Today’s classic song of the day is “Stoney End,” written by the incredibly talented Laura Nyro and performed by the equally incredibly talented Barbra Streisand. Released in 1971, the single hit #6 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart. It’s a terrific song, as were just about all of Laura Nyro’s songs, and Babs did a terrific job with it.
“Stoney End” was a tune written by Laura Nyro back in 1967, when she was just 20 years old, and released on her debut album, More Than a New Discovery (later rereleased as The First Songs). That album contained a ton of songs that would be hits for other artists, including “And When I Die” (a hit for Blood, Sweat & Tears) and “Blowin’ Away” and “Wedding Bell Blues” (hits for the 5th Dimension). Laura’s tune “Stoney End” ended up being covered by Barbra Streisand for her 1971 album of the same name.
By the way, Ms. Streisand’s Stoney End album included two more Laura Nyro tunes, “Time and Love” and “Hands Off the Man,” both which charted but in the lower half of the Hot 100. The album (and its lead single) redefined Ms. Streisand as a legitimate pop/rock singer, not just a Broadway singer; it’s really quite good, start to finish, with a slew of contemporary songs from big-name contemporary songwriters, including Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson, Carole King and Gerry Goffin, and Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. It also helped that superstar producer Richard Perry called in the cream of the LA studio crop, the ubiquitous Wrecking Crew, to back her up. Personnel included Larry Carlton and Eric Weissberg on guitars; Hal Blaine and Earl Palmer on drums; and Joe Osborn and Larry Knechtel on bass. Backing vocalists included Toni Wine, Clydie King, Merry Clayton, and, believe it or not, Eddie Kendricks.
Barbra Streisand released a ton of music after Stoney End and is still going strong today; she just published her long-awaited memoir, My Name is Barbra, a few weeks ago. Laura Nyro, unfortunately, passed away in 1997 of cancer, just 49 years old,
I don’t want to end on a downer, so here’s your bonus track of the day, Laura Nyro’s original recording of “Stoney End.” As you can tell, Ms. Streisand borrowed heavily from the original. It’s terrific.
