Pippin [1972 Original Broadway Cast] [Bonus Tracks]

by Ben Vereen

Overview

Following the success of his off-Broadway musical Godspell and his collaboration with Leonard Bernstein on Mass, songwriter Stephen Schwartz made his Broadway debut with Pippin, which he had actually begun writing in college. It was based, very loosely, on Pepin (aka Pippin), the eighth century Frankish king. In the musical, Pippin (played by John Rubinstein) is a young man who is seeking meaning in life, not unlike the generation that came of age in the 1960s, of which Schwartz was a member, and not unlike the Jesus of Godspell. Pippin is led through life experiences by the Leading Player (played by Ben Vereen), a skeptical character not unlike the Judas of Godspell. It is the contrast between ingenuousness and archness represented by the two main characters that gives Pippin its dramatic structure, and onstage that contrast played out in the distinction between Schwartz's sweet pop/rock score and director/choreographer Bob Fosse's tart staging. It made for a successful combination; opening on October 23, 1972, Pippin ran more than four and a half years, for a total of 1,944 performances. Theater professionals, as ever hostile to the incursions of rock music on the Great White Way, tended to credit Fosse with the show's popularity and to disparage Schwartz's score. At Tony time, Fosse won two awards, while Schwartz lost the best score trophy to Stephen Sondheim and A Little Night Music. Nevertheless, the score was one of the show's major assets. Motown Records invested in Pippin and had its artists cover songs from it. The Supremes had a minor pop chart entry with "I Guess I'll Miss the Man," and the Jackson 5 made the R&B Top Ten and the pop Top 20 with "Corner of the Sky" shortly after the show opened. The cast album, Motown's first venture into show music, spent two and a half months in the charts, the only cast album to reach the charts at all in 1973. It deserved to do even better. Schwartz's piano- and guitar-based melodies were as catchy and appealing as any of the soft rock that was dominating the charts in the early '70s, and the cast was accomplished, especially Vereen, and, in "No Time at All," a spry ode to senior citizenship, Irene Ryan, best known as Granny Clampett on the television series The Beverly Hillbillies. On September 26, 2000, Decca Broadway reissued the Pippin cast album with the Supremes and Jackson 5 hits as bonus tracks, along with Michael Jackson's 1973 cover of "Morning Glow," the best of the pop versions of songs from the show. ~ William Ruhlmann

Product Details

Release Date:	09/26/2000
Label:	Decca Broadway / Decca / Universal Distribution
UPC:	0601215961324
Rank:	92006

Tracks

1. Pippin, musical~Magic To Do
2. Pippin, musical~Corner Of The Sky
3. Pippin, musical~War Is A Science
4. Pippin, musical~Glory
5. Pippin, musical~Simple Joys
6. Pippin, musical~No Time At All
7. Pippin, musical~With You
8. Pippin, musical~Spread A Little Sunshine
9. Pippin, musical~Morning Glow
10. Pippin, musical~On The Right Track
11. Pippin, musical~Kind Of Woman
12. Pippin, musical~Extraordinary
13. Pippin, musical~Love Song
14. Pippin, musical~I Guess I'll Miss The Man
15. Pippin, musical~Finale "Pippin"
16. I Guess I'll Miss the Man, song
17. Corner of the Sky, song
18. Morning Glow, song

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Ben Vereen   Primary Artist,Vocals
John Rubenstein   Primary Artist,Primary Artist
Jill Clayburgh   Primary Artist,Vocals
The Jackson 5   Primary Artist
Leland Palmer   Primary Artist,Vocals
The Supremes   Primary Artist
Eric Berry   Primary Artist,Vocals
Irene Ryan   Primary Artist,Vocals
Irene Ryan & Gang   Primary Artist
Michael Jackson   Primary Artist,Vocals
Edward Strauss   Piano,Soloist
Candy Brown   Vocals
John Rubinstein   Vocals
Stanley Lebowsky   Musical Director
Bob Fosse   Director

Technical Credits

Marty Wekser   Production Coordination
Tom Verlaine   Composer
Stevie Nicks   Composer
David Blumberg   Arranger
John Rubenstein   Performer
Leland Palmer   Performer
Irene Ryan & Gang   Performer
Penny Bennett   Reissue Art Director
John Berkman   Dance Arrangement
Abe Jacob   Sound Design
Martha Swope   Photography
Tony Walton   Cover Art
Al Brown   Mastering
Bob Gaudio   Producer
Bob Fosse   Choreographer
The Jackson 5   Group,Performer
Ben Vereen   Performer
Greg Calbi   Mastering
Geoffrey Burgon   Composer
Jill Clayburgh   Performer
Phil Ramone   Engineer,Producer
Deke Richards   Producer
Gene Page   Arranger
Benmont Tench   Composer
Stephen Schwartz   Producer,Composer
Richie Blakin   Assistant Engineer
Brian Drutman   Reissue Producer
The Supremes   Performer,Group
Ralph Burns   Orchestration
Michael Jackson   Performer