Stoned Soul Picnic (song)

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"Stoned Soul Picnic"
Stoned Soul Picnic - The 5th Dimension.jpg
Single by The 5th Dimension
from the album Stoned Soul Picnic
B-side "The Sailboat Song"
ReleasedMay 1968 [1]
Genre Psychedelic soul [2]
Length3:30
Label Soul City
Songwriter(s) Laura Nyro
Producer(s) Bones Howe
The 5th Dimension singles chronology
"Carpet Man"
(1968)		"Stoned Soul Picnic"
(1968)		"Sweet Blindness"
(1968)

"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 [3] and No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart. It became a platinum record.

Contents

The song was composed and recorded by Nyro for her album Eli and the Thirteenth Confession , released in March 1968. [4] According to Marilyn McCoo, it was producer Bones Howe who suggested that it would be a good song for the 5th Dimension to cover. [5] 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. [6]

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. When producer Charlie Calello asked what the word meant, Nyro told him, "Oh, it's just a nice word." [7] Possible origins include:

Personnel

Additional personnel

Chart history

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA) [15] Platinum1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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 . Australian electronic duo Madison Avenue sampled the track on "Edible French Chic" from their 2000 album The Polyester Embassy. The Go! Team sampled the song on "Everyone's a V.I.P. to Someone" from their debut album "Thunder, Lightning, Strike". Afro-Celtic artist Laura Love also 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.

Related Research Articles

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"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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stoney End (song)</span> 1970 single by Barbra Streisand

"Stoney End" is a song written by Laura Nyro and released in February 1967 on her debut album More Than a New Discovery. According to childhood friend Alan Merrill, Nyro originally intended the song, a gospel-inflected uptempo piece, to be performed at a slower pace. The best known recording of Nyro's album version of the song was a hit for Barbra Streisand in 1970.

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Individually and Collectively is the seventh album of original material by American pop group the 5th Dimension, released in 1972. The album peaked at No. 58 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart on June 24, 1972. This album includes both of the group's final top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart — "(Last Night) I Didn't Get to Sleep at All" and "If I Could Reach You". Both feature lead vocals by Marilyn McCoo.

References

  1. ↑ "Spotlight Singles". Billboard: 58. May 18, 1968.
  2. ↑ Jones, Dylan (1997). "The Fifth Dimension - "Stoned Soul Picnic". Ultra Lounge: The Lexicon of Easy Listening. New York: Universe Publishing. p. 70.
  3. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 222.
  4. ↑ Unterberger, Richie. Eli and the Thirteenth Confession at AllMusic . Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  5. ↑ Moses, Ann (February 14, 1970). "Love Keeps Us 5th Dimensions Together says Marilyn" . New Musical Express . Retrieved April 25, 2019– via Rock's Backpages.
  6. ↑ Huey, Steve. Stoned Soul Picnic at AllMusic
  7. ↑ Kort, Michele (2003). Soul Picnic: The Music and Passion of Laura Nyro. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 58. ISBN   978-0-312-30318-1.
  8. ↑ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. August 19, 1968. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  9. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 – ISBN   0-89820-089-X
  10. ↑ Cash Box Top 100 Singles, August 17, 1968
  11. ↑ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  12. ↑ Musicoutfitters.com
  13. ↑ 1968: The Top 100 Soul/R&B Singles
  14. ↑ Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 28, 1968
  15. ↑ "American single certifications – Fifth Dimension – Stoned Soul Picnic". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved October 24, 2023.
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