Bassist on Jesus Christ Superstar

[GaryLC]

I was listening to the original recording of Jesus Christ Superstar over the weekend, and theres some pretty funky bass playing going on in it! Does anyone know who played on that record?

[Tony G]

Gary, this website lists a few bassists. Scroll down the page for the musicians listings: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_C...erstar_(album)

[gweimer]

link fixed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_C...erstar_(album)

[Tony G]

Originally Posted by gweimer

link fixed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_C...erstar_(album)

Thanks, I don't know how that happened.

[GlassJaw]

Heh, I pulled out JCSS today after reading this thread. Damn, this album is unbelievable. Gives me chills every time I listen to it. Bass work is phenomenal throughout, and the main riff in "Heaven On Their Minds" is just nasty (39 Lashes too).

[Jeff K]

Man, does this thread take me back! I had just returned from a year in Vietnam. It was April 1971. I went back to my hometown and ran into an old friend. We went to his house, and he says, "You have to hear this album", and pulls out JCS. My initial reaction was, "This thing must be sacriligious". (I'd never heard of it before.) But to humor him, I said I'd listen to "...a little bit of it". He put it on and I was mesmerized. Not only was the musicianship fantastic, but the vocals were also awesome. I try to pull it out at least once a year (usually around Easter) and listen to it again. It never fails to blow me away.

[GM60466]

To answer your question, it was Alan Spenner. Spenner worked on the first two Joe Coocker Lps. It the Woodstock documentary, he is playing a P bass with tape wounds.

G

[Hoover]

20 years ago I was the bass player on Scala Theater's European tour of Jesus Christ Superstar. That's where I met my wife!

A lot of hokey music that doesn't age well imho, but definitely killer playing on the original soundtrack, and yes, "Heaven On Their Minds" is an awesome riff!

[brianrost]

The core of the main band listed is just Joe Cocker's Grease Band

As for the ringers, Peter Robinson was a well respected UK fusion/prog keyboardist and Chris Mercer played in various blues/rock ensembles including Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Juicy Lucy.

The rest of the players were UK jazz and fusion players who did a lot of studio work over the years.

[Ron Plichta]

And best of all, Deep Purple's Ian Gillan had the vocal role of Jesus Christ.

[Alan Vorse]

My high school did JCSS when I was a senior and I was picked to play bass in the pit band. Some of those charts were HARD!
"What's the Buzz?" was fun because I was just starting to get food at funk. I also remember during the crucifixtion scene, the chart said "Free Jazz, play anything" that was fun!

[Akami]

Heaven on Their Minds and This Jesus Must Die are my two favorites and they still give me chills whenever I listen to them.