Jesus Christ Superstar started life as a most improbable concept album from an equally unlikely label, Decca Records, which had not, until then, been widely known for groundbreaking musical efforts. 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.
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.
- Jesus of Nazareth - Ian Gillan
- Judas Iscariot - Murray Head
- Mary Magdalene - Yvonne Elliman
- Pontius Pilate - Barry Dennen
- King Herod - Mike d'Abo
- Caiaphas - Victor Brox
- Annas - Brian Keith
- Simon Zealotes - John Gustafson
- Peter - Paul Davis
- Priest - Paul Raven
- Maid by the fire - Annette Brox
The band:
- Bruce Rowland - Drums, Percussion
- Alan Spenner - Bass Guitar
- Henry McCulloch - Guitars (Electric and Acoustic)
- Neil Hubbard - Guitar (Electric)
- Peter Robinson - Piano, Electric Piano, Organ, Positive Organ
- Chris Mercer - Tenor Sax
Disk 1:
01 - Overture (3:59)
02 - Heaven On Their Minds (4:22)
03 - What's The Buzz / Strange Thing Mystifying (4:13)
04 - Everything's Alright (5:14)
05 - This Jesus Must Die (3:34)
06 - Hosanna (2:08)
07 - Simon Zealots / Poor Jerusalem (4:47)
08 - Pilate's Dream (1:28)
09 - The Temple (4:43)
10 - Everything's Alright Reprise (0:29)
11 - I Don't Know How To Love Him (3:40)
12 - Damned For All time / Blood Money (5:10)
Disk 2:
01 - The Last Supper (7:08)
02 - Gethsemane (I Only Want To Say) (5:33)
03 - The Arrest (3:21)
04 - Peter's Denial (1:28)
05 - Pilate And Christ (2:43)
06 - Kind Herod's Song (Try It And See) (3:02)
07 - Judas' Death (4:15)
08 - Trial Before Pilate (Including The 39 Lashes) (5:13)
09 - Superstar (4:15)
10 - Crucifixion (4:06)
11 - John Nineteen Forty-One (2:08)
