Stay (Maurice Williams song)

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"Stay"
Single by Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs
B-side	"Do You Believe"
Released	August 1960
Recorded	1960
Genre	Doo-wop
Length	1:36
Label	Herald
Songwriter(s)	Maurice Williams
Producer(s)	Phil Gernhard

"Stay" is a doo-wop song written by Maurice Williams and first recorded in 1960 by Williams with his group the Zodiacs.^[1] Commercially successful versions were later also issued by The Hollies, The Four Seasons and Jackson Browne.

Maurice Williams original version[]

The song was written by Williams in 1953 when he was 15 years old. He had been trying to convince his date not to go home at 10 o'clock as she was supposed to. He lost the argument, but as he was to relate years later, "Like a flood, the words just came to me."

In 1960, the song was put on a demo by Williams and his band, the Zodiacs, but it attracted no interest until a ten-year-old heard it and impressed the band members with her positive reaction to the tune.^{[citation needed]} The band's producer, Phil Gernhard, took it along with some other demos to New York City and played them for all the major record producers that they could access. Finally, Al Silver of Herald Records became interested, but insisted that the song be re-recorded as the demo's recording levels were too low. They also said that one line, "Let's have another smoke" would have to be removed in order for the song to be played on commercial radio. After the group recorded the tune again, it was released by Herald Records and was picked up by CKLW. It entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on October 3, 1960, and reached the number one spot on November 21, 1960. It was dislodged a week later by Elvis Presley's "Are You Lonesome Tonight?". On the Herald recording, Williams sang lead and Henry Gaston sang the falsetto chorus.

The original recording of "Stay" remains the shortest single ever to reach the top of the American record charts, at 1 minute 36 seconds in length. By 1990, it had sold more than 8 million copies. It received a new lease of popularity after being featured on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.

Chart history[]

The Four Seasons version[]

"Stay"
Single by The Four Seasons
B-side	"Goodnight My Love" (from the album Big Girls Don't Cry and 12 Others) (second release)
Released	December 1963
Recorded	1963
Genre	Rock, doo-wop
Length	1:52
Label	Vee-Jay
Songwriter(s)	Maurice Williams
Producer(s)	Bob Crewe
The Four Seasons singles chronology
"Dawn (Go Away)" (1963) "Stay" (1963) "Ronnie" (1964)

The Four Seasons' version was first released on their June 1963 album The 4 Seasons Sing Ain't That a Shame and 11 Others; it was later released as a single in December 1963. Vee Jay originally released it as the B-side of "Peanuts" in December, but when disc jockeys started to "turn the single over" to play "Stay" on the air, the record company superseded the single with a new one with "Stay" as the A-side and "Goodnight My Love" as the new B-side.^[9] It peaked at number 16 on the US Billboard Hot 100^[10][11] in April 1964.

Jackson Browne version[]

"Stay"
Single by Jackson Browne
from the album Running on Empty
B-side	"Rosie"
Released	1978
Recorded	Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland, 1977
Genre	Soft rock[12]
Length	3:28
Label	Asylum
Songwriter(s)	Maurice Williams
Producer(s)	Jackson Browne
Jackson Browne singles chronology
"Running on Empty" (1978) "Stay" (1978) "You Love the Thunder" (1978)

A version of the song with revised lyrics is the last track on Jackson Browne's 1977 album Running on Empty. The song, which follows on the heels of Browne's "The Load-Out" begs the audience to stay for an encore and includes an extensive playout. It includes backing contributions from David Lindley and Rosemary Butler. Billboard Magazine described this version as "spirited and gospel-like."^[13] Browne, Butler and Lindley each contribute a similar verse in turn in ascending vocal ranges. It was released as a single and reached number 20 in the U.S. as well as number 12 in the UK.

Charts[]

Chart (1978)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)	58
Canada RPM Top Singles[14]	19
New Zealand (RIANZ)[15]	10
UK[16]	12
US Billboard Hot 100[4]	20
US Billboard Adult Contemporary	47
US Cash Box Top 100	22

Cyndi Lauper version[]

"Stay"
Single by Cyndi Lauper
from the album At Last
Released	2004
Genre	Pop
Length	3:15
Label	Sony
Songwriter(s)	Maurice Williams
Cyndi Lauper singles chronology
"Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)" (2004) "Stay" (2004) "Time After Time" (2005)

"Stay" was the third and final single from Cyndi Lauper's 2003 album At Last. It was a promo-only single, released only in the U.S., Australia and France. The video that accompanied it is rarely seen but is commercially available as a special feature on the DVD, Live at Last. The single peaked at #64 on the French Singles Chart.^[17]

Other versions[]

• In 1960 the song was covered by Little Joe and the Thrillers.
• In August 1963, the song was released by the Hollies,^[18] who took it to number eight in the UK Singles Chart.
• In 1964, the song was recorded by The Dave Clark Five on their studio album Glad All Over.
• In 1966 the Virginia Wolves released a soul version of the song.
• The song was recorded in 1968 by Jan & Dean for release on their album Carnival of Sound but the album was not released until 2010.
• Singer-songwriter Andrew Gold recorded a version of "Stay" for his 1976 album What's Wrong with This Picture?.
• Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band recorded a version with Jackson Browne for the No Nukes album in September 1979.
• In 1980, Austrian singer Georg Danzer wrote a German text to the Jackson Browne medley "The Load Out"/"Stay". It was performed live on the album Direkt as "Roadie Song".
• Italo disco duo Marx & Spencer released their version in 1983.
• In 1984, P.D.Q. Bach (a.k.a. Peter Schickele) lampooned the song in his opera The Abduction of Figaro in the aria "Stay With Me"^[19]
• Lyrics from the song were interpolated on reggae artist Buju Banton's song "Hush Baby Hush" on his 1995 album 'Til Shiloh.
• The recording of the song by British pop group Dreamhouse was first released as a single in 1995, then again in 1998.
• Australian group Human Nature included the song on their 2014 album Jukebox.

See also[]

• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1960

References[]