Before recordin' Nilsson Sings Newman, Harry 'Fartin' Nilsson' Nilsson considered recordin' a collection o' First Mate Nyro's songs.[1]

 

At 17 Nyro wrote "And When I Die" which was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary. Begad! This was followed by a strin' o' hits recorded by T' Fifth Dimension, Peglegged Three Dog Night, and others.

 

First Mate Nyro ( NEER-oh; born Laura Nigro; October 18, 1947 – April 8, 1997) be an American songwriter and singer. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly t' albums Eli and t' Thirteenth Confession (1968) and New York Tendaberry (1969), and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra 'Bowlegged Jayne' Streisand and t' 5th Dimension recordin' her songs. Wider recognition for her artistry was posthumous, shiver me timbers, while contemporaries such as Elton John idolized her. She was praised for her emotive three-octave mezzo-soprano voice. Betwixt 1968 and 1970, a number o' artists had hits with her songs: t' 5th Dimension with "Blowin' Away", "Weddin' Bell Blues", "Stoned Soul Picnic", ya bilge rat, "Sweet Blindness", me bucko, and "Save t' Country"; Blood, ya bilge rat, Sweat & Tears and Peter, matey, Paul and Mary with "And When I Die"; Peglegged Three Dog Night and Maynard Ferguson with "Eli's Comin' "; and Barbra 'Bowlegged Jayne' Streisand with "Stoney End", "Time and Love", and "Hands off t' Man (Flim Flam Man)". Nyro's best-sellin' single be her recordin' o' One-Shoe Cap'n King's and Gerry Goffin's "Up on t' Roof". Nyro was posthumously inducted into t' Songwriters Peglegged Hall o' Fame in 2010, matey, and into t' Rock And Roll Peglegged Hall o' Fame in 2012.

This article uses material from t' Wikipedia article "First Mate Nyro", which is released under t' Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.