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A photo of NBC's rendition of Hair. Credit to TV insider.

By Charles Apple

The rock musical “Hair” opened off-Broadway in October 1967 and made its Broadway debut the following April. The soundtrack recording featuring the show's Broadway cast hit No. 1 on the U.S. album chart 55 years ago next Friday and stayed in the top spot for 13 weeks.

No other Broadway cast album has hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart since.

The Dawning of The Age of Aquarius

The cast of Hair protesting.
The cast of “Hair” during its original Broadway run from April 1968 through July 1972. The production was nominated for Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Director in 1969, but lost to “1776” in both categories.

The musical that introduced rock ’n’ roll to the theatrical stage, “Hair,” opened off Broadway on Oct. 17, 1967.

After a two- month run there, the show moved to a nightclub for another two months while the production’s creators concen- trated on refining their story and music before it opened at Broadway’s Biltmore Theater on April 29, 1968.

The show was created by two self-described “hippies,” Gerome Ragni and James Rado, who provided the story and the lyrics, and an established Canadian composer, Galt MacDermot, who had won a Grammy Award in 1961 for “African Waltz.”

“I had short hair, a wife and, at that point, four children. And I lived on Staten Island,” MacDer- mot would say later.

Ragni and Rado performed in the original off-Broadway and Broadway productions of “Hair,” along with a number of actors and musicians who would go on to greater fame: Diane Keaton, Ben Vereen, Keith Carradine, Barry McGuire, Ted Lange and Meat Loaf.

The musical focused on count- er-culture themes of the late 1960s, including the sexual revolution, drug use, nudity, anti-war protests and, especially, long hair on men, which had become increasingly popular in the 1960s.

An original poster for the Hair broadway show.

“Gimme a head with hair,” the cast sings at one point. “Long beautiful hair, Shining, gleaming, streaming, flaxen, waxen ... Give me down to there, hair, shoulder length or longer ... Flow it, show it, long as God can grow it, my hair!”

It made for a very popular show.

“Hair” would run for 1,750 performances on Broadway and, soon after, productions would crank up across the U.S. and in London.

Arguably, “Hair” is best known for its striking music. You know the songs: “Let the Sunshine In” and “The Age of Aquarius” — which would be combined into a hit single for the Fifth Dimension — and “Easy to Be Hard,” which would be recorded with great success by Three Dog Night.

The original cast recording of “Hair,” released on May 6, 1968, would spend 13 weeks atop the Billboard 200 album chart in 1969, a year when an awful lot of memora- ble music was released (enjoy the list at right). No original Broadway cast album has since occupied Billboard’s top Album spot.

The album would sell 3 million copies and win a Grammy Award for Best Score from an Original Cast Show Album. In 2018, “Hair” would be named to the National Record- ing Registry list of significant cultural sound recordings.

“Hair” was extensively rewritten for its movie adaptation in 1979. A 2009 Broadway revival would win a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

In The Library Of Congress

Since 2002, the National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress has selected sound recordings that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” of life in the United States. “Hair” is one of only six original Broadway cast soundtrack albums to be enshrined in the National Registry.

South Pacific

South Pacific broadway cover.
Released: 1949

Added to the National Recording Registry: 2013

West Side Story

South Pacific broadway cover.
Released: 1957

Added to the National Recording Registry: 2008

My Fair Lady

My Fair Lady broadway cover.
Released: 1959

Added to the National Recording Registry: 2007

Fiddler on the Roof

Fiddler on the Roof broadway cover.
Released: 1964

Added to the National Recording Registry: 2019

Hair

Hair
Released: 1968

Added to the National Recording Registry: 2018

The Wiz

Hair
Released: 1975

Added to the National Recording Registry: 2017

Sign Of The Times

No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 album chart from November 1968 through May 1969:

Cheap Thrills

Cheap Thrills: Big Brother and the Holding Company album cover
Big Brother and the Holding Company

Nov. 30, 1968 - 3 weeks at No. 1

Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell: Wichita Lineman album cover
Wichita Lineman

Dec. 21 - 1 week at No. 1

The Beatles

The Beatles: The White Album album cover
The White Album

Dec. 28 - 6 week at No. 1

Diana Ross and the Supremes and the Temptations

Diana Ross and the Supremes and the Temptations: TBD soundtrack album cover
TCB Soundtrack

Feb. 8 - 1 week at No. 1

The Beatles

The Beatles: The White Album album cover
The White Album

Feb. 15 - 3 week at No. 1

Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell: Wichita Lineman album cover
Wichita Lineman

March 8 - 3 week at No. 1

Blood, Sweat & Tears

Blood Sweat & Tears: Blood, Sweat & Tears album cover
Blood, Sweat & Tears

March 29 - 1 week at No. 1

Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell: Wichita Lineman album cover
Wichita Lineman

April 5 - 3 week at No. 1

Blood, Sweat & Tears

Blood Sweat & Tears: Blood, Sweat & Tears album cover
Blood, Sweat & Tears

April 12 - 2 week at No. 1

Hair

Hair: Original Broadway Cast Recording album cover
Original Broadway Cast Recording Hair

April 26 - 13 week at No. 1

Blood, Sweat & Tears

Blood Sweat & Tears: Blood, Sweat & Tears album cover
Blood, Sweat & Tears

July 26 - 4 week at No. 1

Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash: Johnny Cash At San Quentin album cover
Johnny Cash at San Quentin

Aug. 23 - 4 week at No. 1

Blind Faith

Blind Faith: Blind Faith album cover
Blind Faith

Sept. 20 - 2 week at No. 1

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence CLearwater Revival: Green River album cover
Green River

Oct. 4 - 4 week at No. 1

The Beatles

The Beatles: Abbey Road album cover
Abbey Road

Nov. 1 - 8 week at No. 1

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin II album cover
Led Zeppelin II

Dec. 27 - 1 week at No. 1

The Beatles

The Beatles: Abbey Road album cover
Abbey Road

Jan. 3 - 2 week at No. 1

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin II album cover
Led Zeppelin II

Jan. 17 - 1 week at No. 1

The Beatles

The Beatles: Abbey Road album cover
Abbey Road

Jan. 24 - 1 week at No. 1

Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin: Led Zeppelin II album cover
Led Zeppelin II

Jan. 31 - 5 week at No. 1

Simon & Garfunkel

Simon & Garfunkel: Bridge Over Troubled Water album cover
Bridge Over Troubled Water

March 7 - 10 week at No. 1

Sources: Playbill, GaltMacDermot.com, Internet Broadway Database, American Theater, HairTheMusical.com, MasterWorksBroadway.com, AllMusic.com, Internet Movie Database, Library of Congress, Discogs.com, Billboard, TV Insider

This edition of Further Review was adapted for the web by Zak Curley.