Pippin

I bought this CD for only one song, "No Time At All." I had never heard it before, so it was new to me in 2019. I was feeling a little blue over sad things in my life, and the words of this song simply lifted my spirits. And it has continued to do so. I have it on repeat on theCD player in my car.

I saw this show on Broadway several times in the early seventies. It was my favorite musical. I own the cast album and have played it hundreds of times. Vinyl no longer suits my lifestyle so I went to Amazon for a CD. I was thrilled with the remastered version. I know people at the time didn't like John Rubenstein's voice for the role but for me it was perfect. He truly sounds like the lost soul looking for something. A slick singer would not have fit the role. I'm not big on the bonus tracks (that is what delete is for on my MP3). Michael Jackson is great on Morning Glow but the other two are down right bad.I love the CD but I love the liner notes even more. The information gives another level to the music and story.Buy it you'll love it. If you are a boomer like me, your sure to know the feeling.

best musical ever, and this is probably the best soundtrack version

My wife and I saw the original production of Pippin back in the early 70's and loved it. We played the Original Cast Recording for years and thoroughly enjoyed it. Over the years we misplaced, and when we recently saw the new production we just had to have it. We love it as much as we did years ago. One interesting note; when we saw the play again and did some reading about it, we realized that it was an anti-Vietnam War protest show, something we didn't even realize back in our innocent youth :) Love the show; love the music.

My favorite musical. Saw it 42 years ago on Broadway and the album was a wonderful way to relive that experience.

We had seen this play when it first came out. This brought back so many fond memories and the DVD we bought along with this made it a perfect set.

I've always been a big fan of "Pippin" and even downloaded a few songs for my I-Tunes; however having them all in one CD (which for me, is way more convenient) is an awesome purchase I'm telling myself I should have made long ago! Not only is the sound quality crystal-clear, but the liner notes provide lots of insight into each song and the entire show itself. Just as thrilling though, is that the CD includes three bonus tracks from Diana Ross & The Jackson 5 which Motown (one of the original Broadway production's producers) used to promote the show. I'm VERY satisfied overall!

The musical Pippin not only had great stars like Ben Vereen and Irene ryan, but all the songs are just as timely and great as they were when the play first ran. The songs are very uplifting and just sound great. I also liked the extra bonus tracks of The Supremes and Michael jackson.

A musical about Charlemagne's son? Not a sure-fire winner, surely. The thing is, audiences like a good story no matter who it's about and if the songs are good - even better.There was an element of bandwagon jumping in this show. "Godspell" had already done the "here's a bunch of actors arriving in a space to give you a show about..." line and it had worked. In fact, it had been working in straight theatre for quite a while during the 50s & 60s. So out trotted the idea again and here was a bunch of Commedia del Arte players come to do a show about Medieval French history.The Leading Player role was created for Ben Vereen in the mould of other such ambiguous characters in Musical Theatre. The trouble is that this kind of role can be no better than the sort of Narrator part that kids and naïve writers put into shows. So much depends upon who is playing the part and how well they can work an audience or how charismatic they are.Pippin searches for glory in some area of life: war, love, social causes and comes to realise that settling down with a nice woman and being average is not a bad thing. That's it, really.The first half of the show has the best of the numbers: "Magic To Do" and excellent opening number, for practically any show, there's its flaw. It looks and sounds fantastic, but is rather non-specific."Corner of the Sky" is a lovely number. It's a questing song - one of those that defines what the hero is searching for. It is touching and melodic, a song for an actor to really enjoy technically and emotionally."War Is A Science" needs a good old stage trouper to put it across. On the original Broadway recording, Eric Berry comes across as having too little voice and personality. He sounds a bit like a poor 1970s children's TV show. In the right hands and with plenty of oomph (maybe a touch of "Spamalot") this could be a really fun number."Glory" opens up on of the themes of the piece and is a nice settling-in number for the middle of the first act, to keep the audience up to what it's all about. It's for Leading Player as is "Simple Joys", which is catchy, with plenty of opportunities for 70s-style funky choreography and might well get the best applause of the evening.Everyone talks about "No Time At All", this Vaudeville style number for an old trouper. Well, it's ok. The Broadway recording does no favours here, either. This song needs a big, brassy, a bit over the hill voice and a really good, ballsy orchestration."With You" is another leading man song. It's the one that is really romantic and (if he's good looking and famous) audience members can get misty eyed to. It's not a big challenge as far as singing goes, but guaranteed, if used in a cabaret, to warm the heart."Spread A Little Sunshine" is a nice little thing, which could equally well have come from "Godspell". It is 60s kitsch, especially in the piano arrangement.From here on the songs get a bit same-y. "Morning Glow" is very much like "Both Sides Now", a chart hit of the period. It attempts to be a decent opening number for Act 2, but it doesn't have any real tension. Nor does the rest of the music from the show."On The Right Track" slows things down a bit and they never really pick up from here. It has some strange little cross-rhythms with finger clicks and taps.From here they are all "very nice" songs for Pippin and Catherine.The show had a respectable run, so it provided what audiences wanted to see. Things have changed since then. The style of the music is very mainstream popular for the period. It is possible to hear the similarities to chart songs, but then, in the 70s Musical Theatre numbers were much more part of popular listening taste.It certainly seems that in the original it was Bob Fosse who provided the visual excitement audiences wanted through familiar and challenging choreography and scene setting. The show won him a Tony.Apparently, Schwartz and Hirson have since removed much of the material that Fosse added, though his choreographic ideas remained, thus making it a less contentious show.The thing is, from listening to the soundtrack, you could never tell that it was a contentious show. It's a show worth mining for the good songs and routines, and might make a pleasant change on the fringe or in colleges now and again.

good

Many years ago, I saw the original production of Pippin on Broadway and was enchanted by it. It was sad that it never really succeeded in the West End - wrong cast I think and not enough emphasis on the whimsical. Needless to say, I bought the original LP and later a tape and played it for years. Somehow, over time Pippin was eclipsed by newer shows and it was only after I had seen Wicked, that I yearned to re-visit Pippin, Stephen Schwartz's earlier hit. They have much in common and Pippin is as fresh and delightful as it was in 1972. Great tunes - wonderful lyrics! To lovers of Wicked, I say "Buy Pippin! You'll love it and if enough of us feel this way, we might even get it back in London! What a boost that would be to the CD sales! Wicked (Idina Menzel)Wicked (Idina Menzel)

I love Pippin, the music the fantasy, everything. Not everyone does but then that makes it more special...

Very good service . Excellent product