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