You may be familiar with the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. But did you know that this musical was originally a cantata written for an English boys’ school? I was fortunate enough to grow up on the 1971 Scepter Records release, and I listened to it so much that at one point I could practically sing the whole thing through from beginning to end without referring to the lyrics. Of course, the cantata is much shorter than the musical. The version I first knew did not yet include “One More Angel in Heaven,” “Grovel, Grovel,” or “Benjamin Calypso,” and many songs were shorter than their counterparts in the musical. (Note: The original 1971 recording does not have a track listing, but that was added when the album was converted to MP3. According to the MP3 version’s track listing, “One More Angel in Heaven” and “Benjamin Calypso” are on the album, but I assure you that they aren’t.)
The differences between the early recording and the musical go far beyond length. In the older version, the accents are British, a boys’ choir plays a major role, and many of the songs have a distinctly ’60s feel that isn’t present in the modern musical. Compare the “Go, Go, Go Joseph” sample from the 1971 recording, complete with electric guitar and Hammond organ, to the version from the 1999 movie. While the musical tries to evoke the ’60s in the setting and costumes, the original version feels far more authentic… because it is.
The cantata is raw and, if you buy the MP3 album, you get treated to breaks between tracks that remind you that this originally came from an LP. But I far prefer the freshness of this early version to the slick Broadway production. After all, if you’re going to listen to something with the word “technicolor” in it, it might as well have the groovy vibe that word brings to mind.
This week, return to the early days of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Take some time to at least sample the Scepter album, and consider buying a track or even the whole album.