“I Am The Blues” by Laura Nyro

Laura Nyro wrote "I Am The Blues" for Smile, the 1976 album that ended four years away from the music business, years in which she married, divorced and kept clear of the spotlight. Joe Beck plays guitar on it and Allan Schwartzberg drums.

Smile put the New York singer, songwriter and pianist back together with Charlie Calello, the producer and arranger she had worked with on Eli and the Thirteenth Confession back in 1968, and Columbia, which had signed her again, got a record of smooth jazz-pop: some of it steeped in Chinese culture, some of it railing at the music industry, some of it savoring the unhurried life she had made away from the glare. She dedicated it to her mother, and it sent her out on her first tour with a full band.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.