''Eli and the Thirteenth Confession'' was reissued in expanded and re-mastered format during the summer of
2002 . The reissue was produced by Al Quaglieri, with Laura Grover as project director.
The reissue featured three previously unreleased demos recorded on
November 29 ,
1967 . The 20-year-old Nyro performed the spare, solo demos of "Lu," "Stoned Soul Picnic," and "Emmie" on piano and multi-tracked her own voice to add harmonies.
The accompanying booklet includes photographs and recording details, as well as liner notes by Rick Petreycik and a back-cover recollection by
Phoebe Snow . The re-mastered version was issued alongside re-mastered/expanded editions of ''
New York Tendaberry '' and ''
Gonna Take A Miracle ''.
- On Nyro's insistence, the album's lyric sheet (which itself was a rarity for records in 1968) was perfumed and fans have reported that it still has a pleasant aroma.
- Nyro premiered some of the songs at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival .
- The song "Luckie" was derived from an earlier composition Nyro had played at her audition for Verve in 1966 .
- Before she signed to Columbia Records , Nyro's Verve label already planned to release the album as ''Soul Picnic''.
- No less than six ''Eli'' songs - more than any other Nyro record - feature on her 1997 retrospective collection ''Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro''.
All Music Guide
Laura Nyro
Michele Kort's biography ''Soul Picnic: The Music and Passion of Laura Nyro''
