An album musical is a type of recording that sounds like an

original cast album A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

but is created specifically for the recording medium and is complete entertainment product in itself, rather than just promoting or reflecting an existing or planned musical theatre production or

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...

. Although there has been no one term consistently used to describe this type of recording, the genre predates the use of the term " concept album" by several decades, dating back to the era of 78-rpm records with such original works as

Gordon Jenkins Gordon Hill Jenkins (May 12, 1910 – May 1, 1984) was an American arranger, composer, and pianist who was influential in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s. Jenkins worked with The Andrews Sisters, Johnny Cash, The Weavers, Frank Sinatra, Lo ...

' '' Manhattan Tower'' (1946, expanded in 1956) and ''The Letter'' (1959) starring

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

, and Stan Freberg's '' Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, Volume One: The Early Years'' (1961). On most contemporary concept albums, the performers or bands sing as themselves, whereas on an album musical the performers are playing characters in a story. Some original album musicals have later been expanded into staged musicals, including '' You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'' (which was specifically labeled an "Original Album Musical") and, beginning in the late 1960s, such notable

rock musical A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and conc ...

s as Tim Rice,

Björn Ulvaeus Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (; born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, producer, a member of the musical group ABBA, and co-composer of the musicals '' Chess'', '' Kristina från Duvemåla'', and ''Mamma Mia!'' He co-produced the films ...

and

Benny Andersson Göran Bror Benny Andersson (; born 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, singer, composer and producer best known as a member of the musical group ABBA and co-composer of the musicals ''Chess'', ''Kristina från Duvemåla'', and '' Mamma M ...

's ''

Chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to dist ...

'' and

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

's ''Tommy''. Although Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice may have been anticipating later stage productions when they recorded their two-LP albums of '' Jesus Christ Superstar'' and '' Evita'', at the time of their initial release they were, in essence, album musicals.

Recordings

The album musical as a distinct type of recording was popularized by composer/conductor

who created a set of 78 rpm records in 1946 called ''Manhattan Tower'' and later expanded the dialogue and music in 1956 to take advantage of the longer playing time of LP records. Although ''Manhattan Tower'' was performed in concert halls, Las Vegas, on television (with

Ethel Waters Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her no ...

Cesar Romero Cesar Julio Romero Jr. (February 15, 1907 – January 1, 1994) was an American actor and activist. He was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years. His wide range of screen roles included Latin lovers, historical figures in c ...

and

Phil Harris Wonga Philip Harris (June 24, 1904 – August 11, 1995) was an American actor, comedian, musician and songwriter. He was an orchestra leader and a pioneer in radio situation comedy, first with ''The Jack Benny Program'', then in '' The Phil Harr ...

) and later re-recorded on separate record albums by both Patti Page and Robert Goulet, it was never actually presented as a stage musical. Jenkins later created the album musicals '' California: A Musical Narrative'', '' Seven Dreams'', and ''The Letter'' starring

. In 1954, David Lippincott, a

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

writer at

McCann-Erickson McCann, formerly McCann Erickson, is an American global advertising agency network, with offices in 120 countries. McCann is part of McCann Worldgroup, along with several other agencies, including direct digital marketing agency MRM//McCann, expe ...

, an

advertising agency An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. An ad agency is generally ...

, wrote the music and lyrics for an album musical called '' The Body in the Seine'', featuring Broadway performers

Alice Pearce Alice Pearce (October 16, 1917 – March 3, 1966) was an American actress. She was brought to Hollywood by Gene Kelly to reprise her Broadway performance in the film version of '' On the Town'' (1949). Pearce played comedic supporting roles in ...

and George S. Irving, among others, in the hope of finding a book writer to expand his score into a Broadway musical. Because of the limited release of the album, ''The Body in the Seine'' is one of the rarest album musicals. A 1957 MGM recording, ''Frankie and Johnny,'' with music by Robert Cobert and lyrics by Dion McGregor, featured Danny Scholl ('' Top Banana''), Joan Coburn ('' Gentlemen Prefer Blondes''), Nat Frey (''

Damn Yankees ''Damn Yankees'' is a 1955 musical comedy with a book by George Abbott and Douglass Wallop, music and lyrics by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. The story is a modern retelling of the Faust legend set during the 1950s in Washington, D.C., dur ...

'') and MGM recording artist Mary Mayo. Also in the cast were Frank Aletter ('' Bells Are Ringing''), Peggy Cass ('' Auntie Mame'') and William Lanteau (''

Newhart ''Newhart'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990, with a total of 184 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. The series stars Bob Newhart and Mary Frann as an author and his wife, ...

''). The recording, which features dialogue and songs, is a complete musical drama with orchestrations by Philip J. Lang. It is unrelated to the 1966 movie starring

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

. A 1959 album musical called ''Clara'', featuring Broadway performers

Betty Garrett Betty Garrett (May 23, 1919 – February 12, 2011) was an American actress, comedian, singer and dancer. She originally performed on Broadway, and was then signed to a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. She appeared in several musical film ...

('' Call Me Mister'') and

James Komack James Komack (August 3, 1924 – December 24, 1997) was an American television producer, director, screenwriter, and actor. He is best known for producing several hit television series, including ''The Courtship of Eddie's Father'', '' Chico and ...

(''

''), was subsequently expanded into a Broadway musical called ''

Beg, Borrow or Steal ''Beg, Borrow or Steal'' is a 1937 American comedy film directed by Wilhelm Thiele and written by Leonard Lee, Harry Ruskin and Marion Parsonnet. The film stars Frank Morgan, Florence Rice, John Beal, Janet Beecher, Herman Bing and Erik Rho ...

'' that played five performances at the Martin Beck Theater in February 1960. Betty Garrett, repeating her role from the record, was joined on stage by her husband,

Larry Parks Samuel Lawrence Klausman Parks (December 13, 1914 – April 13, 1975) was an American stage and film actor. His career arced from bit player and supporting roles to top billing, before it was virtually ended when he admitted to having once been ...

Biff McGuire William "Biff" McGuire (October 25, 1926 – March 9, 2021) was an American actor. Best known as Inspector Kramer in ''Nero Wolfe'' (1979). Early years McGuire attended Hamden High School and the University of Massachusetts, where he studied agr ...

and

Eddie Bracken Edward Vincent Bracken (February 7, 1915 – November 14, 2002) was an American actor. Bracken became a Hollywood comedy legend with lead performances in the films '' Hail the Conquering Hero'' and '' The Miracle of Morgan's Creek'' both from ...

. One of the best-selling album musicals of the early 1960s was '' Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, Volume One: The Early Years'', released in 1961 on Capitol Records and billed as "An Original Musical Review Created Specifically For Stereo" (or "For Records," in the

monaural Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction (often shortened to mono) is sound intended to be heard as if it were emanating from one position. This contrasts with stereophonic sound or ''stereo'', which uses two separate audio channels to reproduc ...

version). Stan Freberg's extravagant musical comedy dealt with the birth of the United States of America in satiric terms and featured original songs, sketches and even dancing (tap-dancing Indians). Freberg had planned to release at least two follow-up albums, but he was approached by producer David Merrick with an offer to move the work to

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

. By the time the proposed production was cancelled, Freberg had moved on to other projects and ''Stan Freberg Presents the United States of America, Volume Two'' was not released until 1996, with several of the surviving cast members from the original album, along with several new performers. In 1963, '' The Ballad Of Fanny Hill'', a double-record set subtitled "An Original Musical

Monodrama A monodrama is a theatrical or operatic piece played by a single actor or singer, usually portraying one character. In opera In opera, a monodrama was originally a melodrama with one role such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau's '' Pygmalion'', which w ...

Based Upon the Book ''

Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure ''Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure''—popularly known as ''Fanny Hill''—is an erotic novel by English novelist John Cleland first published in London in 1748. Written while the author was in debtors' prison in London,Wagner, "Introduction", ...

'' by John Cleland," was released on Fax Records, a label noted primarily for its suggestive comedy LPs. Although authorship credit on the LP jacket is given to "Charles Sydney" and "Gerald Coates," the recording, which featured the

bawdy Ribaldry or blue comedy is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to indecency. Blue comedy is also referred to as "bawdiness" or being "bawdy". Sex is presented in ribald material more for the purpose of poking fun at ...

humor of the novel, was actually the product of

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's incom ...

Sid Kuller and composer/ musical director Gerald Dolin. The

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * ''Solo'' (DC Comics), a DC comics series * Solo, a 1996 mini-series from Dark Horse Comics Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''S ...

performer is the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

ous Julie Hamilton. Clark Gesner's album musical, '' You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'', which had been released on

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...

's children's label Leo Records as an "Original Album Musical," was successfully expanded into a long-running Off-Broadway musical in 1967. MGM also released the

Original Cast Recording Originality is the aspect of created or invented works that distinguish them from reproductions, clones, forgeries, or substantially derivative works. The modern idea of originality is according to some scholars tied to Romanticism, by a notion t ...

of the stage show.

Melvin Van Peebles Melvin Van Peebles (born Melvin Peebles; August 21, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American actor, filmmaker, writer, and composer. He worked as an active filmmaker into the 2000s. His feature film debut, '' The Story of a Three-Day Pass'' ...

' darkly comic and explicit 1970 album, ''

Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death ''Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death (Tunes from Blackness)'' is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Melvin Van Peebles. The musical contains some material also on three of Van Peebles' albums, ''Brer Soul'', '' Ain't Supposed to Die ...

'', became a

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

-nominated

Broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

in October 1971, interpolating material from two of Van Peebles' other albums, '' Brer Soul'' and '' As Serious as a Heart-Attack'', as well. A number of popular

s (or "

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

s") began as original album musicals, including '' Jesus Christ Superstar'', '' Evita'', ''Chess'', ''The Who's Tommy'' and '' American Idiot''. An interesting variation on the album musical is ''A Complete Authentic Minstrel Show'' released in both

and stereo in 1958 on the budget label, Somerset Records.Somerset Records discography
/ref> The album is a compilation of classic songs and jokes featured in American

minstrel show The minstrel show, also called minstrelsy, was an American form of racist theatrical entertainment developed in the early 19th century. Each show consisted of comic skits, variety acts, dancing, and music performances that depicted people spec ...

s, a form of entertainment that was popular during the later 19th and early 20th centuries. Because of the often negative stereotypes of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

s, the genre quickly lost public favor with the birth of the

civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

. Although the recorded material is not original, the fact that the album simulates a live stage performance (without actually be derived from such a performance) makes it a form of album musical. Epic Records released two minstrel show recordings of its own a few years later called ''Gentlemen, Be Seated!'' and its sequel, ''Gentlemen, Be Seated! (Again)''. Similar albums were created that simulate old

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

and burlesque shows. Frank Zappa's '' Joe's Garage'' (1979) and '' Thing-Fish'' (1984) were album musicals. The material of ''Thing-Fish'' was presented as an "original cast recording"; Zappa had intended to stage it as a play, but was unable to find financing, and it was subsequently staged after his death, as was ''Joe's Garage''. ''Joe's Garage'' was a satire of music censorship in the form of an anti-music government propaganda play, while ''Thing-Fish'' encompassed conspiracy theories surrounding AIDS and satire of Broadway tropes, racial stereotypes, homosexuality, political correctness and feminism.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Sinatra: The Singer is You (on Gordon Jenkins)

IBDB: ''Beg, Borrow or Steal''
Musical Musicals

Recordings

See also

References

External links