Jesus Christ Superstar (Ian Gillan Etc).Rare Orig 1st Issue 1970 Ltd Boxed 2x Lp

	£		95
	$		126

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JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

'A Rock Opera' Lp

Rare Original 1970 '1st Issue' UK Double Stereo Lp Housed In A Fold Out 'Boxed' Sleeve And Complete With Booklet (The Paper Is Shinier than later issues and Has rounded corners).

This is the rare, earliest first pressing, of which only a few hundred copies were made. It has the unique fold-out star cover (See 2nd Photo) and the late-sixties style MCA labels with the orange/yellow design (The album's official release date was 16th October 1970 by which time MCA had introduced the new 'bow-tie' label design, Common Later pressings followed with different label).

Jesus Christ Superstar started life as a most improbable concept album It was all devised by then 21-year-old composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and 25-year-old lyricist Tim Rice. Jesus Christ Superstar had been conceived as a stage work, but lacking the funds to get it produced, the two collaborators instead decided to use an album as the vehicle for introducing the piece, a fairly radical rock/theater hybrid about the final days in the life of Jesus as seen from the point of view of Judas. If its content seemed daring (and perhaps downright sacrilegious), the work, a "sung-through" musical echoing operatic and oratorio traditions, was structurally perfect for an album; just as remarkable as its subject matter was the fact that its musical language was full-blown rock music. There was at the time an American-spawned hit theater piece called Hair that utilized elements of rock music, but it wasn't as unified a work as Webber and Rice's creation, and it was less built on rock music than on pop music that referred to rock; Webber and Rice's work presented a far sharper, bolder musical edge and pushed it much further and harder than Hair ever did. Serving as their own producers, the two creators got together more than 60 top-flight singers and musicians (including Chris Spedding, John Gustafson, Mike Vickers, P.P. Arnold, and members of Joe Cocker's Grease Band, not to mention Murray Head, Ian Gillan, and Yvonne Elliman in key singing roles), and managed to pull the whole production together into a more than coherent whole that contained a pair of hit singles (the title track and "I Don't Know How to Love Him") to help drive AM radio exposure. What's more, the whole album sounded like the real article as far as its rock music credibility was concerned -- it was played good and hard for a studio creation. Jesus Christ Superstar seemed to pick up where the Who's Tommy and Hair had left off, and 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.

The result was a chart-topping LP followed in short order by a Broadway production and, a little later, a multi-million-dollar movie (oddly enough, the original double LP created barely a ripple in England in 1970 and 1971, though there was eventually a British stage production that went on to become what was then the longest-running musical on London's West End). And all of this acceptance and embrace in America took place scarcely five years after an innocent observation by John Lennon concerning the relative popularity of the Beatles and Jesus, made in England but reported in the American tabloids, had led to protests and a media boycott of the band's music and their 1966 tour across the Bible Belt. Jesus Christ Superstar, by contrast, passed through the border and Southern states without any controversy, speaking volumes in the process about what had happened to American society in the interim. The original release was also the first "event" album of the '70s, presaging a brace of generally less successful efforts in that direction, ranging from Lou Adler and Lou Reizner's orchestrated version of Tommy (Pete Townshend's rock opera basically blown up to Jesus Christ Superstar dimensions) to the soundtrack All This and World War II and Leonard Bernstein's Mass.....AMG Review

The Lp Set Was Released On The ‘MCA’ Label (star2) And Comes To Auction In Excellent+ Condition Save Slight Nick To Top Of Cover: See Photo.

I do combined shipping so if you win more than one item it will work out a lot cheaper on the postage if i send them in the same mailer.

UK auction wins will be sent first class with proof of posting or recorded if requested.

'European' and 'Rest of the world' winners will be sent Royal mail airmail (Small packet rate) but can be insured/tracked at extra cost.

Any item with a value of £50.00 or more will have to be sent 'Signed for' to any destination

I use custom card record mailers and two cardboard stiffeners to protect the item ,I always remove the record from sleeve to avoid seam splits in transit.

Unfortunately I can not be responsible for the postal service damaging or losing it ,I do get proof of posting and will gladly send recorded or insured if requested.

GRADINGS: Records Are Graded Vinyl 1st, Cover 2nd.

MINT……The Record Itself Is In Brand New Condition With No Surface Marks Or Deterioration In Sound Quality. The Cover And Any Extra Items Such As The Lyric Sheet, Booklet Or Poster Are In Perfect Condition. Records Advertised As Sealed Or Unplayed Should Be Mint.

EXCELLENT……The Record Shows Some Signs Of Having Been Played, But There Is Very Little Lessening In Sound Quality. The Cover And Packaging Might Have Slight Wear And/Or Creasing.

VERY GOOD+ ……The Record Has Obviously Been Played Many Times, But Displays No Major Deterioration In Sound Quality, Despite Noticeable Surface Marks And The Occasional Light Scratch. Normal Wear And Tear On The Cover Or Extra Items, Without Any Major Defects, Is Acceptable.