Hair (Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording)

Last updated
Hair: An American Tribal Love-Rock Musical
Hair (Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording).jpg
Cast recording
Released1967 [1]
RecordedOctober 30, 1967[ citation needed ]
Genre Pop, R&B
Length46:57
Label RCA Victor
Producer George R.Marck, Andy Wiswell[ citation needed ]

Hair is the cast recording of the original, Off-Broadway cast of the musical Hair: An American Tribal Love-Rock Musical . It was released in 1967 by RCA Victor. [1] Hair premiered Off-Broadway at the Public Theater on October 17, 1967, and the cast album was recorded two weeks later.[ citation needed ] The lead roles were played by Walker Daniels as Claude, Gerome Ragni as Berger, Jill O'Hara as Sheila, Steve Dean as Woof, Arnold Wilkerson as Hud, Sally Eaton as Jeanie and Shelley Plimpton as Crissy. [2]

Contents

In the Off-Broadway version of Hair, the lead role of Claude had been written as a space alien who aspires to be a cinematic director. This was changed for the Broadway production. [3] This Off-Broadway recording includes the songs "Exanaplanetooch" and "Climax," which were cut from the Broadway production. The reviewer for Allmusic.com criticized Ragni's and Eaton's vocals but praised Plimpton. [3] When it was released on CD as a bonus disc to the Broadway album, it also included three songs that were in the show, but not on the original LP: "Opening", "Red Blue And White" (the future "Don't Put It Down") and the finale "Sentimental Ending", plus an interview with composer Galt MacDermot. [3]

Track listing

Music by Galt MacDermot and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado:

  1. "Aint Got No" 3:04
  2. "I Got Life" 3:27
  3. "Air" 3:33
  4. "Going Down" 2:34
  5. "Hair" 3:23
  6. "Dead End" 2:59
  7. "Frank Mills" 4:23
  8. "Hare Krishna" 4:29
  9. "Where Do I Go" 2:52
  10. "Electric Blues" 2:41
  11. "Easy to Be Hard" 2:41
  12. "Manchester" 2:41
  13. "White Boys" 2:41
  14. "Black Boys" 2:41
  15. "Walking In Space" 2:41
  16. "Aquarius" 2:41
  17. "Good Morning Starshine" 2:41
  18. "Exanaplanetooch" 2:41
  19. "The Climax" 2:41

Notes

  1. 1 2 1967 review of album, accessed February 12, 2011
  2. Horn, p. 34
  3. 1 2 3 Planer, Lindsay. "Hair [Original 1967 Off-Broadway Cast]". Allmusic.com, accessed February 3, 2011

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Hair</i> (musical) 1960s counterculture rock musical

Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado and music by Galt MacDermot. The work reflects the creators' observations of the hippie counterculture and sexual revolution of the late 1960s, and several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement. The musical's profanity, its depiction of the use of illegal drugs, its treatment of sexuality, its irreverence for the American flag, and its nude scene caused much comment and controversy. The work broke new ground in musical theatre by defining the genre of "rock musical", using a racially integrated cast, and inviting the audience onstage for a "Be-In" finale.

The 11th Annual Grammy Awards were held on March 12, 1969. They recognized accomplishments of musicians for the year 1968.

James Alexander Radomski, known professionally as James Rado, was an American actor, playwright, director, and composer, best known as the co-author, along with Gerome Ragni, of the 1967 musical Hair. He and Ragni were nominated for the 1969 Tony Award for best musical, and they won for best musical at the 11th Annual Grammy Awards.

<i>The Age of Aquarius</i> (album) 1969 studio album by the 5th Dimension

The Age of Aquarius is the fourth album by American pop group the 5th Dimension, released in 1969. It was their biggest commercial success in the United States, peaking at number two on the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B Albums charts.

Gerome Ragni was an American actor, singer, and songwriter, best known as one of the stars and co-writers of the 1967 musical Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. On June 18, 2009, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

<i>Hair</i> (film) 1979 film directed by Miloš Forman

Hair is a 1979 American musical anti-war comedy-drama film based on the 1968 Broadway musical Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. Set against the backdrop of the hippie counterculture of the Vietnam era, the film focuses on a Vietnam War draftee who meets and befriends a "tribe" of hippies while en route to the army induction center. The hippies and their leader introduce him to marijuana, LSD and their environment of unorthodox relationships and draft evasion.

Arthur Terence Galt MacDermot was a Canadian-American composer, pianist and writer of musical theater. He won a Grammy Award for the song "African Waltz" in 1960. His most-successful musicals were Hair and Two Gentlemen of Verona (1971). MacDermot also composed music for film soundtracks, jazz and funk albums, and classical music, and his music has been sampled in hit hip-hop songs and albums. He is best known for his work on Hair, which produced three number-one singles in 1969: "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", "Good Morning Starshine", and the title song "Hair".

<i>Streetnoise</i> 1969 studio album by Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and The Trinity

Streetnoise is a 1969 album by Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity, originally released as a double LP.

Sally Eaton is an American Wiccan high priestess, liturgist, singer and actress, whose credits include creating and playing the role of Jeannie in the Broadway and off-Broadway stage productions of the musical Hair, and acting in Doric Wilson's plays Now She Dances! and Street Theater.

<i>Dude</i> (musical)

Dude (The Highway Life) is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. It is an allegory about good and evil, the conflict between mankind's creative and destructive urges, the power of love, and the joy to be found in simple pleasures. Dude is an everyman who loses his innocence and fights to regain it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom O'Horgan</span> American director, actor, and musician

Tom O'Horgan was an American theatre and film director, composer, actor and musician. He is best known for his Broadway work as director of the hit musicals Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. During his career he sought to achieve a form of "total theater" described by The New York Times as "wittily physical", and which earned him a reputation as the "Busby Berkeley of the acid set".

"Three-Five-Zero-Zero" is an anti-war song, from the 1967 musical Hair, consisting of a montage of words and phrases similar to those of the 1966 Allen Ginsberg poem "Wichita Vortex Sutra". In the song, the phrases are combined to create images of the violence of military combat and suffering of the Vietnam War. In its first line, for instance, "Ripped open by metal explosion" is followed by "Caught in barbed wire/Fireball/Bullet shock".

<i>Stages</i> (Elaine Paige album) 1983 studio album by Elaine Paige

Stages is an album by Elaine Paige, released in 1983 on the Warner Music and K-tel labels and has been re-issued on CD. The album charted in the UK album charts at #2 in 1983.

<i>Essential Musicals</i> 2006 studio album by Elaine Paige

Essential Musicals is an album by Elaine Paige, released in 2006. The album was produced by Mike Moran, vocals were recorded at Air-Edel Studios in London, and the orchestra backing recorded at The Hungarian State Radio Studios, Budapest. The album peaked at #46 in the UK Albums Chart.

<i>Walking in Space</i> 1969 studio album by Quincy Jones

Walking in Space is a 1969 studio album by Quincy Jones. The album was recorded for A&M who released the album with a cover photo of Jones taken by Pete Turner. Vocalist Valerie Simpson is featured on the title track, an arrangement of a song from the hit rock musical Hair. "Dead End" is also from Hair and "Killer Joe" features Ray Brown on bass and Grady Tate on drums.

<i>Live at the Olympia in Paris</i> 1972 live album by Liza Minnelli

Live at the Olympia in Paris is Liza Minnelli's fourth and final album for A&M Records. Released in April 1972 in the United States, it features a live show performed over two nights in Paris on December 11 and 13, 1969. It was not the first time she had performed at the Paris Olympia, she had previously performed at the venue in June 1966 during the International Festival of Variety Shows.

<i>I Got Love</i> (album) 1970 studio album by Melba Moore

I Got Love is the 1970 debut album by American singer Melba Moore. Noted as her debut album, Moore was nominated for the New Artist award at the 13th Annual Grammy Awards in 1971. The album was arranged and conducted by Charlie Calello.

<i>Hair</i> (Original Broadway Cast Recording) 1968 cast recording

Hair is a 1968 cast recording of the musical Hair on the RCA Victor label. Sarah Erlewine, for AllMusic, wrote: "The music is heartening and invigorating, including the classics 'Aquarius,' 'Good Morning Starshine,' 'Let the Sunshine In,' 'Frank Mills' ... and 'Easy to Be Hard.' The joy that has been instilled in this original Broadway cast recording shines through, capturing in the performances of creators Gerome Ragni and James Rado exactly what they were aiming for — not to speak for their generation, but to speak for themselves."

<i>Hair: Original Soundtrack Recording</i> 1979 soundtrack album

Hair: Original Soundtrack Recording is the soundtrack album from the 1979 musical film Hair. It was released on the RCA Victor label.

<i>Hair</i> (Stan Kenton album) 1969 studio album by Stan Kenton

Hair is an album by bandleader Stan Kenton featuring big band versions of tunes from the rock musical Hair recorded in 1969 for Capitol Records.

References