The Who charted with "Behind Blue Eyes"

Behind Blue Eyes The Who

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The Who released “Baba O’Riley”

Baba O’Riley The Who

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John Lennon charted with “Imagine”

Imagine John Lennon

Writer(s): John Lennon (see lyrics here) Released: October 11, 1971 First Charted: September 24, 1971 Peak: 3 US, 2 CB, 2 GR, 11 HR, 7 AC, 1 CL, 20 AR, 14 UK, 12 CN, 15 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- US, 1.79 UK, 1.96 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 5.0 radio, 331.37 video, 338.98 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: One morning early in 1971, Lennon sat at the white grand piano in his bedroom and virtually completed “his greatest musical gift to the world.” RS500 He considered “Imagine” to rate as high as anything he wrote with the Beatles. RS500 He wasn’t wrong. It was “a sweetened variant of the political songwriting that Lennon engaged in before and after.” TB This “is the record that saved John Lennon’s post-Beatles reputation.” TB It “became something more than a pop song. It has become an anthem that people sing when they need hope for mankind.” TC It was “a simple but moving hymn-like creation” SS “geared to…people’s utopian ideals but designed to be palatable to the masses.” TB His wife Yoko Ono told Rolling Stone that it was “just what John believed – that we are all one country, one world, one people.” RS500 While Lennon is “advocating an atheistic, anarchist utopia,” TC he had the foresight to soften the message via his approach. Poetic lyrics, intimate instrumentation, and a heartfelt vocal provided an accessibility that “emphasized the song’s fundamental humanity.” RS500 Lennon told broadcaster Andy Peebles, that the song “should be credited as a Lennon/Ono song. A lot of it, the lyric and the concept, came from Yoko, but those days I was a bit more selfish…and I omitted to mention her contribution, which was right out of Grapefruit.’” HL That book of poems, published by Ono in 1964, used “imagine” as a recurrent word. The song was produced by Phil Spector, known for his legendary “Wall of Sound” layering technique. SS However, for the “Imagine” song and album, he showed uncharacteristic restraint, because he trusted Lennon’s musical sense. It was recorded at Lennon’s home studio in his mansion just outside of London. Lennon sings and plays the grand piano while accompanied by Klaus Voorman on bass and Alan White on drums. Spector later added strings. SS The song had an interesting chart life. It went to #3 on the U.S. charts in 1971, but took four more years to hit in Lennon’s native England, reaching #6. In the wake of Lennon’s murder on December 8, 1980, “Imagine” stormed the U.K. charts once again, this time going all the way to the top. In fact, as is more common on the other side of the pond, Lennon’s ode to the power of possibilities has been released a couple more times, landing in or just outside the top ten. Resources: TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Pages 697-8. HL Michael Heatley and Spencer Leigh (1998). Behind the Song: The Stories of 100 Great Pop & Rock Classics. Blandford Books: London, UK. Page 134. DJ David Jasen (2002). A Century of American Popular Music: 2000 Best-Loved and Remembered Songs (1899-1999). Routledge: Taylor & Francis, Inc. Page 100. RS500 Rolling Stone (2004). “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 231-2. DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Page 241. TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 126. WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 7/12/2014; last updated 4/14/2023.

Jesus Christ Superstar opened on Broadway

Jesus Christ Superstar Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice

The Studio Album: Released: November 21, 1970 Peak: 13 US, -- UK, 13 CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): 0.5 US Genre: show tunes

The Cast Album: Released: January 8, 1972 Peak: 31 US, -- UK, -- CN, 110 AU (1992 Australian cast album) Sales (in millions): 6.0 US

The Soundtrack: Released: June 30, 1973 Peak: 21 US, 23 UK, -- CN, -- AU Sales (in millions): 1.0 US

Tracks: Song Title (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to charts. Overture Heaven on Their Minds What’s the Buzz/Strange Thing Mystifying Then We Are Decided s Everything’s Alright This Jesus Must Die Hosanna Simon Zealotes/Poor Jerusalem Pilate’s Dream The Temple Everything’s Alright sr (The Kimberlys, 3/20/71, 99 US – medley of “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” and “Everything’s Alright”; Yvonne Elliman, 9/25/71, 92 US) I Don’t Know How to Love Him (Helen Reddy, 2/20/71, 13 US; Yvonne Elliman, 4/24/71, 28 US) Damned for All Time/Blood Money The Last Supper Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say) The Arrest Peter’s Denial Pilate and Christ King Herod’s Song (Try It and See) Could We Start Again, Please? s Judas’ Death Trial Before Pilate (Including the 39 Lashes) Superstar (Murray Head, 1/31/70, 14 US; Assembled Multitude, 2/6/71, 95 US) Crucifixion John Nineteen: Forty-One Songs followed by sr (studio release), c (cast album), or s (soundtrack) indicate that the song was unique to that version of the album.

Rating (all versions combined): 4.570 out of 5.00 (average of 17 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: Jesus Christ Superstar didn’t follow the usual route for successful musicals – a nice run on Broadway accompanied by a cast album and then a movie and soundtrack version a couple years later. It started out as a studio album which topped the U.S. charts before being staged in a theatrical context. Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, 21, and lyricist Tim Rice, 25, conceived it as a stage work, but when they couldn’t get the funding, they opted “to use an album as the vehicle for introducing the piece.” BE The success of the studio album opened the door for a stage production. It debuted on Broadway at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on October 12, 1971. It sarred Jeff Fenholt, Ben Vereen, and Bob Bingham. When Vereen fell ill, Carl Anderson stepped into the role of Judas. They later took turns playing the role. It was met with mixed reviews – even Webber himself criticized it – and closed after 18 months. WK In 1972, the show opened at the Palace Theatre in London with Paul Nicholson starring as Jesus and Stephen Tate as Judas. It ran for eight years, making it the longest-running musical in England at the time. WK “The action largely follows the canonical gospels’ accounts of the last weeks of Jesus’ life, beginning with Jesus and his followers arriving in Jerusalem and ending with the Crucifixion. Twentieth-century attitude and sensibilities as well as contemporary slang pervade the lyrics, and ironic allusions to modern life are scattered throughout the political depiction of the events. Stage and film productions accordingly feature many intentional anachronisms."WK “Audiences from across the age and cultural spectrum responded. Teenagers who didn’t know from Jesus, opera, or oratorios liked the beat, the hard rock sounds, and the singing and bought the album, as did parents who felt that the record offered a chance to understand some aspects of this youth culture around them, and especially its music – and so did some more forward-thinking clergy and theologians, who saw any opportunity to spread the word about Jesus where it wasn’t previously going as intrinsically good.” BE The story focuses on Judas and his “political and interpersonal struggles” WK with Jesus. Judas “is depicted as a conflicted, tragic figure” WK alarmed by Jesus’ lack of planning and “relatively recent claims of his divinity.” WK Such a point of view was “as daring as you could get” WR and “perhaps downright sacrilegious” BE but “it succeeds in all ways.” WR The fact that this was “full-blown rock music” BE was as remarkable as the subject matter. Similar ground had been covered with Hair but that was “really a pop/show-music pastiche, not rock.” WR Jesus Christ Superstar, however, was a “fairly radical rock/theater hybrid” BE making it the first to “successfully put rock music in a theatrical context.” WR The Who created the template with their 1969 album Tommy but it would be 1992 before it became a stage musical. It should also be noted that Jesus Christ Superstar is technically an operetta as it was completely sung without any spoken dialogue. Deep Purple’s lead singer Ian Gillan served as the singing voice of Jesus while Murray Head was Judas and Yvonne Elliman was Mary Magdalene. The latter two had pop hits with “Superstar” and “I Don’t Know How to Love Him.” In 1973, it was made into a film directed by Norman Jewison. It “was shot in Israel and other Middle Eastern locations. Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson were both nominated for 1974 Golden Globe Awards for their portrayals of Jesus and Judas…Though it attracted criticism from some religious groups, the film was generally well received.” WK Combined, the original studio recording, cast album, and soundtrack have sold more than 7.5 million copies, with the cast album moving the mast majority.

Resources and Related Links: BE Bruce Eder, All Music Guide sr WR William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide (review of a cast recording reissue) WK wikipedia.org Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 10/12/2011; last updated 10/3/2023.