Laura NyroPretty much everyone has heard Nyro's music, most likely without realizing. Nyro, most commercially popular in the late 60s and early 70s, was a prolific artist with a solid artistic vision she refused to compromise. Hitting the music scene at age 19, she released five albums between 1967 and 1971, proving herself to be an innovative, soulful musician. Although a soulfull, intimate performer, Nyro received the most acclaim and commercial success as a songwriter, writing hits for Three Dog Night, Barbra Streisand, The Fifth Dimension, and Blood, Sweat & Tears and includes billboard hits Wedding Bell Blues, Stoned Soul Picnic, And When I Die, Save the Country, and Poverty Train.In her own performances, Nyro had a style and sophistication all her own, and was never better than when she sat alone behind her piano and sang to audiences as if she was whispering declarations of love. Growing increasingly frustrated with the direction record producers wanted her to take, Nyro withdrew from the music scene at 24, unwilling to sacrifice her art for the sake of marketability. She returned five years later and continued to make incredible music with no regard for commercial success.Laura died in 1997 at age 49 of ovarian cancer. She is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated musicians of her era. You may have heard her songs, but you've never really heard them until you've heard her singing them herself. Whether doing her original work or covering other artists of her era (Carole King & Dusty Springfield were favorites of hers) listening to her sing was and is like hearing her song for the first time.Below, Laura performing Save the Country for an NBC music showcase in 1969. Save the Country was later covered by The 5th Dimension, and is equally formidable (if slightly more mainstream version), but Nyro brings an immediacy and emotional punch to the song that gets me every time.(FIXED LINK!)Further listening...(tracks I'd recommend)From Spread Your Wings & Fly: Live at the Fillmore East 1971 (Sony, 2004)Save the CountryTimer/Up on the Roof MedleyAin't Nothin Like the Real Thing MedleyFrom Gonna Take A Miracle (Sony, Original Recording Remastered, 2004)Natural WomanUp on the RoofFrom New York Tendaberry (Sony, Original Recording Remastered, 2002)You Don't Love Me When I CryNew York TendaberryMercy on BroadwayAnd pretty much the entire retrospective Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro.Happy listening!