My Top 2000 Songs #1157: Stoned Soul Picnic

I can't say I ever listened to singer-songwriter Laura Nyro growing up, relegating her to the bin with other folk/pop stylists like Carole King and Joni Mitchell who held no interest for this testosterone-addled rock & roller. Yet as with the others, I've warmed to her music, along with much of the "adult contemporary" music I shunned well into my 30s, once I slipped into middle age. In Nyro's case, I gave her a shot mostly because I'd come to really enjoy the poppy, kinda sappy early 70s music from Todd Rundgren, who frequently name-checked her as an influence on his style.

And while it's not like I'm cranking her music up all that often (and certainly much less so than Joni, whose 1970s run I've come to truly love), I've got a soft spot for "Stoned Soul Picnic," off  1968's Eli & The Thirteenth Confession. There's something so soulful and true about the melody that it feels like the sort of song you were born knowing. More likely I heard it at some point in my childhood and my subconscious has retained it forever, but I like to think it's at a more Jungian genetic level, like everyone wakes into the universe already certain they've completely familiar with "Stoned Soul Picnic."

Rockin' out live version, 1989 (audio only):

Fifth Dimension's hit version:

Jill Sobule cover:

Staple Singers: