Tag: Show Tune

Name That Tune, Seventies

NAME THAT TUNE (April 9, 2023)

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Welcome back to Name That Tune. To all who observe this day, I wish you a very Happy Easter.

I don’t want to talk about this song; I’d rather just cut to the chase and listen to my favorite rocker … but first, let’s see if you can guess the song, the composers and perhaps even the performer. I’m rooting for you!

Keeping in mind the historical religious events which led up to today, here are your five clues:

  1. This song is featured prominently in a Broadway show and film which both achieved international success.
  2. The setting for this song is at night in a garden where an indecisive and troubled man is asking his father a soul-searching question.
  3. This song is just one of 23 which were written and conceived as an album before the show was created or staged. The album was released October 27, 1970; almost one year to the day the show opened on Broadway October 12, 1971.
  4. The singer on the original album was the frontman for one of the biggest rock groups to come out of England. Because the group was on the top of the musical world at the time, the singer was unable to join either the production on Broadway in 1971 or the film in 1973. On the album, the singer portrays the lead character.
  5. The music was composed by one of the most famous British writing duos in the industry.

Any ideas? Well, cogitate on it a bit then scroll down for the big reveal.

Did you figure it out? If you said “Easter Parade” you’re wrong! Sorry, just having a bit of fun.

Now for the correct answer:

In keeping with the holiday, here is “Gethsemane” (“I Only Want to Say”) from Jesus Christ Superstar, music and lyrics by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, sung by Ian Gillan, lead singer of the rock group Deep Purple, in the role of Jesus.

There have been other singers since Ian Gillan who tackled the role of Jesus but none came close to this original recording and his incredible voice.

For those of you who thought the answer was “Easter Parade”, here’s a video from the movie of the same name. If you’re a musical buff, you’ll enjoy Judy Garland and Fred Astaire singing “Easter Parade” (often mistakenly called “Easter Bonnet”) from the 1948 movie.

Thanks for joining me today; I hope you had a good time playing Name That Tune.

See you on the flip side.

I’m The Sicilian Storyteller

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