (very apropos especially now), and more.
Great choice. My all time favourite singer and song writer. Taken from us way too early. Thank you for recognizing this amazing talent. She is timeless.
Thanks, Harri! Another singer-songwriter that never acclaimed commercial success, but contributed so much. You're one of the few i see that reacts to her! Well done!
😢Laura Nyro: brilliant, talented, and gone too soon. I only got to see her perform once, mid-career, at NYC’s famous small supper club, The Bottom Line (where I saw dozens of amazing shows). It was such a terrific intimate evening with such a talented, beautiful soul. I’ve loved her for more than 1/2 a century.
Thanks for doing more Laura, Harri. You're one of the only ones to do so. More people need to know of her and her genius! I see some of your listeners still didn't know her, only the covers. Please do "And When I Die" next. That would be tremendous!
Hi Harri… glad you’re really ‘hearing’ Laura… I love her. 2 quick things I haven’t seen in this song’s thread of comments: Todd Rundgren was a friend of Laura’s, and worked on at least one of her albums… worked on the string arrangements, I believe. Anyway he says he was influenced by her approach to songwriting, and you can def hear it in many of his great songs. The other thing - when Elton John appeared on Elvis Costello’s TV interview show - Elvis spent the entire hour with Elton… who said the one of his biggest influences was Laura Nyro. And it’s so apparent once you make that connection. He even plays things on the piano during that show to illustrate those influences. I’ll hunt for the link, and drop it here for you, cuz it’s such an interesting interview!
Knew only the Fifth Dimension cover version, but also knew it what composed by the amazing Laura Nyro. She was a great sing-a-song writer, just died too young.
Confession: in 1968 I was 18 and I listened to all kinds music . . . and I never heard of her. The only version of Stone Soul Picnic I’ve ever known is by the 5th Dimension. She has such an amazing voice, how did I miss her??
Too many missed her.... A few reasons:She didn't care that much about commerical success (despite making zillions from her songwriting) and didn't self-promote much, she left the industry early, and she was not promoted heavily by her label.
I feel you. I was lucky -my older sister bought the first Laura Nyro LP, so I was in from the start. In my top 10 all-time, so much soul, my life would be poorer without Laura Nyro in it. Never too late to fall in love with her music!
So that's the thing about Laura Nyro... Fantastic voice, intriguing lyricist, and one of the best songwriters. All in one petite sweet pretty Italian/Jewish woman from the Bronx NY (where I am from). The word "surry".. which appears alot in this song... is a neologism. Laura made it up. To me it equates mostly with "Let's hurry..."
I listened to the album this is on all the time as a teenager, and haven't heard it in such a long time. Love hearing it again😊 Thanks for this reaction!💜
The Fifth Dimension also did 'Sweet Blindness', 'Wedding Bell Blues' . Blood Sweat and Tears covered 'And When I Die' and Three Dog Night 'Eli's Coming"
I loved this when it was played on FM radio in NYC, but, I never saw her on any TV show. And I remember looking for her. She had a couple of other songs that were played. She sounded quirky compared to 5th Dimension, and that’s a good thing.
I'm always impressed when I see someone discovering Laura Nyro. I have been a fan of her's since the 1960's. However I didn't know it because other music artists had hit songs with the songs she wrote: "And When I Die" Blood Sweat & Tears "Stoney End" Barbra Streisand "Sweet Blindness" The 5th Dimension And a few more that I didn't mention. Laura Nyro is amazing.
What is the most underrated performers of all time thank God they put her in the music Hall of Fame she deserved it from a writing standpoint and she wrote for a whole lot of people, and then doing her own music
"She did well for them," is a big, big understatement. I bought their Greatest Hits album. Have had it since around 1970 or 1971. Looking at the credits of the album, there are 12 songs on it, and she's the writer on 4 of them. Save the Country, another brilliant song she wrote, isn't on the GH album.
Harri: do yourself a favor: buy Laura's GH double CD. And if you want to make your dreds STAND ON END, bruh, listen to Eli's Coming from the very first second all the way to when you get to the end of the first verse, which is not until around :45 into the track.
Hari: couple of more thoughts to ponder: Can you believe that this is coming on being 60 years old? Let me briefly cover her ancestry:. Nyro is a stage name. Her father's last name was Nigro. He was Italian. He was Black. And her mother was Jewish. How's that relevant? Well, back in 1942-1947 there were a whole army of Jewish women who were born during that half-decade, in NYC, and then around 25 years later began to dominant our music scene: Carole King, Bette Middler, Barbra Streisand, Jane Olivor (nee' Cohen). You can toss in Barry Manilow (ne Pincus) and Billy Joel two more NYC Jewish musical artists.
