Margo Guryan, a singer-songwriter and sunshine pop pioneer whose first and only commercial album in 1968 was notable for its swinging, breathy approach and layered vocal overdubs, died on Nov. 8. She was 84.
Guryan's album, Take a Picture, for Bell Records, had a happy-go-lucky, bedroom-and-incense feel and still sounds of the era—between San Francisco's Summer of Love and before the violence at the Democratic Convention in Chicago in the summer of 1968. The album also has a distinctly young, female perspective with powdery soft vocals, light articulation and a sound that exuded sophistication and curiosity. Her biggest song was Sunday Mornin', recorded by Spanky and Our Gang and covered by other artists.
Before she recorded the album, Guryan was known to George Wein, Miles Davis and other musicians on the New York jazz scene. In fact, Dave Frishberg, a friend, converted her to sunshine pop in 1966 after playing her God Only Knows from the Beach Boys' newly released Pet Sounds album. In 2001, she released another album, 25 Demos (Franklin Castle), featuring polished vocal versions of her songs with complete arrangements recorded over the years. In many ways, the album was the second volume of the first—deliciously upbeat, flower-power free and focused on love, the sun and the rain.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Take a Picture here and 25 Demos here. Both are available on vinyl, with the latter featuring 29 demos.
JazzWax clips: Here's Sun (and a playlist for the rest of the album's tracks)...
And here's Why Do I Cry (and a playlist for the rest of the tracks on 27 Demos, a version with two more tracks than the original album)...
Guryan also recorded a playful classical piano album called The Chopsticks Variations, here...
Guryan's album, Take a Picture, for Bell Records, had a happy-go-lucky, bedroom-and-incense feel and still sounds of the era—between San Francisco's Summer of Love and before the violence at the Democratic Convention in Chicago in the summer of 1968. The album also has a distinctly young, female perspective with powdery soft vocals, light articulation and a sound that exuded sophistication and curiosity. Her biggest song was Sunday Mornin', recorded by Spanky and Our Gang and covered by other artists.
Before she recorded the album, Guryan was known to George Wein, Miles Davis and other musicians on the New York jazz scene. In fact, Dave Frishberg, a friend, converted her to sunshine pop in 1966 after playing her God Only Knows from the Beach Boys' newly released Pet Sounds album. In 2001, she released another album, 25 Demos (Franklin Castle), featuring polished vocal versions of her songs with complete arrangements recorded over the years. In many ways, the album was the second volume of the first—deliciously upbeat, flower-power free and focused on love, the sun and the rain.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Take a Picture here and 25 Demos here. Both are available on vinyl, with the latter featuring 29 demos.
JazzWax clips: Here's Sun (and a playlist for the rest of the album's tracks)...
And here's Why Do I Cry (and a playlist for the rest of the tracks on 27 Demos, a version with two more tracks than the original album)...
Guryan also recorded a playful classical piano album called The Chopsticks Variations, here...
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved.
