Hair (Original Broadway Cast Recording)

Hair: An American Tribal Love-Rock Musical
Cast recording
Released	1968
Recorded	May 6, 1968
Genre	Pop rock, psychedelic rock, funk, R&B
Length	40:25
Label	RCA Victor
Producer	Brian Drutman, Denis McNamara, Norrie Paramor, Andy Wiswell

Hair is a 1968 cast recording of the musical Hair on the RCA Victor label. Sarah Erlewine, for Allmusic, wrote: "The music is heartening and invigorating, including the classics 'Aquarius,' 'Good Morning Starshine,' 'Let the Sunshine In,' 'Frank Mills' ... and 'Easy to Be Hard.' The joy that has been instilled in this original Broadway cast recording shines through, capturing in the performances of creators Gerome Ragni and James Rado exactly what they were aiming for – not to speak for their generation, but to speak for themselves."

The recording received a Grammy Award in 1968 for Best Score from an Original Cast Show Album and sold nearly 3 million copies in the U.S. by December 1969. The New York Times noted in 2007 that "The cast album of Hair was... a must-have for the middle classes. Its exotic orange-and-green cover art imprinted itself instantly and indelibly on the psyche.... [It] became a pop-rock classic that, like all good pop, has an appeal that transcends particular tastes for genre or period."

Track listing

Music by Galt MacDermot; lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado.

1. "Aquarius" 2:55
2. "Donna/Hashish" 2:45
3. "Sodomy" :50
4. "Colored Spade" 1:10
5. "Manchester England" 1:20
6. "I'm Black/Ain't Got No" 1:10
7. "I Believe In Love" 1:06
8. "Ain't Got No" (reprise) 1:16
9. "Air" 1:15
10. "Initials" :55
11. "I Got Life" 3:05
12. "Going Down" 2:18
13. "Hair" 2:55
14. "My Conviction" 1:36
15. "Easy to Be Hard" 2:35
16. "Don't Put It Down" 2:00
17. "Frank Mills" 2:05
18. "Be-In" 3:00
19. "Where Do I Go?" 2:40
20. "Electric Blues" 2:35
21. "Manchester England" (reprise) 0:30
22. "Black Boys/White Boys" 3:35
23. "Walking In Space" 5:00
24. "Abie Baby" 2:45
25. "Three-Five-Zero-Zero/What a Piece of Work is Man" 4:45
26. "Good Morning Starshine" 2:30
27. "The Bed" 2:56
28. "The Flesh Failures (Let the Sunshine In)" 3:35

The original LP release (RCA Victor LSO-1150) omitted a few tracks due to space limitations: "I Believe In Love", "Going Down", "Electric Blues" and "The Bed", as well as short reprises, and placed "Easy to Be Hard" after "Black Boys/White Boys". The full track list above was included on later CD issues.

Credits

• Alan Fontaine, Steve Gillette – guitar
• Jimmy Lewis – bass
• Galt McDermot – piano, electric piano
• Idris Muhammad – drums
• Warren Chiasson – vibraphone, percussion
• Donald Leight, Eddy Williams – trumpet
• Zane Paul – flute, woodwinds
• Donnie Burks, Steve Curry, Lorrie Davis, Ronald Dyson, Sally Eaton, Leata Galloway, Steve Gamet, Walter Harris, Paul Jabara, Diane Keaton, Hiram Keller, Lynn Kellogg, Jonathan Kramer, Marjorie LiPari, Emmaretta Marks, Melba Moore, Mike Moran, Natalie Mosco, Suzannah Norstrand, Shelley Plimpton, James Rado, Gerome Ragni, Robert Rubinsky, Lamont Washington – vocals

Cover versions

• The 5th Dimension covered "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" in 1969, creating a #1 hit single.
• The Cowsills covered "Hair" in 1969, hitting #2.
• Oliver covered "Good Morning Starshine" in 1969, hitting #3.
• Three Dog Night covered "Easy to Be Hard" in 1969, hitting #4.
• The Lemonheads covered "Frank Mills" on their 1992 album It's a Shame About Ray.
• Run–D.M.C. sampled "Where Do I Go?" in their 1993 song "Down with the King".

See also

• Hair (Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording)
• Hair: Original Soundtrack Recording