"Stay" is a doo-wop song recorded by Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs. The song was written by Williams in 1953 when he was only 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." 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 (sometimes attributed mistakenly to Tiny Tim) and from Rosemary Butler. Browne, Butler, and Lindley each contribute a similar verse in turn in ascending vocal ranges which contributes to the song's long popularity. It was released as a single and reached number twenty.
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