Artist:Ian Gillan
Song:Gethsemane (I Only Want To Say)
Album:Jesus Christ Superstar
Ian Gillan is best known as lead singer of Deep Purple and then leader of his own band. But he also played Jesus Christ on the original 1970 recording of Jesus Christ Superstar. I'm sure most of you are familiar with either the film or stage version of Jesus Christ Superstar. But when Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber couldn't get financing for a stage production, they decided to record it as a concept album. Gillan was already in Deep Purple when Rice saw him perform the song Child in Time and offered him the role of Jesus Christ in Jesus Christ Superstar. Others in the cast included Murray Head, Yvonne Elliman and Barry Dennen who all appeared in the stage and film versions. The recording session only took three hours so Gillan didn't think it was a big deal. But when the album was successful and was turned into a stage production and ultimately a film, Gillan demanded a ridiculous amount of money because he didn't want to leave Deep Purple. He did this without talking to his manager who probably would have asked him if he wanted to be a big movie star. So I don't think he wanted to do it. Ted Neeley was cast as Jesus Christ in first the stage production and most notably in the 1973 film. This would turn out to be Neeley's best known role in his career. He was never a big star. So maybe Gillan's instincts were correct and remaining in Deep Purple was a better career move for him as he has had a long music career. The Jesus Christ Superstar album is available on 2CDs. Here's the video for Gethsemane (I Only Want To Say) by Ian Gillan.
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