Taking a break from the fascist onslaught to touch base with a beautiful recording, Laura Nyro’s original version of “Stoned Soul Picnic” (famously covered by the 5th Dimension, and there are plenty of other versions).
I remember how then Minneapolis-based engineer and studio owner Jay Leigh introduced me to the idea of what he referred to as Q, the elusive Quality that makes something impossible to ignore. James Brown’s voice, Joni Mitchell’s guitar voicings, John Bonham’s drumming, everything Stevie Wonder does — these are all loaded with Q. Without Q, a recording is simply a document of a performance. To become a living thing that can work its way into your heart, soul, and body, a recording must have Q.
For me, this song and performance are abundant with it. I love, for instance, how she spins the word DOWN, as if a long e has been inserted between D and O. You can’t hear the e, but the way her voice seems to rotate the word gives me the sense of motion that matches the lyric. It instantly grabs my attention.
So do the many trippy associations rise up out of this tune; the inviting summertime laziness of the piano and bass, the color of the vocal arrangement. And then the lyrics: “surry” (wtf?); not just any picnic, a stoned soul one; the swirl of blossoms, music, and golden dust; overhead the Lord and the lightning and down below.
Anyway, surry down for some red yellow honey sassafras and moonshine. Then back to the fight.
