Best version of "Stoney End"

Maybe I will get static for not including the medley in which it appears by The 5th Dimension that I didn't locate during the first pass.

Barbra studio version or live?

Studio

Interesting that Diana's version was recorded before Barbra's– and produced by Bones Howe!– but remained unreleased for another 30 years.

https://www.barbra-archives.info/newpagef2f7757c

Oh gosh, they're all good but I'm going with Babs.

Laura was saddled with a studio backup band that she wasn't used to which I feel handicaps her slightly but she still does a great job.

But Babs gives it a little extra oomph and bite and feeling in the last verse and chorus and when I think of the song I think of her phrasing there.

Streisand said in her memoir that she had a hard time remembering the lyrics of the song, so when she did it live she wrote out the lyrics on the stage in chalk

Linda's version is beautiful but the one word of the chorus she changes... it should be insignificant but it rubs somehow

I wouldn't be surprised if the lyric "I can still remember him with love light in his eyes" was inspired by the Supremes song "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" so it's cool to hear Diana sing the former.

There are many other versions out there that I didn't include, including one by Peggy Lipton I didn’t care for, an instrumental version by Maynard Ferguson that I did like and one by what seems to be a theater major undergraduate that seems pretty good.

clicked streisand so fast that I bruised my finger

I'm seeing that Darlene Love also released a version with the Blossoms, just after the Blossoms had sung backup on that Peggy Lipton version. She leaves out the word "Jesus" in hers.

I read about that but didn’t find it and listen to it yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrHyVMUKbso

Seems to be the exact same track as the Peggy Lipton version like it says.

Pretty good until the very end, when it gets great with a typical Darlene Love dramatic ending.

oh yeah this is spectacular stuff

Ha, have been waiting for you to show up.

Actually missed your bruised finger comment until just now. It went by even faster than you clicked.

Digging the Maynard Ferguson version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmMQk37MWds

There is a clear frontrunner for the reasons Josefa already stated, but would still be interesting to see if anyone makes the case for someone else.

Also been meaning to mention that there is yet another killer Joe Osborn bassline on the Streisand version, up there with his work on The 5th Dimension's "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In."

Reposting Lauro Nyro recording personnel info: https://www.albumoftheyear.org/song/552361-stoney-end

Laura Nyro's version for 45 release has different lyrics in the first verse:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M9WOa93n0A

Has anyone here seen any of the poll artists do "Stoney End" live?

I saw Streisand sing it in 2016 (Barclays Center, Brooklyn).

Setlist.fm doesn't have confirmation of Laura Nyro performing the song after 1971, although that's based on very limited data. It's kind of nice to know Nyro did perform it after Streisand had a hit with it.

Never had the pleasure, but glad that you did

Oddly enough, the 5th Dimension was the probably first version I heard, alongside a number of other Nyro songs. Having now listened to every version I can find (not something I routinely tolerate in one sitting) I'm no closer to an answer. Seems almost like an un-killable song. I find myself anticipating the "cradle me" (post-chorus?!) section in every rendition. It's amazeballs.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.