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/ News

Let the Sunshine In: Music on Vinyl Reissues Expanded Edition of "Hair"

January 13, 2021 By Joe Marchese 5 Comments

Hair OBC

BUY NOW FROM AMAZON.COM

Ready to head back to the dawning of the Age of Aquarius?

Hair, from composer Galt MacDermot and librettist-lyricists Gerome Ragni and James Rado, made quite a splash Off-Broadway in 1967, but when it moved uptown under the avant garde direction of Tom O'Horgan, it was an immediate, shocking sensation.  The original Broadway production of "the American tribal love rock musical" would ultimately run for 1,750 performances and inspire three Broadway returns, but the reach of the pro-peace, anti-war Hair proved to be universal.

The New York success quickly led to a staging in the West End of London plus innumerable touring companies, revivals, international, regional and local productions, and a film version directed by Milos Forman. Hair also stormed the pop charts. The 5th Dimension's medley of "Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In" in 1969 topped the charts for six weeks and took home a Grammy for Record of the Year. The Cowsills were almost as lucky with their recording of the title song "Hair," which climbed to No. 2. The single-named Oliver wasn't far behind with his Bob Crewe-helmed rendition of "Good Morning Starshine" which reached No. 3. Unbelievably, that wasn't it. "Easy to Be Hard" went to No. 4 for Three Dog Night, and across the pond, Nina Simone's 1968 medley of "Ain't Got No / I Got Life" reached the Top 5. Hair has received roughly 90 (!) different recordings over the years, including cover albums, studio cast versions, foreign-language albums, collections of cut songs and even a live recording of groovy covers played by the 1969 London house band at the Shaftesbury Theatre.  But on February 5, the U.K.-based Music on Vinyl label will reissue RCA Victor's 1968 Original Broadway Cast Recording on two LPs in its 32-track expanded presentation as first issued on compact disc by RCA in 1988 and on vinyl by Analog Spark in 2018.  This sequence boasts the songs in show order.

The Grammy Award-winning Broadway cast album (actually the show's second recording, as the off-Broadway cast was also recorded by RCA; only four of the off-Broadway cast members made the move to Broadway) features many familiar names including future Academy Award winners Diane Keaton and Paul Jabara, R&B star Ronnie Dyson, and Tony Award winner and Grammy nominee Melba Moore.  They led the cast through MacDermot, Rado, and Ragni's joyful and exuberant score which, in large part, brought the sounds of pop and rock to Broadway.  Even the band was an illustrious one, boasting composer MacDermot on acoustic and electric piano alongside jazz greats Idris Muhammad on drums, Jimmy Lewis on bass, and Warren Chiasson on vibes.  The cast album became a household staple upon its original release.  It went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, remaining at that coveted spot for 13 weeks.  It remains the last Broadway cast recording to reach the top to date.  (Hamilton, which owes Hair a great debt, stalled at No. 2, although it went to the top of the Rap Albums survey.)

Music on Vinyl's upcoming vinyl presentation is pressed on two 180-gram LPs, the second time the complete version of the score has been released on vinyl following Analog Spark's 2018 audiophile-quality release (which was a Barnes & Noble exclusive in the United States).  The first LP is on green and yellow swirl vinyl while the second is on orange and yellow.  The jacket is housed in a protective PVC sleeve and also includes an eight-page booklet of liner notes and photos.  The cover artwork most closely resembles the original U.K. release; the U.S. version had the label's mascot Nipper in the upper right corner.  This edition is limited to 2,000 individually numbered units.

Let the sunshine in.  Look for Hair on January 29 in the U.K. and February 5 in North America.

Hair: Original Broadway Cast Recording (RCA Victor LSO-1150, 1968 - reissued Music on Vinyl MOVATM289, 2021) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side One

  1. Aquarius
  2. Donna
  3. Hashish
  4. Sodomy
  5. Colored Spade
  6. Manchester, England
  7. I'm Black
  8. Ain't Got No
  9. I Believe in Love (*)
  10. Ain't Got No (Reprise) (*)
  11. Air
  12. Initials

Side Two

  1. I Got Life
  2. Going Down (*)
  3. Hair
  4. My Conviction
  5. Easy to Be Hard
  6. Don't Put It Down
  7. Frank Mills
  8. Be-In

Side Three

  1. Where Do I Go?
  2. Electric Blues (*)
  3. Manchester, England (Reprise) (*)
  4. Black Boys
  5. White Boys
  6. Walking in Space

Side Four

  1. Abie Baby
  2. Three-Five-Zero-Zero
  3. What a Piece of Work Is Man/Walking in Space (Reprise)
  4. Good Morning Starshine
  5. The Bed (*)
  6. The Flesh Failures (Let The Sunshine In)

(*) bonus track

Categories: News Formats: Vinyl Genre: Cast Recordings Tags: Galt MacDermot, Idris Muhammad, Melba Moore, Paul Jabara, Ronnie Dyson

Avatar photo

Joe Marchese

JOE MARCHESE (Editor) joined The Second Disc shortly after its launch in early 2010, and has since penned daily news and reviews about classic music of all genres. In 2015, Joe formed the Second Disc Records label. Celebrating the great songwriters, producers and artists who created the sound of American popular song, Second Disc Records, in conjunction with Real Gone Music, has released newly-curated collections produced by Joe from iconic artists such as Johnny Mathis, Bobby Darin, Laura Nyro, Melissa Manchester, Chet Atkins, and many others. He has contributed liner notes to reissues from a diverse array of artists, among them Nat "King" Cole, Paul Williams, Lesley Gore, Dusty Springfield, B.J. Thomas, The 5th Dimension, Burt Bacharach, The Mamas and the Papas, Carpenters, Perry Como, Rod McKuen, Doris Day, Jackie DeShannon, and Andy Williams, and has compiled releases for talents including Robert Goulet and Keith Allison of Paul Revere and the Raiders. Over the past two decades, Joe has also worked in a variety of capacities on and off Broadway as well as at some of the premier theatres in the U.S., including Lincoln Center Theater, George Street Playhouse, Paper Mill Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, and the York Theatre Company. He has felt privileged to work on productions alongside artists such as the late Jack Klugman, Eli Wallach, Arthur Laurents, Betty Comden and Adolph Green. In 2009, Joe began contributing theatre and music reviews to the print publication The Sondheim Review, and in 2012, he joined the staff of The Digital Bits as a regular contributor writing about film and television on DVD and Blu-ray. Joe currently resides in the suburbs of New York City.

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Comments

  1. David B says

    January 14, 2021 at 2:16 pm

    As you say incredible music. I didn't realise there were over 90 different versions. I'll have to do better as i only have 5 on cd - incl this one and the original off-Broadway version. I nearly got the German one as It features Donna Summer ..

    I was hoping we'd have less vinyl re-issues this year but it doesn't look likely. I don't have a record deck and am unlikely to buy one. So thanks but no thanks .. mind you if they ever released a surround sound version ("what a piece of work is man" would sound incredible) i'd be first in the queue.

    Reply
    • Avatar photoJoe Marchese says

      January 14, 2021 at 2:24 pm

      There was a 4.0-channel quadraphonic surround mix released on LP in 1973, but it hasn’t yet been transferred to SACD or DVD/Blu-ray Audio. Maybe some day!

      Reply
      • David B says

        January 14, 2021 at 2:34 pm

        Wow .. I didn't know that .. let's hope Dutton Vocalion are reading this .. please, please, please ...

        Reply
  2. Dean Naysmith says

    August 27, 2021 at 9:39 pm

    I stumbled across this site while trying to find the Daryl Hall & John Oates 2 cd collection of the Complete Atlantic Years (I believe that to be the cd title? After sitting here for the past 4 hours I do believe I've struck Gold as my new go to site for the commentary about the new reissues of all different genres and the reissues themselves. A fantastic site for adults (older people) and as the music I tend to be buying falls into into the reissue titles, this site is a godsend. A little bit of trivia from an interview with Daryl Hall I read a few years ago. He said that they are always referred to as Hall & Oates, yet on every recording they have released, or should I now say dropped to be hip, will only ever see their full names rather than the abbreviated names. I don't really know why I brought this up?

    Reply
  3. Dean Naysmith says

    August 27, 2021 at 9:46 pm

    Alas, it seems that Daryl Hall and John Oates Atlantic years is no longer available?

    Reply

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