''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a 1970 album musical by

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

and

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ' ...

, on which the 1971 rock opera of the same name was based. Initially unable to get backing for a stage production, the composers released it as an album, the success of which led to stage productions. The album musical is a musical dramatisation of the last week of the life of Jesus Christ, beginning with his

entry into Jerusalem In the accounts of the four canonical Gospels, Jesus Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem took place in the days before the Last Supper, marking the beginning of his Passion, his time of suffering, death, and resurrection celebrated during H ...

and ending with the Crucifixion. It was originally banned by the BBC on grounds of being "sacrilegious". By 1983, the album had sold over seven million copies worldwide.

Composition

The album's story is based in large part on the

Synoptic Gospels The gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Mark, and Gospel of Luke, Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical ...

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 Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cru ...

, relationships that are not described in depth in the Gospels. Lyricist Rice said he took inspiration from the Bob Dylan song " With God on Our Side". "Herod's Song" is a lyrical rewrite of "Try It and See", previously written by Lloyd Webber and Rice as a proposed British entry into the 1969

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

to be sung by Lulu, then recorded and released as a single by

Rita Pavone Rita Pavone (; born August 23, 1945) is an Italian-Swiss ballad and rock singer and actress, who enjoyed success through the 1960s. Singing career She was born in Turin, Italy. In 1962 she participated in, and won, the first Festival degli Scon ...

. The writers had also included it (as "Those Saladin Days") in an aborted show called ''Come Back Richard Your Country Needs You''. The melody of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" also predates ''Jesus Christ Superstar''; it was rewritten from a 1968 Lloyd Webber/Rice collaboration titled "Kansas Morning".

Recording

For the recording, Lloyd Webber and Rice drew personnel from both musical theatre ( Murray Head had just left the West End production of ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

'') and the British rock scene ( Ian Gillan had only recently become the singer of

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

). Many of the primary musicians—guitarists Neil Hubbard and Henry McCullough, bassist Alan Spenner, and drummer

Bruce Rowland Bruce Rowland (born 9 May 1942 in Melbourne) is an Australian composer. Biography Rowland composed the soundtrack for the 1982 movie ''The Man from Snowy River (1982 film), The Man from Snowy River'', as well as the soundtrack for its 1988 s ...

—came from

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

's backing group The Grease Band. Saxophonist Chris Mercer had also played with Hubbard in Juicy Lucy.

Release

The first piece of ''Superstar'' released was the title song, as a single in November 1969 backed with the instrumental "John Nineteen Forty-One" (see ). The full album followed almost a year later. The album topped the U.S. ''Billboard'' Top LP's chart in both February and May 1971 and ranked number one in the year-end chart ahead of

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

's massive hit '' Tapestry''. It also served as a launching pad for numerous

stage productions Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

on Broadway and in the West End. The original 1970 boxed-set issue of this two-record set was packaged in the U.S. with a special thin brown cardboard outer box ("The Brown Album") which contained the two vinyl records and a 28-page

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Track listing

All compositions written by

(lyrics and book) and

(music).

Credits

Main players"Original Concept Recording (1970) – ''Jesus Christ Superstar''
recording information, Jesus Christ Superstar Zone (reference for this and subsequent sections) * Ian Gillan – Jesus Christ * Murray Head – Judas Iscariot *

Yvonne Elliman Yvonne Marianne Elliman (born December 29, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who performed for four years in the first cast of the stage musical ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. She scored a number of hits in the 1970s and achieved ...

–

Victor Brox Victor Brox (5 May 1941 – 20 February 2023) was an English blues musician. Early life and career Born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, he attended St Mary’s, Droylsden and William Hulme's Grammar School where he played trombone in the sch ...

– Caiaphas, High Priest * Barry Dennen – Pontius Pilate Supporting players * Brian Keith – Annas * John Gustafson –

Simon Zealotes Simon the Zealot (, ) or Simon the Canaanite or Simon the Canaanean (, ; grc-gre, Σίμων ὁ Κανανίτης; cop, ⲥⲓⲙⲱⲛ ⲡⲓ-ⲕⲁⲛⲁⲛⲉⲟⲥ; syc, ܫܡܥܘܢ ܩܢܢܝܐ) was one of the most obscure among the apostl ...

* Paul Davis – Peter * Mike d'Abo – King Herod Other players * Annette Brox – Maid by the Fire * Paul Raven – Priest *

P. P. Arnold Patricia Ann Cole (born October 3, 1946), known professionally as P. P. Arnold, is an American soul singer. Arnold began her career as an Ikette with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue in 1965. The following year she relocated to London to pursue a solo ...

, Tony Ashton,

, Peter Barnfeather, Madeline Bell,

Brian Bennett Brian Laurence Bennett, (born 9 February 1940) is an English drummer, pianist, composer and producer of popular music. He is best known as the drummer of the UK rock and roll group the Shadows. He is the father of musician and Shadows band me ...

, Lesley Duncan, Kay Garner, Barbara Kay, Neil Lancaster, Alan M. O'Duffy, Terry Saunders – Background vocals * Choir conducted by Geoffrey Mitchell * Children's choir conducted by

Alan Doggett Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Turkish surname *Alan (given name), an English given name **List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' *Al ...

on "Overture" *

The Trinidad Singers ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

, under the leadership of Horace James, on "Superstar" Musicians * Neil Hubbard – electric guitar * Henry McCullough – electric guitar,

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

* Alan Spenner – bass guitar * Chris Mercer – tenor sax *

J. Peter Robinson John Peter Robinson (born 16 September 1945) is an English composer, musician, and arranger known for his film and television scores. Early years and pop music career He studied piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music and enjoy ...

– piano,

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

, positive organ *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, percussion Other musicians * Norman Cave, Karl Jenkins – piano * Mick Weaver – piano, organ *

– piano, organ, Moog synthesizer * Mike Vickers – Moog synthesizer * Alan Doggett – principal Conductor,

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

* Strings of the City of London Ensemble * Clive Hicks, Chris Spedding, Louis Stewart, Steve Vaughan – guitar * Jeff Clyne, Peter Morgan, Alan Weighall – bass guitar * Harold Beckett, Les Condon, Ian Hamer, Kenny Wheeler – trumpet * Anthony Brooke, Joseph Castaldini –

bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

* Andrew McGavin, Douglas Moore, James Brown, Jim Buck Sr., Jim Buck Jr., John Burdon – horns * Keith Christie, Frank Jones, Anthony Moore – trombone * Ian Herbert –

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

* Chris Taylor, Brian Warren –

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

* Bill LeSage,

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...

– drums Production * Alan O'Duffy – chief engineer

Reissue

Original Concept Recording. ''Jesus Christ Superstar – A Rock Opera''. Universal City, California: MCA Records Inc. SA ©1993 (released 24 SEP 1996). Cat. No. MCAD2-11542 CDs UPC 008811154226
''(N.B.: Black title on front and back cover; gold 'angels' logo; gold lettering on the spine. Depending on the retailer, an outer sticker may state that the album was 'Digitally Remastered omplete on 2 CDs and/or 'Original Artwork and Libretto'. This information is not found on the inner packaging.)''

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

External links

jesuschristsuperstar.com: The Album
* {{Authority control 1970 albums Albums produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber Albums produced by Tim Rice Andrew Lloyd Webber albums Caiaphas Concept albums Cultural depictions of Pontius Pilate Decca Records albums Jesus Christ Superstar MCA Records albums Rock operas Tim Rice albums