#463 Laura Nyro, 'Eli & the 13th Confession' (1968)

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Hands up if you’ve heard of Laura Nyro before. I certainly hadn’t. I always find it surprising when I haven’t heard of an artist like the stature and quality of Laura Nyro. You can’t have heard of all the musicians in the world ever, but it seems unusual to have never heard of one as influential as this. Elton John, Todd Rundgren and Paul Shaffer have all cited this album as a major influence on them. Three Dog Night and The 5th Dimension both had hits with songs from this album. Other artists that had hits with her songs include Blood, Sweat & Tears, Peter, Paul and Mary, and Barbra Streisand.

Nyro reminded me a lot of Carole King in terms of her songwriting, and even vocals. I enjoyed almost every song on this record, but the major highlight for me was ‘Sweet Blindness.’ Refreshing to still be discovering new music with this countdown. Nyro passed away at the young age of 49 years old from ovarian cancer.

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