Music soundtrack: Hair

When Kat noted (see "Mailbag") that we'd planned to note a Broadway soundtrack, e-mails poured in. Everyone assumed we'd be noting Hair. Actually, that wasn't the musical at all. But everyone seemed to think it was.

Sunday, Ty checked the e-mails and discovered an excitement that we might weigh in on Hair. By Monday, Hair was the most discussed topic in the e-mails after comments on Ava and C.I.'s TV review.

The initial reaction among many of us was, "What's Hair?" Others wondered, "Why Hair? Why now?" And if we were going to note it, which version? The original Broadway cast version seemed the obvious choice but on Monday Rebecca loaned a copy to Mike of The Actors' Fund of America Benefit Recording of Hair. We ended up going with that one. As noted in the notes (by Brian Stokes Mitchell and Joseph P. Benincasa):

And by purchasing this extraordinary recording, you not only have the opportunity to experience the magic of this incredible work -- interpreted by an outrageous collection of phenomenal artists -- but you have become a supporter of The Actors' Fund of America.
[. . .]
Founded in 1882, The Actors' Fund of America is the only national human service organization that provides for the welfare of entertainment professionals in every aspect of the entertainment industry. Not just performers, but also those behind the scenes, including support staff and all creative and technical professionals. The Fund takes care of the entire community.

More information can be found online by clicking here (or by calling 212-221-7300).

So what is Hair? Or what is Hair? Is?

1) March 9 through 12 and 16 through 19th, Brown University presents its production of the musical.
2) Glendale College (Glendale, CA) starts its performance on March 10th (concludes March 26th).
3) Rounding out the March performances, the Endicott Performing Arts Center in New York performs their production of Hair on March 10-12 and 17-19.

Hair (which started off Broadway, then moved to a disco and then to Broadway) is considered the first theatrical rock musical. Due to the musical scope, many of the songs translated into "hits" on the pop charts. Chances are, you've heard songs from the musical.

The title song ("Hair") was a hit for the Cowsills (don't ask, picture a real version of the Patridge Family), "Let the Sunshine In/Aquarias" was a huge hit for the Fifth Dimension (six weeks at number one), Three Dog Night had a hit with "Easy to Be Hard," and Oliver had a big hit with "Good Morning Starshine" (which other artists, including Sarah Brightman, have covered). That's four hit singles from one musical. (The only other Broadway musical to score a number one hit in the sixties was Hello Dolly with Louis Armstrong's version of the title song.) Other tracks, have also surfaced over the years. (The Lemonheads recorded "Frank Mills" on their album It's A Shame About Ray.) Chances are you know a song or two without even being aware it's from the musical. The music was written by Galt Mac Dermont and the lyrics (and book) by Gerome Ragni and James Rado.

The play takes place in the 1960s. (Though a recent London production updated it to current times.) Broadway lovers can see the play (though they don't have to) as what happens after Steven Sondheim's "Everybody Says Don't" (Anyone Can Whistle, 1964). Why? Hair is all about the conventional wisdoms that rain down from society. That's conventional wisdom on expression (Hair featured swearing and nudity -- to the shock of some theater goers), on war, on mores and norms.

LBJ took the IRT
Down to 4th street USA
When he got there, what did he see?
The youth of America on LSD
The Vietnam War waging.

That's from the song "Initials." Among others name checked throughout the musical are Stokely Carmichael, Timothy Leary, Roman Polanski, and Abraham Lincoln. What's the story? NYU student Sheila is in love with Claude and Berger. All three are members of "The Tribe" which is a group of Hippies. Claude's number comes up in the draft and . . . Wait, do you want to know how it ends?


We starve; look; at one another, short of breath
Walking proudly in our winter coats
Wearing smells from laboratories
Facing a dying nation
Of moving paper fantasy
Listening for the new told lies
With supreme visions of lonely tunes
[. . .]
Let the sunshine
Let the sunshine in
The sunshine in...

There we gave you the final song. That's all we're going to do. See the play, buy a soundtrack.

The soundtrack we bought (The Actors' Fund of America Benefit Recording) was recorded on October 1, 2004 following a one night only September benefit performance of the musical.
Among those participating that you may know are Lea DeLaria, Jai Rodriguez, Ana Gasteyer and Harvey Fierstein.

Broadway musical lovers may recognize the names of other participants. We're not Broadway musical lovers. We're not Broadway musical haters. We're pretty much (collectively speaking with exceptions for some participating) Broadway musically ignorant.

Which is why when we say you will probably enjoy this album, you probably will. This is an accessible soundtrack, an accessible musical. Possibly, current events have made it more so? We think it's more than that. The melodies are strong and in a genre that many will have no trouble relating to. You can hum along before you learn the words.

And, here's the other reason, besides readers' anticipation, that we skipped ahead to Hair, you can follow the story through the songs. The musical we've been listening to . . .

Some of us enjoy the songs so much we have no idea what the story is. Others of us aren't sure the story (beyond a one sentence summary) is in the songs. We've avoided renting a movie version of the play because that would defeat the purpose of reviewing the (Broadway) cast recording. Instead, we usually put it on and curse Amy Goodman and Democracy Now! for drawing it to our attention. (We don't really curse Goodman or DN! but for those wanting to guess which musical we had intended to note first, surf the DN! website and see if you can figure it out.)

There were no problems with accessibility for Hair. You can follow the plot and you can still enjoy the songs. The arrangements sound more contemporary than you might expect and those lending their voices to this recording seem to be a fine marriage of voice and song.

So you aren't Broadway musical lovers? No. You'll never catch any of us at a Disney animated film come to life on the big stage, for instance. So why cover Broadway musicals?

Readers want more musical coverage in the editions and we knew Kat had no desire to cover Broadway musicals, so it was up for grabs. Final recommendation, if you live in or near one of the three areas staging Hair in March, make a point to see the musical.