Margo Guryan

Margo Guryan (born September 30, 1937) is an American songwriter, singer, musician and lyricist. 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 and Oliver, that she is perhaps best known. Her songs have also been recorded by Cass Elliot, Glen Campbell 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 named 27 Demos on cassette.

Life and career

Early life

Margo Guryan grew up in the suburbs of New York City. Her parents met at Cornell University, where her mother majored in piano, and her father, also a keen pianist, in liberal arts. Guryan wrote poems from an early age, and moved on to writing songs soon after being introduced to the piano in childhood. 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. She studied classical and jazz piano at Boston University, idolizing musicians such as Max Roach and Bill Evans, and switched from piano to composition in her sophomore year in order to avoid performing.