Celebration
Original Cast Recording
RELEASE DATE: April 3, 2020
Tracks
- Celebration
- Orphan in the Storm
- Survive
- Somebody
- Bored
- My Garden
- Where Did It Go?
- Love Song
- I’m Glad to See You’ve Got What You Want
- It’s You Who Makes Me Young
- Not My Problem
- Fifty Million Years Ago
- Under the Tree
- Winter and Summer
- Celebration – Finale
- BONUS TRACK: Celebration performed by Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt
Words by Tom Jones
Music by Harvey Schmidt
Vocals by Keith Charles, Michael Glenn-Smith, Ted Thurston, Susan Watson, Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt
This first reissue in 25 years of a classic Original Cast Recording is a must-have for discriminating lovers of musical theater.
Written by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt (THE FANTASTICKS, 110 IN THE SHADE and I DO! I DO!), CELEBRATION was produced on Broadway in 1969 and is considered one of the most provocative and entertaining musicals of the decade.
Says Jones (now 92 and still writing for the stage): “CELEBRATION, along with HAIR, was one of the 1960s shows that sought to reinvent our musical theater…The score is rich and varied, the premise interesting and the characters and scenes funny and touching. I’m so grateful to Harbinger Records for wanting to share it with at least three generations!”
In this battle between the Old Year and the New, Jones & Schmidt mixed symbolic figures with then-current prototypes. “Thus the Old Man typifies all the misgivings that the youth culture of the time had about the previous generation,” says Jones. “The Young Boy is the ultimate flower child. The Narrator is a sixties dropout whos into booze and drugs. And the Girl is a teenybopper dreaming of being a celebrity.”
The package contains a 24-album booklet with extensive notes by author Tom Jones; memories from two original-cast members, Susan Watson and Michael Glenn-Smith; and many recently unearthed photos of the original production. The album has been remastered by multiple Grammy Award winner Alan Silverman.