Margo Guryan (September 20, 1937 – November 8, 2021) was an American singer-songwriter. As a songwriter, her work was first recorded in 1958, although it was for her 1960s song " Sunday Mornin', a hit for both

Spanky and Our Gang Spanky and Our Gang was an American 1960s sunshine pop band led by Spanky McFarlane, Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane. The band derives its name from Hal Roach's ''Our Gang'' comedies of the 1930s (known to modern audiences as ''The Little Rascals''), ...

and Oliver, that she is perhaps best known. Her songs have also been recorded by

Cass Elliot Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Cass Elliot, was an American singer. She was also known as "Mama Cass", a name she reportedly disliked. Elliot was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the P ...

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

and Astrud Gilberto, among others. As a performer, she is best known for her 1968 album '' Take a Picture'', the sole album release in the initial phase of her career. The album was re-released in 2000, and followed by a compilation entitled ''25 Demos'' (2001). In 2014 the American record label Burger Records released another compilation, ''27 Demos'', on cassette.

Life and career

Early life

Margo Guryan grew up in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in the neighborhood of Far Rockaway, Queens. Her parents met at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, where her mother majored in

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, and her father, also a keen pianist, in

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

. They were both of Russian-Jewish descent. Guryan wrote poems from an early age, and moved on to writing songs soon after being introduced to the piano in childhood.; accessed May 14, 2014. Initially interested in the popular music of the time, as well as the classical music she was studying, Guryan became interested in jazz at college."Q&A with Margo Guryan"
musictimestwo.blogspot.co.uk; accessed May 14, 2014. She studied classical and jazz piano at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, idolizing musicians such as

Max Roach Maxwell Lemuel Roach (January 10, 1924 – August 16, 2007) was an American jazz drummer and composer. A pioneer of bebop, he worked in many other styles of music, and is generally considered one of the most important drummers in history. He wo ...

and Bill Evans, and switched from piano to composition in her second year to avoid performing. While still in high school, Guryan was sent to Frank Loesser's Frank Music, whose Herb Eiseman sent her on to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, where she performed her songs for Jerry Wexler and Ahmet Ertegun, who signed her up to song contracts, and had a demo session with Tom Dowd.MARGO GURYAN: INTERVIEWED BY NOBODY (07.20.10)
/ref> She was signed by Atlantic, initially as a performer, but her initial attempts at recording were not successful, due in part to her inexperience and in part to a range break in her voice (as Guryan stated, "I couldn't damn sing!"). The label instead retained her as a writer. Jazz singer

Chris Connor Mary Jean Loutsenhizer, known professionally as Chris Connor (November 8, 1927 – August 29, 2009), was an American jazz singer. Biography Chris Connor was born Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri, to Clyde Loutsenhizer and Mabel Sh ...

recorded her song "Moon Ride" in 1958, while Guryan was still at university, and in 1962, Ms. Connor had recorded " Lonely Woman" with Guryan's lyrics.Profile

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

; accessed May 17, 2014. Another early recording of her work was by

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte ( ; born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927 – April 25, 2023) was an American singer, actor, and civil rights activist who popularized calypso music with international audiences in the 1950s and 1960s. Belafonte ...

, who recorded "I'm On My Way to Saturday" for '' The Many Moods of Belafonte'' (1962). She attended the Lenox School of Jazz in 1959, where she met and worked with Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, and was taught by Bill Evans, Max Roach, Milt Jackson, Jim Hall, John Lewis and Gunther Schuller, among others. She was one of two women admitted to the program that year. Following this, Lewis and Schuller signed her to MJQ Music. She was primarily a jazz musician in this period, married to jazz trombonist and pianist Bob Brookmeyer and writing lyrics for jazz pieces by composers including John Lewis, Ornette Coleman and Arif Mardin. Songs of this period, with her lyrics, were recorded by

, Freda Payne, Nancy Harrow and Alice Babs, among others.Profile
mjqmusic.com; accessed May 14, 2014.

"Think of Rain"

Popular music passed Guryan by until, after her divorce from Brookmeyer, her friend Dave Frishberg urged her to listen to the song " God Only Knows" from the album ''

Pet Sounds ''Pet Sounds'' is the eleventh studio album by the American Rock music, rock band the Beach Boys, released on May 16, 1966, by Capitol Records. It was produced, arranged, and primarily composed by Brian Wilson with guest lyricist Tony Asher. R ...

'' by

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their f ...

. According to Guryan,

"I thought it was just gorgeous. I bought the record and played it a million times, then sat down and wrote 'Think of Rain.' That's really how I started writing that way. I just decided it was better than what was happening in jazz."

Guryan played Creed Taylor, for whom she was at the time working as a secretary, a tape of some of her newer songs, and he pointed her in the direction of April-Blackwood, the publishing arm of

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. At April-Blackwood she met David Rosner, who would become not only her producer but also her husband. Rosner signed her up, and suggested she double-track her voice on demos, to compensate for the difficulties she had previously and produce a better sounding vocal. "Think of Rain" was recorded by Bobby Sherman,

Jackie DeShannon Jackie DeShannon (born Sharon Lee Myers; August 21, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter and radio broadcaster who has had many hit song credits beginning in the 1960s, as both a singer and composer. She was one of the first female singer-son ...

and Claudine Longet in 1967.

The Cyrkle The Cyrkle is an American rock band active from the early to late-1960s, and since 2016. The group has charted two Top 40 hits, "Red Rubber Ball" and "Turn-Down Day". Career The band was formed by guitarists and lead singers Don Dannemann and T ...

and Nilsson also recorded versions''A&B Signs Margo Guryan'', Billboard, January 27, 1968, p. 8 although neither was released. "Sunday Morning" was recorded by

as " Sunday Mornin'. Released in December 1967, it reached No. 30. Bobbie Gentry and

sang it as a duet in 1968. Also in 1968, Marie Laforêt released "Et si je t'aime", a French version of "Sunday Mornin with lyrics by Michel Jourdan. That same year, she released an Italian version, entitled "E Se Ti Amo". Oliver also released a version of "Sunday Mornin, which reached No. 35 in the US charts in 1969. "Sunday Mornin was listed as one of the "102 most performed songs in the BMI repertoire during 1968". Carmen McRae and

Julie London Julie London (born Julie Peck; September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress whose career spanned more than 40 years. A torch song, torch singer noted for her contralto voice, London recorded over thirty album ...

both released versions of two songs by Guryan: McRae performing "Can You Tell" and "Don't Go Away" on ''The Sound of Silence'' (1968) and London releasing "Sunday Mornin and "Come to Me Slowly" on '' Yummy, Yummy, Yummy'' (1969). Tommy LiPuma commissioned Guryan to write a Christmas song for Claudine Longet, and the result was "I Don't Intend to Spend Christmas Without You", a 1967 single. Saint Etienne later covered the song on a Christmas fanclub release.

''Take a Picture''

Guryan signed to Bell Records as an artist, recording an album, ''Take a Picture'' (1968), full of light, jazz-tinged pop melodies, produced and arranged initially by John Simon, then when he became unavailable, by John Hill, both overseen by David Rosner. The musicians on the record included Hill on guitar, Kirk Hamilton (flute, bass), Phil Bodner (oboe), Paul Griffin (keyboards) and Buddy Saltzman (drums).Profile
tangents.co.uk; accessed May 14, 2014. It was preceded by a single entitled "Spanky and Our Gang", a tribute to the band who had had a hit with "Sunday Morning", backed with her own version of "Sunday Morning".''Top 60 Pop Spotlight'', Billboard, April 6, 1968, p.63 The single was included on the Japanese reissue of ''Take a Picture''. ''Take a Picture'' was praised by ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', who remarked on Guryan's "fine sound" which it characterized as "commercial" and said "should ensure strong sales".Billboard Album Reviews – Special Merit Picks, ''Billboard'', October 19, 1968, p. 72 However Guryan refused to tour, having been married to a jazz musician and having seen "too much – performing required an agent, and a manager and a lawyer and a booking person and... you got ''owned'' by these people – they told you where to go, how to look, how to dress, what to say, and I didn't want that! ..I guess I had about enough 'daddy' when I was five, and I just didn't like being told what to do." As a consequence of this, the label ceased promoting the album and it thus failed to make an impact. Resigned to this, Guryan withdrew from performing, although she continued as writer for April-Blackwood for several years afterwards, and worked with Rosner producing records for other artists. Taking classical piano lessons after this led her to becoming a piano teacher herself, and producing music books for students. In 1994, Hal Leonard published ''The Chopsticks Variations'', a set of 14 variations by Guryan on

Euphemia Allen "Chopsticks" (original name "The Celebrated Chop Waltz") is a simple, widely known waltz for the piano. Written in 1877, it is the only published piece by the British composer Euphemia Allan (under the pen name Arthur de Lulli). Allan—whose br ...

's well-worn " Chopsticks". Gunther Schuller described it as a "charming set of variations on the famous tune: clever, witty, at times tender and elegant, at other times punning and ribald".

Resurgence

Interest in Guryan's recordings underwent a revival in the 1990s, particularly in Japan. British band Saint Etienne covered "I Don't Intend to Spend Christmas Without You" for a 1998 fan club single. Linus of Hollywood met with Guryan in 1999, and as well as covering two of her songs on his ''Your Favourite Record'' album, reissued ''Take a Picture'' on his Franklin Castle Records imprint (in conjunction with Oglio Records) in 2000. Trattoria Records (Japan) and Siesta Records (Spain) also reissued the album. In 1999, Kevin Dotson, Linus of Hollywood, visited Margo Guryan at her residence in Larchmont Village. Guryan presented Dotson with a selection of demos she had recorded during the 1960s and 1970s that were never released, along with sheets containing other original songs. Inspired by the quality of her work, Dotson encouraged Guryan to record these demos, which ultimately culminated in the 2001 release of the collection of demos entitled ''25 Demos'' by Franklin/Oglio. An alternate version entitled ''Thoughts'', released by UK-based RPM Records, has the 25 demos, plus two recordings of Guryan singing songs written by others. These tracks were also compiled by Burger Records on a 2014 cassette entitled ''27 Demos'', which Oglio again released on CD. To promote the re-release, Guryan issued a music video for the album track "California Shake", co-written by Richard Bennett. In 2007, Guryan released a new single via British label Pure Mint Recordings, entitled "16 Words". The song referenced then US President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

's 2003 State of the Union Address, in particular the phrase " The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa", which forms the entirety of the lyric. Other songs were attempted in the same session but not completed. The B-side was "Yes I Am", "an angry little ditty that I wrote for Nixon". In 2009, Oglio Records released a CD of Guryan playing ''The Chopsticks Variations''. In June 2024, The Numero Group released a multi-LP box set. On July 24, 2024, the tribute album ''Like Someone I Know: A Celebration Of Margo Guryan'' was publicly announced and was set to be released on November 8, 2024 (the third anniversary of Guryan's passing) via American record label

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

. The album features reinterpretations of her sole studio album, ''Take a Picture'', by contemporary musical artists Empress Of,

Clairo Claire Elizabeth Cottrill (born August 18, 1998), known professionally as Clairo, is an American singer-songwriter. She began posting music on the internet at age 13. Clairo rose to prominence following the viral success of the music video for ...

, June McDoom, Rahill, Frankie Cosmos, Pearl & The Oysters,

TOPS Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), ...

, Kate Bollinger, MUNYA, Bedouine, Margo Price and

Barrie Barrie is a city in Central Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay. Although it is physically in the county, Barrie is politically independent. The city is part ...

respectively. Empress Of's version of "Someone I Know" served as the album's lead single, alongside the announcement. A portion of the album's proceeds will be donated to non-profits, such as

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

to help provide and advocate for affordable reproductive health services.

Last years

Her husband, David Rosner, died in 2017. Guryan died November 8, 2021, at the age of 84 at her home in Los Angeles.

Discography

Albums

* '' Take a Picture'' (1968)

Compilations

* ''25 Demos'' (2001) * ''The Chopsticks Variations'' (2009) * ''27 Demos'' (2014) * ''29 Demos'' (2016) * ''Words and Music'' (2024)

Singles

* "Spanky and Our Gang" (1968) * "16 Words" (2007) * "Half-Way In Love" (2024) * "More Understanding Than a Man" (2024)

Songs recorded by other artists

As songwriter

* "Moon Ride" –

(1958) * "I'm On My Way to Saturday" – Leon Bibb (on ''Leon Bibb Sings'', 1961),

(on '' The Many Moods of Belafonte'', 1962) * "Four-Letter Words – Miriam Makeba (on '' All About Miriam'', 1966) * "Think of Rain" –

(on ''For You'', 1967), Claudine Longet (on ''The Look of Love'', 1967), Lesley Miller (B-side to "Teach Me To Love You", 1967), Bobby Sherman (B-side to "Cold Girl", 1967)

Monique Leyrac Monique Leyrac, (26 February 1928 – 15 December 2019) was a Canadian singer and actress who popularized many songs by French-Canadian composers. Early life Leyrac was born Monique Tremblay in Montreal, Quebec.Alexis Luko, Rachelle Taylor an ...

(as "Pense a la Pluie", with French lyrics by Michel Jourdan, 1967), The Split Level (on ''Divided We Stand'', 1968) * " Sunday Morning" –

(1967), Bobbie Gentry and

(on '' Bobbie Gentry and Glen Campbell'', 1968), Marie Laforêt (as "Et Si Je T'Aime", with French lyrics by Michel Jourdan, on ''Album : 4'', 1968), Oliver (1969),

(on '' Yummy, Yummy, Yummy'', 1969), Sue Raney (on ''With A Little Help From My Friends'', 1969), Linus of Hollywood (2000), Baja Marimba Band, Sue Raney, Dick Wellstood, Richard "Groove" Holmes * "I Don't Intend To Spend Christmas Without You" – Claudine Longet (1967), Saint Etienne (1998) * "I Love" – The Lennon Sisters (on ''On The Groovy Side'', 1967) * "Can You Tell" – Carmen McRae (on ''The Sound of Silence'', 1968) * "Don't Go Away" – Carmen McRae (on ''The Sound of Silence'', 1968) * "Come To Me Slowly" –

(on ''Yummy, Yummy, Yummy'', 1969), Samantha Jones (on ''A Girl Named Sam'', 1970) * "Thoughts" –

Monica Zetterlund Monica Zetterlund (born Eva Monica Nilsson; 20 September 1937 – 12 May 2005) was a Swedish jazz singer and actress. She represented Sweden in the 1963 Eurovision Song Contest with the jazz ballad " En gång i Stockholm" ("Once Upon a T ...

(as "Tankar Om Dej Och Mej", with Swedish lyrics by Tage Danielsson, released on ''Volym Fyra – I valet och kvalet (1967–1973)'', 1995) * "I Think a Lot About You" –

(on '' Don't Call Me Mama Anymore'', 1973) * "Shine" – Linus of Hollywood * "Love Songs" –

Fuck ''Fuck'' () is profanity in the English language that often refers to the act of sexual intercourse, but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested ...

(on ''Homesleep Singles Club #4'', 2003) * "Love" – Dawn Landes (on '' Sweet Heart Rodeo'', 2009) * "More Understanding Than a Man" (lyric and music by Guryan) – Nancy Harrow (on ''You Never Know'', 1963), Alice Babs (released on ''As Time Goes By'', recorded 1960–1969) *"California Shake" – Ben Lester (2020) *"The Hum" – Bedouine (2020) *"Think Of Rain" – Pearl & The Oysters (2021) Guryan wrote two pieces on ''Lenox School Of Jazz Concert 1959'', an album credited to Ornette Coleman/ Don Cherry/ Kenny Dorham.

As lyricist

* " Lonely Woman" (lyrics by Guryan, music by Ornette Coleman) –

(1962), Freda Payne (on '' After the Lights Go Down Low and Much More!!!'', 1964), Carola Standertskjöld (1966) * "Milano" (lyrics by Guryan, music by John Lewis) – Chris Connor * "This Lovely Feeling" (lyrics by Guryan, music by Arif Mardin) –

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

(1963) * "If I Were Eve" (lyrics by Guryan, music by John Lewis) – Nancy Harrow (on ''You Never Know'', 1963), Alice Babs (released on '' As Time Goes By'', 2009, recorded 1960–1969) * "No-one" (lyrics by Guryan, music by Arif Mardin) – Arif Mardin, featuring Dianne Reeves (on '' All My Friends are Here'', 2010) * "Song for the Dreamer" (lyrics by Guryan, music by John Lewis) – Nancy Harrow (on ''You Never Know'', 1963), Alice Babs / Nils Lindberg's Orchestra (on ''Music with a Jazz Flavour'', 1973) * "To Welcome the Day" (lyrics by Guryan, music by Ornette Coleman) – Judy Niemack (on ''Long as You're Living'', 1990), Pat Thomas, Malcolm McNeill * "I Want to Sing a Song" (lyrics by Guryan, music by Gary McFarland) –

Anita O'Day Anita Belle Colton (October 18, 1919 – November 23, 2006), known professionally as Anita O'Day, was an American jazz singer and self-proclaimed “song stylist” widely admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appe ...

(on '' All The Sad Young Men'', 1962)

References

External links

Official site
(archived snapshot)
Margo Guryan
on

* *
Article in Mean Street Magazine

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guryan, Margo 1937 births 2021 deaths American women singer-songwriters Boston University College of Fine Arts alumni Musicians from the New York metropolitan area People from Far Rockaway, Queens Singer-songwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters The Numero Group artists Russian Jews