Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Carole Bayer Sager (1980)

Carole Bayer was born on 8 March 1944 in Manhattan, New York City, and while still a student at New York City High School she wrote her first pop hit, 'A Groovy Kind Of Love', with Toni Wine, which was recorded by UK group The Mindbenders, whose version was a worldwide hit and reached number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. She wrote many hits during the 1970's, often collaborating with Melissa Manchester on songs that would appear on Manchester's solo albums of the period. Her songs from this time include 'Come In From The Rain' and 'Midnight Blue', which would go on to be covered by many other artists, and she also scored major hits collaborating with Albert Hammond on 'When I Need You' and Bruce Roberts with 'You're The Only One'. She married record producer Andrew Sager in 1970, and from then on worked under the name Carole Bayer Sager, under which name she released her first recording as a singer with her 1977 self-titled album 'Carole Bayer Sager', produced by Brooks Arthur. It included the hit single 'You're Moving Out Today', a song which she co-wrote with Bette Midler and Bruce Roberts, and it topped the charts in Australia, and also reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart. The album also included her own versions of two songs previously recorded by Melissa Manchester – 'Home To Myself' and the oft-covered 'Come In From The Rain', but it wasn't long before other artists picked up on the rest of the songs on it, and by 1980 all bar one track had received a cover version, so here are the best of them in a reinterpretation of Carole Bayer Sager's debut release, with a lovely Gladys Knight cover added to the end to make up for the missing 'Aces'.   

Track listing

01 Come In From The Rain (Diana Ross 1977)  
02 Until The Next Time (Torill 1978)  
03 Don't Wish Too Hard (Jack Jones 1980)
04 Sweet Alibis (Carmen McRae 1980) 
05 I'd Rather Leave While I'm In Love (Dusty Springfield 1978)
06 Steal Away Again (Joey Travolta 1978)
07 You're Moving Out Today (Bette Midler 1976)
08 Shy As A Violet (Peter Allen 1975)
09 Home To Myself (Brenda And The Tabulations 1976)
10 I'm Coming Home Again (Gladys Knight 1978)

Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Laura Nyro (2007)

In the mid-60's, Laura Nyro's mother Louis Nigro's work brought her into contact with record company executive Artie Mogull and his partner Paul Barry, who auditioned Nyro in 1966 and became her first managers, with Mogull negotiating a recording and management contract for her. On 13 July 1966, Nyro recorded 'Stoney End' and 'Wedding Bell Blues', as well as an early version of 'Time And Love', at Bell Sounds Studios in Manhattan, for possible inclusion on her debut album. About a month later, she sold 'And When I Die' to Peter, Paul And Mary for $5,000, and on 17 September 1966, Verve Folkways released 'Wedding Bell Blues'/'Stoney End' as a single under her own name. 'Wedding Bell Blues' became a minor hit, especially on the West Coast, and she completed her debut album in New York on 29 November 1966. In February 1967, Verve Folkways released 'More Than A New Discovery', with songs from the record later becoming hits for The 5th Dimension, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and Barbra Streisand. On 17 June 1967, Nyro appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival, and although some accounts described her performance as a fiasco that culminated in her being booed off the stage, recordings later made publicly available contradict this version of events. Over the next few years more songs from 'More Than A New Discovery' were noticed by other artists and covered on their records, particularly The 5th Dimension, who had a couple of hit singles with her songs. Peter, Paul And Mary turned their investment in 'And When I Die' into a hit, and Barbara Streisand followed them with 'Stoney End'. By 1971 nearly every song on the album had been covered, and so here are some of the best of them, reinterpreting Laura Nyro's first steps into the music business.  

Track listing

01 Goodbye Joe (Carmen McRae 1970)  
02 Billy's Blues (B. J. Ward 1970)  
03 And When I Die (Blood Sweat And Tears 1968)
04 Stoney End (Linda Ronstadt & The Stone Poneys 1968)
05 Lazy Susan (Amy London 2007)   
06 Hands Off The Man (The Sunshower 1970)
07 Wedding Bell Blues (Bobbie Gentry 1970)
08 Buy And Sell (Chris Connor 1971)
09 He's A Runner (Mama Cass 1969)
10 Blowin' Away (The 5th Dimension 1969)
11 I Never Meant To Hurt You (Barbara Streisand 1971)
12 California Shoe-Shine Boys (Karen Wyman 1970)

Thanks to Ergon3 for supplying the Amy London track.