Jesus Christ Superstar (album)

Jesus Christ Superstar
Original UK cover, UK
Studio album by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice
Released	1970
Genre	Passion music, Rock
Length	86:56
Label	Decca/MCA/Decca Broadway
Producer	Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Webber
Alternative cover
US Edition Cover, May 1971

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Jesus Christ Superstar is a 1970 rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. The album musical is a musical dramatisation of the last week of the life of Jesus Christ, beginning with his entry into Jerusalem and ending with the Crucifixion. It was originally banned by the BBC on grounds of being "sacrilegious."^{[2] [3]}

The album's story is based in large part on the Synoptic Gospels and Fulton J. Sheen's Life of Christ, which compares and calibrates all four Gospels. However, greater emphasis is placed on the interpersonal relationships of the major characters, in particular, Jesus, Judas and Mary Magdalene, relationships that are not described in depth in the Gospels.

The album reached #1 on the Billboard chart in 1971^[4] and served as a launching pad for numerous stage productions on Broadway and in the West End. The original 1970 boxed-set issue of this 2-record set was packaged in the U.S. with a special thin brown cardboard outer box which contained the 2 vinyl records and a 28-page libretto.

Track listing

All compositions written by Tim Rice (lyrics and book) and Andrew Lloyd Webber (music)except Herods Song.

Side one

1. "Overture" – 3:59
2. "Heaven on Their Minds" – 4:23
3. "What's the Buzz/Strange Thing Mystifying" – 4:13
4. "Everything's Alright" – 5:15
5. "This Jesus Must Die" – 3:36

Side two

6. "Hosanna" – 2:07
7. "Simon Zealotes/Poor Jerusalem" – 4:49
8. "Pilate's Dream" – 1:28
9. "The Temple" – 4:43
10. "Everything's Alright (reprise)" – 0:34
11. "I Don't Know How to Love Him" – 3:36
12. "Damned for All Time/Blood Money" – 5:11

Side three

1. "The Last Supper" – 7:10
2. "Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)" – 5:33
3. "The Arrest" – 3:24
4. "Peter's Denial" – 1:27
5. "Pilate and Christ/Hosanna (reprise)" – 2:46
6. "Herod's Song (Try It and See)" – 3:02

Side four

7. "Judas' Death" – 4:17
8. "Trial Before Pilate (Including the Thirty-Nine Lashes)" – 5:13
9. "Superstar" – 4:16
10. "The Crucifixion" – 4:04
11. "John Nineteen: Forty-One"^[5] – 2:10

Credits

Main Players

• Ian Gillan - Jesus Christ
• Murray Head - Judas Iscariot
• Yvonne Elliman - Mary Magdalene
• Victor Brox - Caiaphas, High Priest
• Brian Keith - Annas
• John Gustafson - Simon Zealotes
• Barry Dennen - Pontius Pilate
• Paul Davis - Peter
• Mike d'Abo - King Herod

Supporting Players

• Annette Brox - Maid by the Fire
• Paul Raven - Priest
• Pat Arnold - Background vocals
• Tony Ashton - Background vocals
• Peter Barnfeather - Background vocals
• Madeline Bell - Background vocals
• Brian Bennett - Background vocals
• Lesley Duncan - Background vocals
• Kay Garner - Background vocals
• Barbara Kay - Background vocals
• Neil Lancaster - Background vocals
• Alan M. O'Duffy - Background vocals
• Terry Saunders - Background vocals

• Choir conducted by Geoffrey Mitchell
• Children's choir conducted by Alan Doggett on "Overture"
• The Trinidad Singers, under the leadership of Horace James, on "Superstar"

Musicians

• Neil Hubbard - electric guitar
• Henry McCulloch - electric guitar, acoustic guitar
• Chris Mercer - tenor sax
• Peter Robinson - piano, electric piano, Organ, positive organ
• Bruce Rowland - drums, percussion
• Allan Spenner - bass guitar

Other musicians

• Harold Beckett - trumpet
• Anthony Brooke - bassoon
• James Browne - horns
• Jim Buck, Sr. - horns
• Jim Buck, Jr. - horns
• John Burdon - horns
• Joseph Castaldini - bassoon
• Norman Cave - piano
• Jeff Clyne - bass guitar
• Ciclone - Saxophone
• Les Condon - trumpet
• Keith Christie - trombone
• Alan Doggett - principal Conductor, Moog synthesizer
• Ian Hamer - trumpet
• Ian Herbert - clarinet
• Clive Hicks - guitar
• Karl Jenkins - piano
• Frank Jones - trombone
• Bill LeSage - drums
• John Marshall - drums
• Andrew McGavin - horns
• Anthony Moore - trombone
• Douglas Moore - horns
• Peter Morgan - bass guitar
• Chris Spedding - guitar
• Louis Stewart - guitar
• Chris Taylor - flute
• Steve Vaughan - guitar
• Mike Vickers - Moog synthesizer
• Brian Warren - flute
• Mick Weaver - piano, organ
• Andrew Lloyd Webber - piano, organ, Moog synthesizer
• Alan Weighall - bass guitar
• Kenny Wheeler - trumpet
• Strings of the City of London Ensemble

Chart positions

Album	Year	Chart	Position
Jesus Christ Superstar	1971	Billboard 200	1[4]

See also

• Jesus Christ Superstar
• Jesus Christ Superstar (film)

References

1. ^ Jesus Christ Superstar > Album Overview at Allmusic. Retrieved 28 September 2006.
2. ^ "... the BBC banned it, they banned this record, because they thought it was sacrilegious." - Ted Neeley, in conversation with Norman Jewison [1]
3. ^ Autobiography of Norman Jewison
4. ^ ^{a b} Jesus Christ Superstar > Charts & Awards > Billboard Album at Allmusic. Retrieved 1 April 2008.
5. ^ Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden. In the garden was a new tomb in which no man had ever yet been laid.

External links

• Jesus Christ Superstar at Discogs (list of releases)
• Jesus Christ Superstar Lyrics

Preceded by All Things Must Pass by George Harrison	Billboard 200 number-one album February 20–February 26, 1971	Succeeded by Pearl by Janis Joplin
Preceded by Pearl by Janis Joplin	Billboard 200 number-one album May 1–May 14, 1971	Succeeded by 4 Way Street by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young