70s ROCK MUSICAL ON THE LIFE OF JESUS
( according to the gospel of Matthew )
the fountain scene 5 minutes into the film :)
GODSPELL
' THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST, based on the gospel according to MATTHEW'
This film released in ' 73 can go down as one of the greatest all-time films ever.......the music as sung by flower children of the day VICTOR GARBER and friends along with superb acting is what makes this film excel far and beyond all the crap that comes out today, because simply put, THEY DON' T MAKE FILMS LIKE THIS ANYMORE.......the music refects plays like HAIR and other counterculture films of the era like JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR while we have to say this film is much better than that one, musically it's closer perhaps to ROCKY HORROR than any other films....and the paint on their faces was a connection in a way with glam rock with some of the bands who painted their faces with makeup around this time of the 70s........
THE OPENING SCENE shows some graffitti and a poem being spoken by Jesus with the sun shining down, seconds later the film shows the various members in N.y............ ( soon to be apostles ) all going thru their daily routine of working, walking in the street, studying in the library ( one girl copies her face with a xerox machine ) and looking for work in the maddening world circa ' 73, all of which can still be applied to life today 30 plus yrs later.........suddenly JOHN the BAPTIST is seen dissappearing and reappearing to several of the gang throughout the city , then John sounds the bugle call and they all look up as if they are being called, suddenly all 8 of them run into a fountain where he is residing and they ann begin dancing and splashing in the water while the opening track 'PREPARE YE THE WAY OF THE LORD' begins playing, this is 5 minutes into the film.......it's a GREAT scene which sets the pace for the rest of the film......towards the end of the song John looks out and can see a stranger staring at him while the others are busy getting wet.......
Jesus comes over without a shirt and asks to be baptized by John who does as he asks, and when he resurfaces above the water he is wearing the trademark Superman shirt.......Jesus then leads the gang into singing the famous 'GOD SAVE THE PEOPLE'.......with glorious shots of city skyscrapers in N.y. city amongst other shots.........the gang next arrives at an old junkyard complete with antique pinball machines where they begin playing with an old car from the 1920's,.......Jesus begins painting their faces and says ' NOW DO NOT SUPPOSE I HAVE COME TO ABOLISH THE PROPHETS, I HAVE NOT COME TO ABOLISH , BUT TO COMPLETE'...........a bit later the girls do a cheerleader skit, and ROBIN sings with the most loveliest vocals the standout track 'DAY by DAY'..........:)........by this point u can tell this will be a great film....
( Note: it should be noted that the character of Jesus played by Victor Garber bears a strong resemblance to actor MARJOE GORTNER who starred in a film about his life as a child preacher, true story as it's a documentary which came out a year before in '72 ) the film is somewhat odd and ok as far as documentaries )
JESUS and the apostles playing in the junkyard :)
walking down the street a basketball gets passed around, John accidentally says 'Jesus Christ', they all gasp and say 'step by step, inch by inch'......(and however the rest of that saying goes), Jesus slaps John to correct him for taking the name of Jesus in vain, John is about to slap him back but refrains, catches his hand and says 'it's for you' , and acts as if it's a telephone call then hands the phone to him, Jesus shakes his head and gives him that look, then smiles and hugs him......a bit later the group is walking in a tunnel and u can hear vioces echoing while only their silhouettes can be seen,
the gang then enters a mansion and SONIA turns in a good performance singing ' TURN BACK O MAN'.......complete with a 1920's style flappers outfit,...afterwards Jesus begins to prophesize and says 'EARTH SHALL BE FILLED NOW EVEN NOW ONCE MORE'.......they do a goos samaritan skit while Jesus says something unique 'NEVER LET YOUR LEFT HAND KNOW WHAT YOUR RIGHT HAND IS DOING, IN OTHER WORDS LET ALL YOUR GOODS DEEDS BE IN SECRET' (in other words hey why brag right ? God knows what your doing ).......next comes a scene from hell where ROBIN gets cast down and all sorts of ghouls approach her, 'get me out of here she says' ! later is a scene from heaven with Abraham, and Lazarus.......
LYNNE sings the next cut 'BLESS THE LORD' very lovely, Jesus then claps, later the gang all recites 'BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN'............next comes a scene where if they had any doubts about Jesus this would be it, Jesus says 'did i ever tell u i used to read feet ? some read minds, i read feet', they look at him puzzled, he says look at the bottom of my feet what does it say ? JEFFREY says 'it says KEDS', no it doesn' t replies Jesus, it says REJIOCE' !.....he then leads them into 'IT's ALL FOR THE BEST' another musical standout of the film.......and here is where the famous rooftop scene that is on the lp cover takes place withthe whole gang merrilly singing and dancing away.........'consider the lillies of the filed asks Jesus which afterwards the gang jions in and sings 'ALL GOOD DEEDS'
the next scene takes place at the old-time CHERRY LAKE THEATRE.......Jesus starts to tinkle the piano keys then goes into the biblical story about a man who had 2 sons all told while old silent film clips are shot on an old projector, then comes the stroy of the fatted calf......some time later the gang is on a boat and does a SUPER-ROCK version of 'U ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD'.......they all walk into an unknow area and Jesus declares 'Stop ! this is the beginning' then comes a part of the film perhaps designed for children of all ages in mind, a monster ( if u want to call him that........actually it's a funny looking black and grey 25 ft construction with funny eyes and a design that had to be designed from folks on acid....)
The Last Supper
says the monster 'BY WHOSE AUTHORITY ARE U ACTING ON' ? Jesus replis 'the baptims of John, was it not from God or from man ' ? the monster gets confused, spouts some words then Jesus pulls back the robe and it appears 2 of the girls were underneath pulling the strings.......'ALAS FOR U' is the next song, and a bit later KATIE sings a beautiful song called ' BY MY SIDE ' : ).........( Judas betrayal role is then foretold by John )
a happy scene takes place next with a song not on the released soundtrack called 'BEAUTIFUL CITY' sung by the whole gang, it's a cheerful number in PARTRIDGE FAMILY style pop ! :) ' come sing on high on low,........we can build a beautiful city they sing' : ).........entering a house Jesus then begins to show them how to remove their makeup as if they sense it's the end next comes the last supper scene where Jesus declares one here will betray me, and JOHN who takes the role of Judas asks if it is him after the others all ask, and Jesus turns to him and says 'do what you have to do' wherein he runs out with a scared look on his face.......
JESUS then sings wonderfully 'ON THE WILLOWS' and u can tell it's the end, he prays alone to GOD then commands the gang to all awaken from their slumber which they do, then one by one they all begin to say goodbye and the girls stare longingly into his eyes one by one, and he hugs everyone, then outside sirens can be heard and John leading a convoy of police cars line up outside the high chain link where they are all cast upon the fence and act out the torment of the crucifixion with everyone writhing against the fence all the while the police cars are only shown blaring their lights on them,
what happens next, well we cannot say as if you've never saw the film, you'd like it to be a surprise so then we'll just say the ending music features electric guitar by JESSE CUTLER and the organ being played by the one and only PAUL SHAFFER of the DAVID LETTERMAN show on organ ! ), the ending scene is beautiful to say the least and rekindles ones trust in God and man........however a tiny figure of a person can be seen walking accross the street where there was supposed to be known, obviously an accident and not found till maybe sometime later after the film was released, so then we won't tell you what happened in the end.......
DON' T FORGET TO VISIT TOMMY's GODSPELL page, pick the 3rd chioce down as there were several versions of this soundtrack while this one, the original motion picture soundtrack is the one to get ~
http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/6003/gdsplHOME.html
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4 In all the world there are two things; the one is truth; the other falsehood is; and truth is that which is, and falsehood that which seems to be.
5 Now truth is aught, and has no cause, and yet it is the cause of everything.
6 Falsehood is naught, and yet it is the manifest of aught.
7 Whatever has been made will be unmade; that which begins must end.
8 All things that can be seen by human eyes are manifests of aught, are naught, and so must pass away.
9 The things we see are but reflexes just appearing, while the ethers vibrate so and so, and when conditions change they disappear.
10 The Holy Breath is truth; is that which was, and is, and evermore shall be; it cannot change nor pass away.
15 And Jesus said no more to them, but looking up to heaven he said,
16 My Father-God, who was, and is, and evermore shall be; who holds within thy hands the scales of justice and of right;
17 Who in the boundlessness of love has made all men to equal be. The white, the black, the yellow, and the red can look up in thy face and say, Our Father-God.
NOTE: Commenting on B.Gita 5:18, Prabhupada elaborates: "When one has got that vision, that transcendental vision, samah sarvesu bhutesu mad-bhakti, then the devotional service begins." SP lecture, N.O.D., Vrndavana India, Oct. 26, 72]
18 Thou Father of the human race, I praise thy name.
19 And all the priests were angered by the words which Jesus spoke; they rushed upon him, seized him, and would have done him harm.
20 But then Lamaas raised his hand and said, You priests of Brahm, beware! you know not what you do; wait till you know the God this youth adores.
see The Aquarian Gospel of Christ at this link on Prtha's site for more info on this subject ~
http://www.geocities.com/priitaa108/christ_and_krishna_pt2.htm
Well if you really like the music of GODSPELL try these other lost lps of the 70s ;
1 ORCHESTRA LUNA - reviewed on a page accessible from the bottom links at our page 21, this boston band released a Great lp of avant garde pop in '73 which was the soundtrack for a play that was never released, they opened some shows for ROXY music in boston, and by the mid 70s they quickly faded.....
2 SKYLARK - see page 5 for info on this soul-rock band who released 2 lps in ' 72, and ' 74, they had a hit with 'WILDFLOWER'
3 COCO - in our GATEWAY 3 you'll see a page for this really forgotten lost pop band of the 70s, the only connection to Godspell really is in their painted faces which they held onto after the glam scene had faded by the time punk came along, the music on their lp is good though......one song was co written by the lovely Mrs. STEPHANIE de SYKES whose music you should seek out if you like the pop on Godspell ( see page 4 for reviews of her )
GODSPELL LINKS
1 GODSPELL page 2 on the 70s invasion ~
https://www.angelfire.com/al4/jook/Godspell2.html
( a 3rd Godspell page is also in our gateway 4 )
2 TOMMY's GODSPELL page,~ scroll down till you see the lp that says - original motion picture soundtrack - and has the flower children all dancing atop a roof of a skyscraper, this is the one to buy, because the others are all imitations and the music is a lot tamer, he has some cool photos too.
http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/6003/gdsplHOME.html
3 GODSPELL cast, seems VICTOR GERBER who played JESUS and LYNNE THIGPEN were the ones who had big careers in the movie industry after GODSPELL, ( LYNNE was the dj in the N.Y. GANG film 'THE WARRIORS', remember she keeps traack of them all thru the movie )
unfortunately the others had only a few small parts, while the rest had only this film to their credits, any info on what the mebers are up today please let the 70s invasion know ~
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070121/
4 dial-the-truth-ministries
some moron christian fundamentalists put out a page and slammed this film saying it was harmful, write them and see if you can change their minds -
http://www.av1611.org/crock/godspell.html
5 It Says Keds
great photos and info on the film and cast
http://itsayskeds.bravehost.com/
6 Patches and Face Paint, A Godspell Fansite
Excellent site on the film, to get there directly CLICK ON THE BANNER BELOW :)
http://patchesandfacepaint.tripod.com/index.html
70s invasion home ~
https://www.angelfire.com/vt2/70sinvasion/
Day by day Day by day Oh Dear Lord Three things I pray,
To see thee more clearly Love thee more dearly Follow thee more nearly Day by day
Day by day Day by day Oh Dear Lord Three things I pray,
To see thee more clearly Love thee more dearly Follow thee more nearly Day by day
....'REMEMBER.....never let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, let all your good deeds be in SECRET' :)
