"And When I Die" was written by Laura Nyro, who was 17 when she wrote it. The song was first recorded by in 1966. She sold the song to Peter, Paul and Mary for $5000. Their version was done in their typical Folk style. on her first album in 1967 "More Than A New Discovery". She included a light brass section, which led to Blood, Sweat & Tears, a nine-man group with a prominent horn section, covering it in 1969, and their version was the hit.
The Laura Nyro connection to Blood, Sweat & Tears: she was dating their bass player Jimmy Fielder. In an interview with David Clayton-Thomas, who was the group's lead singer, he explained: "Laura used to come to our rehearsals and hang out. Sometimes she'd bring a pizza to the rehearsal place - we were just all pals, and we knew Laura's songs. Even before she got her recording career launched, she was one of the inner circle of people we hung out with."
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