Hair Movie Soundtrack - Definition of groove

[sedohr]

One of my all time favorites is the OST of Hair, the movie. The groove and the overall performance are unbelievable. The bass, the drums, the brass, it drives me insane. Does anyone have any info on these recordings ? Or share my enthusiasm?

Kalli

[themaidsroom]

i remember really liking it......
i remember later being surprised, as an adult, to find out
it was a milos foreman film
i especially liking the central park, bass and drums, "aquarius"
opening.......as i recall it came around just as reagan
took office.....




be well


- jack

[theblue1]

I never saw it. I'd completely forgotten there was a movie version.

As a hippie, the musical didn't have much relevance to my life. But by 1979, when the movie came out, it wasn't even on my radar; I'd long since been caught up in the new music thing, starting around 1975 when the first Patty Smith album came out. (Before that, I was just a hippy with his hair cut off... since I decided in 1973 that long hair was a sign of having bought into the commoditization of the alternative/freak life style.)

I did like Forman's 1975 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, though, which I'd read a couple years earlier. I remember thinking, at the time, that it was one of the better book-to-movie transitions I'd seen.


Uh... I realize I've drifted way off topic... whaddya expect for an old hippie?

[max cooper]

RCA Studio B, apparently. I wasn't there, so...

[marty lester]

oh man....you're so right. i have owned it since the 80s when
i first saw the movie. the bass player is insane. "LBJ"...gold.
the whole groove on "Air" is insane.

i could go on all day...definitely top 5 soundtracks for me all-time.

marty.

[Bob Ross]

I haven't heard that soundtrack since seeing the movie when it came out. But I still think the 1968 original Broadway cast recording of Hair has some of the killingest grooves ever. "Walking In Space" and "Three Five Zero Zero" just slay me every time I think of them, and I love the bass player goin' all apeshit on "The Flesh Failures (Let The Sunshine In)"

btw, I got reprimanded in sixth grade for teaching my classmates the song "Sodomy" from that show!

[sedohr]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

btw, I got reprimanded in sixth grade for teaching my classmates the song "Sodomy" from that show!

The beautiful thing is that the first three notes in Sodomy really are so-do-mi! (the 5th, the 1th and the 3th)

Now, who is this bass player ?

[Neukoln]

Those of you who like the original Broadway album vibe, you should really get your hands on "Disin-hair-ited" (unfortunately not available on CD at this point). It's an album of cut songs and the like recorded by the original cast members and band in the same RCA NY studio.

This has become probably more of a cult album than the original cast album itself - it's a psychadelic classic! The songs are more left-of-field and the whole thing has a slightly dark and very un-broadway vibe to it. Again, the band are incredible. Galt MacDermott really was on the money at this point.

There is an AMAZING song on there called "Exanaplanatooch" with possibly one of the most frightfully beautiful string orchestrations you'll ever hear. It sounds like the greatest song The High LLamas never wrote!

So, Peace...i guess.

[Jules]

Shouldn't be too hard to find the producer and session line up. Have you tried a Google search?

I saw the stage version in London circa 74 ..??

The big deal (at the time) was the full frontal nudity of the cast for a few seconds at the very end...

I thought that was kinda neat, but then I was 14

[zaczac]

I really enjoyed playing bass for a brief semi pro production of hair a couple of years ago. Some great basslines, and lots of space for a little healthy improvisation . Definitely much more fun than Brigadoon

[sedohr]

Originally Posted by Jules

Shouldn't be too hard to find the producer and session line up. Have you tried a Google search?

Yes, that's what I thought as well. But Google doesn't find anything for me about the players nor the engineers. It's a big mystery.

[Jules]

OK Someone will know.

Years later in the mid 80's I ended up working with one of the ex cast members, I dont recall "seeing" him in the show. .. and have since dropped out of contact. I doubt he was in the origional recording line up but I will investigate...

hmmmmm not much info available you are right...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/d...00/3107815.stm

[billgennaro]

i have the soundtrack on cd and i definately share your enthusiasm. its a wonderful record that never fails to get me singing along. the performances and arrangements are great.

bill

[billgennaro]

actually, i am a bit mistaken. i was thinking of "jesus christ superstar". sorry for the above comment. i haven't heard the "hair" soundtrack in 25 years. maybe i should check it out, eh?

bill

[zimv20]

Originally Posted by Bob Ross

"Walking In Space" and "Three Five Zero Zero" just slay me every time I think of them

Walking in Space on the movie soundtrack is... amazing. i like the broadway one, too, but i heard the movie one first, so...

[zimv20]

does anyone know what "3-5-0-0" means?

[Ognjan]

"A bumper double-LP taken from the original soundtrack recording of the Hollywood film production of "Hair" recorded and released around the 10th anniversary of the musical. Across the two platters we get no-less than 25 of the arrangements composed for the original stage production, and with a Hollywood budget comes a Hollywood style band and production; including Bernard Purdie on drums, Cornell Dupree on bass and The Sylistics providing vocals. As you might expect for such a project, the music is both well polished and without surprises, so don't expect much more than the most convervative of arrangements and the instrumentation is more reflective of 1979 than 1969 - so those allergic to slap-bass should beware!"

I just found this on
http://www.vinylvulture.co.uk/features/long_hair.php

[nobtwiddler]

I'm not sure if he is on the actual cast album or not...(I'll ask him tomorrow)
But my nextdoor neighbor, Idris Muhammad talks about his days in the orchestra pit all the time.
I believe he was the drummer for approx. 5 years, give or take.
And the stories he tells......

[Bob Ross]

I just found the 1968 original Broadway cast recording on vinyl in a pile of my wife's records that neither of us have looked through in nearly 20 years. Unfortunately, the liner notes tell precious little about the production crew and absolutely nothing about the musicians.

"Recorded in RCA's Studio B, NYC. Recording Engineer: Mike Moran"

That's it, that's all you get. Well, plus an entire 12" gatefold littered with hippie frou-frou stuff...

[zaczac]

Originally Posted by nobtwiddler

I'm not sure if he is on the actual cast album or not...(I'll ask him tomorrow)
But my nextdoor neighbor, Idris Muhammad talks about his days in the orchestra pit all the time.
I believe he was the drummer for approx. 5 years, give or take.
And the stories he tells......

Great neighbour! I'm sure he hears this a bit, but his playing (and tone) on groove elation is a rare moment of musical perfection for me.

I would love to hear Hair Idris Muhammad style.

[crackr0ckst3ady9]

I just found this thread while trying to find the original drummer, but noticed y'all are also having trouble with the bassist

the bassists name is Wilbur Bascomb. You can also find him on Jeff Beck's "wired." he has an intro bass solo on "HEad for the backstage pass."

i actually just saw the broadway revival of this last week and it was ****ing killing, and they actually brought back Wilbur Bascomb for the pit, and Bernard Purdie was on drums, so if they had the bassist from the original soundtrack playing in the pit, i guess theres a chance that Purdie was rthe drummer in the film soundtrack

[Closer]

Actually, the original broadway cast album of Hair was what did it for me. That recording was probably the most influential on my musical identity growing up. A little off the beaten path as compared to Beatles or Stones, but really great songs, and grooves.

[Dean Roddey]

And of course there's the amazing version of Aquarius at the end of 40 Year Old Virgin.

[analogtodd]

Wow...
Hair

Anybody remember when The Cowsills appeared on Stern's Channel 9 show? They hadn't sang together in like 10yrs and they sang "Hair" and they hit all those fantastic harmonies like they'd been singing together every single day!!!

Wow... flashback man

[tropicalhotdog]

Big part of my musical upbringing. I still have the vinyl of the original B'way cast recording, which is the first music I ever got into as a child. As a 7 year-old in 1970, I'd sit at the edge of the pool at my parents' country club singing "Sodomy" until one of the other mom's fliped out at my mom.

I spent the summer of 1979 working in Moscow, so I was there all by myself as a 16 year old and at night had nothing to do but listen to music (vodka not yet being in my repertoir of nighly activities). I had only two cassette tapes with me: After the Gold Rush and the soundtrack to the Hair movie, which I listened to endlessly on one of those table top Panasonic tape decks with buttons all along one side.

Just saw the new Broadway production a week ago. They do a great job, and the band is incredible, esp. the drummer. And note that in my opinion there's generally no more painful and soul-crushing way to spend one's time than watching a Broadway musical.

Funny though, my wife, who's 18 years younger than me, thinks the movie truly sucks but loved the play last week. I think Forman did an amazing job creating a plot and deeper characters for the movie, but maybe you need to have been aware of the play first to appreciate the movie.

[rectifried]

My father knew Rado and Ragni, he was a theatre critic for the Boston Herald,[b4 rubert bought it] Boston was a pretty good theatre town.and he shmoozed pretty well
I went in 69...great memories...esp the nude scene
theres that quintessential period Bway sound in the orig cast record...kind of big space/dry sound...a real timepiece.
havent listened to cast records for a long time...wonder if they still have that thing?

[crackr0ckst3ady9]

Ask BP: Who Played on Hair?

in an interview with Willbur Bascomb (bassist on soundtrack) about the session:

"It was August 1978, at A&R Studios, which used to be on 48th Street in New York. On the date with me were Galt McDermott, [drummer] Bernard Purdie, and [guitarist] Charlie Brown"

So Bernard Purdie was the drummer on the original soundtrack, which is pretty sick cuz it means they got both the original bass and drums from the movie soundtrack to do the pit in the broadway revival. i'm guessing Charlie Brown is also in the current pit then