Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro | ||||
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Greatest hits album by | ||||
Released | February 18, 1997 | |||
Recorded | 1966–1994 | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 118:42 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Producer | Laura Nyro | |||
Laura Nyro chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | link |
Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro is the second retrospective album by American musician Laura Nyro and the most comprehensive overview of her work to date.
It was the last album Nyro released during her lifetime, and she died from ovarian cancer less than two months after its release. The two-disc set combines highlights from all of her studio albums, as well as some rarities and previously unreleased live songs recorded in 1993 and 1994. Music journalist Paul Zollo's interview with Nyro makes up the liner notes, along with a Nyro biography and song details.
Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro came about in 1996 when the Legacy imprint of Columbia Records requested a single-disc overview of Nyro's work. However, that would have concentrated on her earlier material, and Nyro was adamant that a full career overview should be achieved.
Nyro oversaw the production of the album, and made the track selection her final artistic project. The first disc collects some of her finest and most well-known material from 1966 to 1970, while the second disc concentrates on her later career.
Disc 1 – all songs by Laura Nyro
Disc 2 – all songs by Laura Nyro except songs 1–2
The 5th Dimension is an American popular music vocal group. Their music encompasses sunshine pop, pop soul and psychedelic soul.
What's Going On is the eleventh studio album by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. It was released on May 21, 1971, by the Motown Records subsidiary label Tamla. Recorded between 1970 and 1971 in sessions at Hitsville U.S.A., Golden World, and United Sound Studios in Detroit, and at The Sound Factory in West Hollywood, California, it was Gaye's first album to credit him as a producer and to credit Motown's in-house studio band, the session musicians known as the Funk Brothers.
Laura Nyro was an American songwriter and singer. She achieved critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession (1968) and New York Tendaberry (1969), and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and the 5th Dimension recording her songs. Wider recognition for her artistry was posthumous, while her contemporaries such as Elton John idolized her. She was praised for her strong emotive vocal style and 3-octave mezzo-soprano vocal range.
Eli and the Thirteenth Confession is the second album by New York City-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro, released in 1968.
Gonna Take a Miracle is the fifth album by New York City-born singer, songwriter and pianist Laura Nyro, with assistance by vocal trio Labelle. It was released on Columbia Records in November 1971, one year after its predecessor Christmas and the Beads of Sweat. The album is Nyro's only all-covers album, and she interprets mainly 1950s and 1960s soul and R&B standards, using Labelle as a traditional back-up vocal group.
Smile is the sixth album by New York singer, songwriter and pianist Laura Nyro. It was released in early 1976, following a four-year hiatus from the music industry during which time she both married and divorced, and lived away from the spotlight. She dedicated the album to her mother.
More Than a New Discovery is the debut album by Bronx-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro. It was recorded during 1966 and released early in the following year on the Verve Folkways imprint of the Verve Records label.
Impressions is the first compilation retrospective album by Bronx-born singer, songwriter, and pianist Laura Nyro.
Time and Love: The Music of Laura Nyro is a 1997 tribute album to singer-songwriter Laura Nyro, released shortly after her death of ovarian cancer and released on Astor Place.
I Never Learned To Swim: Jill Sobule 1990–2000 is a Greatest Hits record released in 2001 by Jill Sobule. The compilation featured a cover of the Laura Nyro song "Stoned Soul Picnic" and two other new tracks: "Big Shoes" and "Smoke Dreams." This record differs from traditional greatest hits compilations in that five of the nine singles Sobule had released at that point were not included. Most notably absent was the hit "Supermodel" from the soundtrack of the Alicia Silverstone film Clueless.
Live from Mountain Stage was the first posthumous album release by Bronx-born musician Laura Nyro and her third officially released live album.
"The Bells" is a 1970 single recorded by The Originals for Motown's Soul label, produced by Marvin Gaye and co-written by Gaye, his wife Anna Gordy Gaye, Iris Gordy, and Elgie Stover.
"Wedding Bell Blues" is a song written and recorded by Laura Nyro in 1966. The best known version was a number one hit for the 5th Dimension in 1969.
Time and Love: The Essential Masters is the third retrospective album of New York City singer-songwriter Laura Nyro's work to be released, and the first since her death in April 1997. Released on the Legacy imprint of Columbia Records, it compiles 16 of her more famous compositions into a single-disc volume, focusing on her work from 1966 to 1971, with only one song, 1975's "Sexy Mama", selected from her post-1971 catalog.
"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 chart and No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart. It became a platinum record.
Iris Gordy is an American songwriter, producer, and music executive. She is a former vice president at Motown, where she helped launch the careers of DeBarge, Teena Marie, and Rick James, Mandre, Bobby Nunn and Tata Vega. Her credits include albums by Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, Rick James, Four Tops, DeBarge, Diana Ross, and Tata Vega.
"Sweet Blindness" is a song written by Laura Nyro, released in 1968, and included on her Eli and the Thirteenth Confession.
"Save the Country" is a song written by Laura Nyro, first released by her as a single in 1968. Nyro released another version of the song on her 1969 album New York Tendaberry.
Live: The Loom's Desire is a posthumous live double album from American singer-songwriter Laura Nyro released by Rounder Records in 2002. The recordings are made up of Christmas Eve shows that she performed in 1993 and 1994 at The Bottom Line and received positive reviews from critics.
American Dreamer is a 2021 box set of reissues from American singer-songwriter Laura Nyro released by Madfish. It has received positive critical reception.