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Stoned Soul Picnic (song)
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Wikipedia article
"'Stoned Soul Picnic'" is a 1968 song by Laura Nyro. The best-known version of the song was recorded by The 5th Dimension, and was the first single released from their album of the same title. It was the most successful single from that album, reaching No. 3 on the U.S. Pop chartWhitburn, Joel (2004). 'The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits', 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 222. and No. 2 on the 'Billboard' R&B chart. It became a platinum record.
The song was composed and recorded by Nyro for her album 'Eli and the Thirteenth Confession', released in March 1968. According to Marilyn McCoo, it was producer Bones Howe who suggested that it would be a good song for the 5th Dimension to cover. The group would go on to record several more hits with Nyro songs, including "Sweet Blindness", "Wedding Bell Blues", "Blowin' Away", and "Save the Country".
An instrumental version was recorded by jazz vibraphonist Roy Ayers and became the title track to his 1968 album.
The word 'surry', used frequently in the lyric (e.g. "Surry down to a stoned soul picnic"), is a neologism by Nyro; its meaning is unclear. The verb 'surry' is spelled differently from the noun 'surrey' (an old-time carriage). When asked by producer Charlie Calello what the word meant, Nyro told him, "Oh, it's just a nice word." One possible meaning is that surry is a shortening of "let's hurry."
Personnel
*Billy Davis Jr.
*Florence LaRue
*Marilyn McCoo
*Lamonte McLemore
*Ron Townson
'Additional personnel'
*Mike Deasy electric guitar
*Joe Osborn bass
*Hal Blaine drums, percussion
*Larry Bunker percussion
*Larry Knechtel piano
*Jimmy Rowles organ
*The Sid Sharp Strings string section
*The Bill Holman Brass horn section
Chart history
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Sampling and covers
Crystal Waters sampled the song on her single "Ghetto Day" from her 1994 album 'Storyteller'. The British pop group Swing Out Sister included it on their 1997 album, 'Shapes and Patterns'. Afro-Celtic artist Laura Love recorded the song in 2000 for her album 'Fourteen Days.' It was also recorded by Julie London on her 1969 album 'Yummy, Yummy, Yummy'; and by the New York Voices on their 2007 album 'A Day Like This'. It also appeared on the 2004 album 'Don't Talk', recorded by British jazz singer Claire Teal. Singer-Songwriter Jill Sobule recorded it for release as a single in 2001. It also appears on the Billy Childs album 'Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro' sung by Ledisi.
Chicano Batman has a song with the same title on their 2014 album 'Cycles Of Existential Rhyme'.
References
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