WWTBAM Bored

Week #4 kicks off with a record that was pretty controversial upon release...

135. JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR-VARIOUS ARTISTS (1970)

Yes, I know I said no Broadway show music would be included, just pop and rock. But before it was a
Broadway production or movie, it was an album. A 2 record "Rock Opera" ala "Tommy". So it's eligible.
Singing the part of Jesus is Ian Gillan of Deep Purple. Murray Head, who would chart a few years later
with "One Night in Bangkok", sang as Judas. Yvonne Elliman, who would subsequently score a few chart hits
herself, sang as Mary Magdalene. Andrew Lloyd Webber ("Phantom Of The Opera" among others) composed the
music, Tim Rice (who later collaborated with Elton John on "The Lion King" soundtrack) provided the lyrics.
Not something I could listen to every day, but I always enjoy it when I'm in the mood for it. Gillan shows
why he's one of the best rock singers to ever pick up a microphone, and Head and Elliman are no slouches
either.

I bought this album at the suggestion of one my evangelically-inclined Christian friends, and it was quite an eye opener. Later, the local college did the production, but this one fell a little short with one notable exception -- the young woman who sang Mary Magdalene. I wish I'd kept track of her, at least for a while, to see if her career lived up to that fabulous voice.