What makes [Laura Nyro] special is her music—songs that blend gospel, rock 'n' roll, jazz and blues (people also hear in them classical influences, from Schumann to Stravinsky); lyrics that are knowing, evocative, elusive, personal; and a voice full of soul and nuance….

Everyone in the business knows about Miss Nyro,… who right now is probably the most successful pop composer around. It started about a year and a half ago, with Stoned Soul Picnic and Sweet Blindness, both big hits for the Fifth Dimension…. There are more on the way up—Blowin' Away, Lu, Save the Country, Time and Love—since it seems like the easiest way for other performers to have hits is to record her songs. Most of the Laura Nyro songs they do have a goodtime, gospel, rhythm-and-blues feeling to them, though the chord changes and the words are decidedly untraditional. "Come on...