Jesus Christ Superstar · Editions / The Temple

Jesus Christ Superstar

My record and recording collection

Records, digital files and stories behind the versions I own.

After a long time in preparation, this collection sees the light of day, coinciding with the 56th anniversary of the original Jesus Christ Superstar album, released in the United Kingdom on October 16, 1970.

Machine translation. Interface and sheet texts are machine-translated from the Spanish original and may contain errors. titles, catalogue numbers and other catalogue data are not altered.

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Full information: Superstar

Cover of Superstar

Edition details

United States · 1969 · 1 disc: Vinyl 7", Single, 45 RPM

Duration: Not stated

Credits: Murray Head - Vocals; The Trinidad Singers - Vocals; The Andrew Lloyd Webber Orchestra - Performer; Andrew Lloyd Webber - Music By, Producer; Tim Rice - Lyrics By, Producer; Mike Leander - Executive Producer; Leeds Music Corp. - Published By

Tracks

  1. A · Superstar
  2. B · John Nineteen Forty-One

Superstar, 1969: the rock opera arrived as a single first

Long before the double album reached any shop, the public could buy this song on its own. The American Decca single, reference 732603, came out in 1969, a year before the complete work. [1][3]

Side A is sung by Murray Head with The Trinidad Singers and the orchestra conducted by Andrew Lloyd Webber himself. Head was then a young singer and actor; when the album arrived in 1970, he would be the voice of Judas. [1][4]

Side B, "John Nineteen: Forty-One", is the instrumental version by The Andrew Lloyd Webber Orchestra. The label leaves no doubt: "Track A - Vocal / Track B - Instrumental". [1]

A document of the work's gestation

The record documents how the opera came together. The label states that both sides were taken from the album sessions ("taken from DXSA 7206, A Rock Opera") and that the recording was made in England. Produced by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber, with Mike Leander as executive producer, and the picture sleeve prints the 1969 copyright of Leeds Music, the work's publisher in the United States. [1][3]

My copy is the American pressing with the picture sleeve, which carries notes and the lyrics on the back; a variant with a generic sleeve also exists. Discogs also lists label and matrix variants, so the exact variant remains to be determined from the physical record. [1][2]

Sources and bibliography
  1. Discogs, American picture-sleeve edition, Decca 732603 (1969): pressing, credits, side notes and recording provenance. https://www.discogs.com/release/7488141
  2. Discogs, American variant of the same reference with a generic sleeve. https://www.discogs.com/release/3955916
  3. 45cat, entry for Decca 732603: label, year and sides. https://www.45cat.com/record/732603
  4. Discogs, master of the 1970 double album the sides come from, where Murray Head sings Judas. https://www.discogs.com/master/79753-Various-Andrew-Lloyd-Webber-Tim-Rice-Jesus-Christ-Superstar