Laura Nyro‘s second lp “Eli and the Thirteenth Confession” (1968) Columbia Records.

The album was written entirely by Nyro, arranged by Charlie Calello and produced by both. The record only reached #189 on the Billboard 200 “Pop Album” chart, but was a critical success and there are six songs from “Eli” on her 1997 retrospective collection Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro.

Eli and the Thirteenth Confession is also recognized as the first part in a “holy trinity” of Laura Nyro albums, the others being New York Tendaberry (1969) and Christmas and the Beads of Sweat (1970).

Known for many years for having written songs that were hits for other performers, Three Dog Night took “Eli’s Comin’” to US #10, while the Fifth Dimension went to US #3 with “Stoned Soul Picnic” and US #13 with “Sweet Blindness.”

Luckie; Lu; Sweet Blindness; Poverty Train; Lonely Women; Eli’s Comin’; Timer; Stoned Soul Picnic; Emmie; Woman’s Blues; Once It Was Alright Now (Farmer Joe); December’s Boudoir; The Confession

One of my favorite records still.

(14 votes, average: 4.79 out of 5)

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