Jung, performing "Lemmings Lament." - A parody of
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member ...
, and the songs
"Woodstock", "
Long Time Gone
"Long Time Gone" is a bluegrass song by American musician Darrell Scott, originally recorded by him on his 2000 album ''Real Time'' which Scott recorded together with Tim O'Brien. The song was later covered by the American band Dixie Chicks, an ...
", and others. (Also referred to in performance as Freud,
Pavlov,
Adler, and Jung)
* Bob Dylan, performing "Positively Wall Street," a parody of several of his styles, with the title taken from "
Positively 4th Street
"Positively 4th Street" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan, first recorded in New York City on July 29, 1965. It was released as a single by Columbia Records on September 7, 1965, reaching on Canada's '' RPM'' chart, on the U.S. ''B ...
" - Christopher Guest
* Goldie Oldie, a parody of old, 1950s-style performers, performing "Pizza Man," a parody of the "teen tragedy" songs - Alice Playten
* John Denver, performing "Colorado" - Chevy Chase
* Joan Baez, performing "Pull the Triggers, Niggers," a parody of her protest songs and of Dylan's song "George Jackson," in particular. Listed on the album cover as "Pull the Tregroes, Negroes." - Mary Jenifer Mitchell (later replaced by Rhonda Coullet)
* Joe Cocker, "Lonely at the Bottom" - Belushi as Cocker, Paul Jacobs as
Leon Russell on piano.
* James Taylor, "Highway Toes," a parody of his
heroin abuse - Christopher Guest
* Motown Manifestoes singing "Papa was a Running Dog Lackey of the Bourgeoisie" (parody of "
Papa Was a Rollin' Stone
"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" is a song originally performed by Motown recording act The Undisputed Truth in 1972, though it became much better known after a Grammy-award winning cover by The Temptations was issued later the same year. This la ...
"), with most of its lines taken from ''
The Communist Manifesto
''The Communist Manifesto'', originally the ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (german: Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei), is a political pamphlet written by German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Commissioned by the Commu ...
''.
* Donovan, "Nirvana Banana" - Peter Elbling (later addition to the show).
* Joni Mitchell, "I Do for You" - Alice Playten (replaced by Rhonda Coullet).
* Farmer Yassir (parody of Max Yasgur, owner of the land on which Woodstock was held), greeting the audience - Gary Goodrow
* Megadeath, a parody of heavy metal groups, who end their act by turning the amps so loud that the audience dies.
* "Jackie Christ, Superstar." Parody of "Jesus Christ, Superstar." Jesus is a stand-up comedian, while John Belushi played King Herod.
* "
Deteriorata
"Deteriorata" is a comedy record released as a single in 1972. It is a parody of Les Crane's 1971 spoken word recording of "Desiderata", the early 20th-century poem by Max Ehrmann. ("Desiderata" is Latin for "desired things"; "deteriorata" is a p ...
." A Tony Hendra parody of Les Crane's recording of "
Desiderata
"Desiderata" (Latin: "things desired") is an early 1920s prose poem by the American writer Max Ehrmann. Although he copyrighted it in 1927, he distributed copies of it without a required copyright notice during 1933 and , thereby forfeiting his ...
."
* "Defeat Day" - a parody of America's first military defeat in the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
. "Put all your troubles in a nickel bag and smile, smile, smile."
* The Rolling Stones Parody, with Alice Playten playing "Mick Jagger."
Cast
The cast included:
[National Lampoon Lemmings (1973)](_blank)
(accessed June 26, 2009)
*
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known for being one of the seven original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Throughout his c ...
- bass guitar
*
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
- drums
*
Garry Goodrow
Garry Goodrow (November 4, 1933 – July 22, 2014) was an American actor known for his role in the original stage production of the Obie Award-winning play ''The Connection'' (1959) and its 1961 film version, and as one of the original memb ...
- sax
*
Christopher Guest
Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born February 5, 1948) is an American-British screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian. Guest is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed, and starred in ...
- guitar
*
Paul Jacobs -guitar, piano
* Mary Jenifer Mitchell
*
Alice Playten
Alice Playten ('' née'' Plotkin; August 28, 1947 – June 25, 2011) was an American actress known for her high-pitched, child-like voice.
Life and career
Born in New York City, Playten began her career at age 11 in the Broadway musical ''Gyp ...
Later cast replacements:
*
Rhonda Coullet
Rhonda Lee Oglesby Coullet (born September 23, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer-songwriter, theatre composer and playwright.
Life and career
Oglesby was born in 1945 in Magnolia, Arkansas, the daughter of Horace and Cecil Oglesby. ...
* Nate Herman
* Bob Hoban
*
Zal Yanovsky
Zalman Yanovsky (December 19, 1944 – December 13, 2002) was a Canadian folk-rock musician. Born in Toronto, he was the son of political cartoonist Avrom Yanovsky and teacher Nechama Yanovsky (née Gemeril), who died in 1958. He played lead guit ...
* Tony Scheuren
*
Peter Elbling
The Times Square Two was a two man act of music, comedy, acting and juggling.
Their performance of "I've Got a Funny Feeling for Ophelia" on the summer TV series ''Dean Martin Presents'', starring The Golddiggers, Joey Heatherton, and Frank Sina ...
* Archie Hahn
* John Wall
Production
Writers
The writers included:
*
Christopher Guest
Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born February 5, 1948) is an American-British screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian. Guest is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed, and starred in ...
– music, musical arrangements
*
Paul Jacobs – music, musical arrangements, musical director
*
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known for being one of the seven original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Throughout his c ...
*
Sean Kelly
*
Tony Hendra
Anthony Christopher "Tony" Hendra (10 July 1941 – 4 March 2021) was an English satirist, actor and writer who worked mostly in the United States. Educated at St Albans School (where he was a classmate of Stephen Hawking) and at St John's Co ...
*
David Axlerod
Reception
Awards
*
Alice Playten
Alice Playten ('' née'' Plotkin; August 28, 1947 – June 25, 2011) was an American actress known for her high-pitched, child-like voice.
Life and career
Born in New York City, Playten began her career at age 11 in the Broadway musical ''Gyp ...
– 1973
Obie Award for Distinguished Performance
1972–1973 Obie Awards
accessed 27 November 2009
Cast recording
A cast recording of the show was released in 1973, with album cover art by Melinda Bordelon.
Track listing
Side One
# Stage Announcements
''Performed by John Belushi''
# "Lemmings Lament"
''Lead vocal by Paul Jacobs (as David Crosby); instruments and backup vocals by the cast; written by Paul Jacobs and Sean Kelly.''
# Stage Announcements
''Performed by John Belushi''
# "Positively Wall Street"
''Lead vocal by Christopher Guest (as Bob Dylan); instruments and backup vocals by the cast; written by Paul Jacobs, Christopher Guest, and Sean Kelly.''
# Weather Person
''Performed by Garry Goodrow''
# "Pizza Man"
''Lead vocal by Alice Playten (as Goldie Oldie); instruments and back-up vocals by the cast; written by Christopher Guest, Sean Kelly, and Tony Hendra''
# Stage Announcements
''Performed by John Belushi''
# "Colorado"
''Lead vocal by Chevy Chase; instruments and backup vocals by the cast; written by Christopher Guest, Sean Kelly, and Tony Hendra''
# Richie Havens
''Performed by Christopher Guest (as Richie Havens)''
# Crowd Rain Chant
''Performed by John Belushi''
Side Two
# Stage Announcements
''Performed by John Belushi''
# "Papa Was a Running Dog Lackey" of the Bourgeoisie
''Lead vocal by Paul Jacobs; instruments and backup vocals by the cast; written by Paul Jacobs and Tony Hendra''
# All-Star Dead Band
''Performed by John Belushi''
# Stage Announcements
''Performed by John Belushi''
# "Highway Toes"
''Lead vocal by Christopher Guest (as James Taylor); instruments and backup vocals by the cast; written by Christopher Guest and Sean Kelly''
# Hell's Angel
''Performed by Chevy Chase''
# Stage Announcements
''Performed by John Belushi''
# Farmer Yassir
''Performed by Garry Goodrow''
# "Lonely at the Bottom"
''Lead vocal by John Belushi (as Joe Cocker); instruments and backup vocals by the cast; written by Paul Jacobs and John Belushi''
# Megagroupie
''Performed by Alice Playten''
# "Megadeath"
''Lead vocal by John Belushi; instruments and backup vocals by the cast; written by Paul Jacobs and Sean Kelly''
See also
* List of National Lampoon films During the 1970s and early 1980s, a few films were made as spin-offs from the original ''National Lampoon'' magazine, using some of the magazine's creative staff to put together the outline and script, and were cast using some of the same actors th ...
References
External links
Original Off-Broadway Cast, National Lampoon's Lemmings
(Blue Thumb, 1973; Decca Records, 2002)
''National Lampoon's Lemmings''
at the Internet Off Broadway Database
*
{{National Lampoon
Lemmings
A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also include ...
Lemmings
A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also include ...
Off-Broadway musicals
1970s comedy albums
1973 soundtrack albums
1973 musicals
Blue Thumb Records albums