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"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.
| "Stoned Soul Picnic" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by The 5th Dimension | ||||
| from the album Stoned Soul Picnic | ||||
| B-side | "The Sailboat Song" | |||
| Released | May 1968[1] | |||
| Genre | Psychedelic soul[2] | |||
| Length | 3:30 | |||
| Label | Soul City | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Laura Nyro | |||
| Producer(s) | Bones Howe | |||
| The 5th Dimension singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
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:
- slurry as in mining, a wash of sediment that flows down from an excavation site.
- contraction of let's hurry.
- surrey. a type of horse-drawn carriage popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as popularized in the musical Oklahoma! with the song "Surrey with the fringe on top"; a way of getting to the picnic.
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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
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[15] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
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.
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