Stoned Soul Picnic: The Best of Laura Nyro is the second retrospective album by Bronx-born musician Laura Nyro

Laura Nyro

Laura Nyro was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved considerable critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry, and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and The 5th...

 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

Ovarian cancer

Ovarian cancer is a cancerous growth arising from the ovary. Symptoms are frequently very subtle early on and may include: bloating, pelvic pain, difficulty eating and frequent urination, and are easily confused with other illnesses....

 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.

Overview

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.

Track listing

Disc 1 - all songs by Laura Nyro

1. "Wedding Bell Blues
   Wedding Bell Blues
   "Wedding Bell Blues" is a song written and recorded by Laura Nyro in 1966 that became a number one hit for The 5th Dimension in 1969 and subsequently a popular phrase in American culture...
   
   "
2. "Blowin' Away"
3. "Billy's Blues"
4. "Stoney End"
5. "And When I Die"
6. "Lu"
7. "Eli's Comin'"
8. "Stoned Soul Picnic"
9. "Timer"
10. "Emmie"
11. "The Confession"
12. "Captain Saint Lucifer"
13. "Gibsom Street"
14. "New York Tendaberry"
15. "Save the Country" [mono single version]
16. "Blackpatch"
17. "Upstairs By A Chinese Lamp"
18. "Beads of Sweat"
19. "When I Was a Freeport and You Were the Main Drag"

Disc 2 - all songs by Laura Nyro except songs 1-2

1. "I Met Him on a Sunday" (Doris Coley
   Doris Coley
   Doris Coley was a member of the Shirelles. She initially left the group in 1968, but returned in 1975....
   
   , Addie Harris, Beverly Lee
   Beverly Lee
   Beverly Lee was a member of the all girl vocal pop group, The Shirelles. She was born on August 3, 1941, in Passaic, New Jersey.Today, she holds the trademark for the Shirelles' name.-External links:*...
   
   , Shirley Owens
   Shirley Owens
   Shirley Alston Reeves was the lead member of the hit singing group, The Shirelles. As well as Owens, the Shirelles consisted of classmates of hers from Passaic High School, New Jersey: Addie "Micki" Harris, Doris Kenner Jackson, and Beverly Lee. Through marriages, she became Shirley Alston and...
   
   )
2. "The Bells
   The Bells (The Originals song)
   "The Bells" is a 1970 single recorded by The Originals for Motown Records' Soul label, produced by Marvin Gaye and co-written by Gaye, his wife Anna Gordy Gaye, Iris Gordy, and Elgie Stover.-The Originals version:...
   
   " (Marvin Gaye
   Marvin Gaye
   Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
   
   , Anna Gordy Gaye
   Anna Gordy Gaye
   Anna Gordy Gaye is an American songwriter and composer, known as the elder sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy and the first wife of soul legend Marvin Gaye, who used their troubled marriage as the focal point of his critically acclaimed 1978 effort, Here, My Dear, an album from which Gordy...
   
   , Iris Gordy, Elgie Stover
   Elgie Stover
   Elgie Stover is an American songwriter, composer, producer and background singer, most famous for his associations with uncle Harvey Fuqua and legendary Motown star Marvin Gaye, co-writing two of Gaye's songs from the singer's acclaimed 1971 album, What's Going On.Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio,...
   
   )
3. "Smile"
4. "Sweet Blindness" [live version]
5. "Money" [live version]
6. "Mr. Blue"
7. "A Wilderness"
8. "Mother's Spiritual"
9. "A Woman of the World"
10. "Louise's Church"
11. "Broken Rainbow"
12. "To a Child"
13. "Lite a Flame (The Animal Rights Song)"
14. "And When I Die" [live version]
15. "Save the Country" [live version]