Laura Nyro - Stoney End (Censored Single Version)

This song, later a hit for Barbra Streisand, was the original b-side to Nyro's debut single "Wedding Bell Blues" (pictured). The song was selected from Nyro's debut album ("More Than a New Discovery"), but when it came time to put it on a b-side, the record company balked at the line about being "raised on the good book Jesus," fearing that might be offensive.

Nyro wrote a few substitute lines but she didn't just punch them in -- she re-recorded the entire vocal. So this version has never been rereleased on LP or CD, although it would have made a nice bonus track. The mix is also slightly different than on the original LP.

Nyro's altered opening lines are "I was born from love/ and I was raised on golden rules/ till the love of a winsome Johnny/ taught me love was made for fools." Interestingly, Nyro would go on to use the uncommon word "winsome" on her next album in the closing track: ("Oh, I hate my winsome lover").

Category:

Music

Tags:

• laura nyro
• stoney end
• censored
• altered lyrics
• winsome johnny
• barbra streisand
• alternate lyrics
• single version
• b-side

[Lovemylovething]

@DaysOfBrokenArrows, i think they will. I chose the "Eli" album as an introduction because i.m.h.o. It's her most upbeat and fun record, and it has some famous songs everyone will recognize, and I'm sure they'll find them superior to the "Hit" radio covers.

I signed up for Facebook, but it's a joke, I can't get in - they keep asking for a stupid security code that they were supposed to send me by phone, but never did. There must be a better way than that to talk to fellow fans. Grrrr!

[DaysOfBrokenArrows]

@Lovemylovething I bought "The First Songs" for my piano-playing nephew and he wasn't into it too much. maybe you know cooler people. Don't know what to say about Facebook, except the crowd I mention also has Nyro's relatives and biographer. By the way, I also posted a video of Peggy Lipton doing "Lu," a rare single which I really like but few others seem to, as well as a college a cappella group, the Princeton Tigerlillies, doing "Flim Flam Man."

[Lovemylovething]

Thanks very much for the quick reply and info DaysOfBrokenArrows! As a newer Laura fan, I'm definitely interested in conversing with others who are into her. I'm going to try to turn my friends and family on to her(I'll be giving them the "Eli & the thirteenth confession" CD for Christmas - Amazon is gonna LOVE me!;))

Thanks again, and I'll see you at the Facebook group! =))

[DaysOfBrokenArrows]

@Lovemylovething I hope your friends and family like Nyro better than mine did. Part of her charm, I'd say, is the way her music divides people. Some find it off-putting, which makes me like it more. Anyway, when you find the FB group you may want to friend the guy who does most of the posting (you'll know who he is) because a lot of the cool stuff comes from his page, not the group. You wouldn't believe his Nyro collection...

[Lovemylovething]

DaysOfBrokenArrows, cool! I don't know if the M.T.A.N.D. reissue cd is the original mix or not, but it sounds great to me(well, it's Laura Nyro, so that's a given!;))

I have "Christmas and the beads of sweat" on vinyl, but I don't have a turntable(I mainly bought it as a piece of Art). I would LOVE to hear Her on vinyl tho, do you have any suggestions for a decent, affordable turntable?

[DaysOfBrokenArrows]

@Lovemylovething There are a bunch of Sonys, Jensens and Technics models for sale on Amazon for around $70-$80. You can also find some on eBay as cheap. My own favorites are the Technics SL series, but the company went out of business, so those may be going for a lot used. There is a group on Facebook for Laura fans you may want to join. A bunch of us are on there including the guy who gave me this Mp3 who is a serious Nyro collector (tons of vinyl). It's the Nyro group with 9,089 people.

[CocteauDalighari]

"Mama, let me start all over/Cradle me, mama cradle me again."

There's an old anecdote about an escaped mental patient that barged into the office of a therapist named Liz Fehr in NYC. He started thrashing around on the floor. Fehr "cradled" him while he was "reborn." He smiled, thanked her, & left. She never saw or heard from him again.

[neil2647]

I remember listening to her in the 70's. Great voice, Great songs. I sure miss those days.

[hbailen]

The lyrics were better than we deserved four decades ago. Laura was always way out in front...

[mattjackleroy]

The consummate artist. Was always true to herself and her music. Lived a quiet life up in Danbury, Ct. and could care less about the superficial and ephemeral fame that so many ( probably too many ) artists crave these days. She was like a comet that shined so bright and then disappeared forever - - yet like comets, she will never be forgotten. Neither will her music.

[ClassicTV4U]

DaysOfBrokenArrows...it probably wasn't the "raised on the good book Jesus" part that the record company didn't like--more likely the lyric: " 'til I read betweeen the lines..." implying the hypocrasy associated with religion. Sombody please post Laura Nyro's "Capt. St. Lucifer"!!!

[alexanuchid]

she's a genius!!!

[hornby9]

I never heard the original version before but its really lovely!!

[GrannyTenderstone]

@IDLERACER Isn't that odd when Uconsider how graphic much of the lyrics Rthese days,in spite of Tipper Gore's effort? LOL-Frankly I didn't like the censorship back then but I'd almost welcome it today in some cases. I do understand where that tendency 2Bso graphic comes from,&it says a lot about our society &evolution that I find very revealing. So all in all &being a fan of virtually all music, I can accept bold lyrics of today,not so much the mindset of humans who are so bent on using them.

[GrannyTenderstone]

I suppose I should google it, but whatever happened to Laura? WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT? The single I had was the one with "good book Jesus" lyrics and I loaned it to a friend around 1971,never saw it again. This is the first time I've heard Laura's version since that long ago. I gather she was a songwriter for many artists, because you usually hear other renditions of her tunes and seldom hers. I loved her renditions, the few of them I have ever heard. Nice 2see much of her work finally on YT

[IDLERACER]

The people who were running this label at the time were doofuses. They were also having all sorts of knipshits over lyrics by Janis Ian and Frank Zappa as well.