#camilo sesto

[viejospellejos]

De cuando Camilo Sesto fue el único que predijo a los Simpsons:

[platadesangre]

we NEED to talk about jcs 1975 madrid cast!

i have come to make camilo sesto justice

(i finally finished this post yay!)

i may be a bit biased, since this was my first jcs.

short story on how i discovered it

my dad used to be an apostle for a bootleg staged playback jcs in peru during the 70s! they used this version.

he had the cd. he also had the mp3 files. i used his computer, so that was how 13 year old me found it.

those were tough times, bc later i started doing catechesis and i kind of got depressed and started questioning my faith lol. judas' character really resonated with me

since this is a recording, i didn't have any footage to reference, so i made up everything in my mind. (this is why it was a bit weird for me to see the english productions, bc they looked nothing like in my head lol)

now, a bit of historical context for spain in the 70's

camilo sesto was a popular spanish singer and actor who went to see the jcs 1971 broadway production in london. he loved it so much that he did everything he could do financially to bring the show to spain.

spain was in a fascist dictatorship at the time

they fought with censorship for years, that's why the lyrics are a bit different (i'll make a post about that too)

they had to remodel the alcalá-palace theater stage entirely

franco (our dictator) died two days after the premiere (about time lol)

the "ultras" (conservatists) didn't like the show so they did lots of crazy stuff (for example, praying for the cast outside the theater or sending BOMB THREATHS?)

anyways, this was the first official translation for jcs!

on the main cast we have

camilo sesto as jesus christ (he wanted the role from the beggining)

teddy bautista as judas iscariot

ángela carrasco as mary magdalene

here's an old pic of them (and some apostles)

(now that i look at it closely, it kind of looks like a bootleg jcs 1973 lol)

on the recording

it's a stereo recording, so use both headphones or you'll miss out on half of it

musically speaking, it's similar to the og concept album (songs ending on fade-outs and shorter trial before pilate) but it has some interesting choices (teddy, the producer and the voice of judas, took a lot of... artistic liberties)

some things this version has

it adds lots of synth. it's very psychodelic. i understand this can be a turn off for some people

they kinda change the key to many songs. maybe to fit vocal ranges idk

teddy just loves to make up new melodies (please give this man some water)

EPIC GUITAR SOLO in what's the buzz

what's the buzz and strange thing mystifying are separated tracks for some reason

camilo sings so good

cute synth in everything's alright ángela has such an angelic voice she makes such a good mary

the drums and guitars during this jesus must die are so danceable

the BEST simon zealotes i've heard. shit goes HARD. he goes CRAY

i really love this pilate, in my rating he would be the best one

camilo's "¡SALVAOS VOSOTROS!" during the temple is really pathetic lol

damned for all time interlude replaced by synths. the SAX SOLO is also replaced by synth (questionable choice)

cool thing happens during the end of this song that i'll talk about in another post

judas' occasional nervous laughter really adds to his character

also he cries a lot

"you sad pathetic man" part during last supper is... fairly different! (i'm looking at you teddy...)

camilo's gethsemane is epic. he's a baladist singer but MAN he can ROCK

cool harmonica during the arrest

i'll never shut up about our pilate (he nervous laughs too)

herod is so fruity

judas' death really hits different when you were depressed and questioning faith (this version is BRUTAL) also lyrics change (i'll talk about it i swear)

teddy's one of the few judas who sing the i don't know how to love him reprise in the higher scale!! it sounds so painful and anguished

the album continues acceptably

other cool things it has

jesus and judas have this interesting accent difference. since camilo is from valencia, he has this pristine and traditional spanish accent. and teddy is from canarias (also lived in the usa) so his accent is rougher and more, crusty? idk how to explain it but it's neat and stablishes their dynamic a bit. (ángela is from dominican republic! but her accent is barely noticeable)

on the footage aspect, we only have old vhs videos and live audios uploaded on youtube. also some old photos

there is a book about this version. it has some anecdotes (only available in spanish)

now we have a 4 episode mini-series about the odyssey that it was to produce this. it's called "camilo superstar" (i won't be watching it bc it's a bit fan-ficy from what i've seen)

the posts i'll make about this production will be tagged as #jcs 1975 madrid

you can listen to it on spotify!

or on youtube (playlist made by me)

[publicacionesdeunachica]

Eres fuego de amor.

Luz del sol, volcán y tierra.

Por donde pasas, dejas huella.

Mujer, tú naciste para querer.

Has luchado por volver.

A tu tierra y con tu gente.

[miaumiaurat]

Wey, me acordé de cuando me obsesioné con jcs y leía fanfics de Jesús x Judas, pero como soy católica y me daba miedo faltarle el respeto a Dios, únicamente serían fanfics de ese fandom, donde absolutamente excluiría cualquier fic que estuviera en la categoría de “bible” y cualquier cosa relacionada al sexo.

[digitalfossils]

[mauricedelafalaise]

Juan Gabriel, José José, Camilo Sesto, Rocío Dúrcal en Los Ángeles, 1984

[picspammer]

Songs for when you lose your goddamn mind over a crush Drumming Song Vivir Así Es Morir De Amor

[jcs-study]

Someone recently told me that British and American fans of JCS have different preferences and I’ve been thinking about that a lot. So what differences do you know of? If you’re American or British what is your reaction to American vs. British productions you’ve seen? What about the original album which has a mix of British and American artists working together? I’m American, but I realized I think of JCS as primarily a British show, so perhaps my preferences lean toward British.

This... is a fantastic question. I apologize that my answer is not nearly as brief.

I feel that Danny Zolli (who has frequently played the roles of Jesus, Judas, and Annas over the years) sums it up best in his interview for our website, referring to the 2000 Broadway revival:

The Broadway production was, in my opinion, a very English-style production of the show. American audiences don’t tend to respond to that very well. American audiences want their Jesus and Judas to be willing to cough up a lung for them in the course of the show. It’s called “the Passion” for a reason — there has to be passion within the actors and actresses performing the roles to give the story its justice.

Maybe my years of voracious JCS consumption have been colored by that opinion somewhat, but I would tend to agree that's the main difference. The next question is why.

Well... in America, the concept album took off like a rocket. It's an icon right up there with Sgt. Pepper in the minds of many people who lived through the era. Such classics as “Heaven on Their Minds,” “Everything’s Alright,” “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” and “Superstar” racked up frequent radio airplay in their own right. The show’s earliest live success here came in the form of a concert tour (three of them, actually, hastily assembled to beat an already enormous band of pirates), not a theatrical run. Moreover, those early stage productions -- and the 1973 film -- were not a vast departure from that initial sound: raw, imperfect, rough, a little primitive, like the best of classic rock.

Overseas, however, the album did not sell the show. In England, the show only became successful once it was running in the West End, at one point becoming the longest-running musical in British history; in many European countries, the show is remembered much more fondly because of the film or because of the first major premiere in their neck of the woods. (In Spain, for example, it is incredibly difficult to separate JCS from the fact that it began life there as a Camilo Sesto vehicle. He's the benchmark like Ted Neeley or Ian Gillan would be for many English-speaking fans, and they just did a Fosse/Verdon-like TV series about his production over there that was a smash.)

Consequently, when Andrew Lloyd Webber looked back on the show once he controlled the rights, he was able to try to make it more like his later work: acrylic slickness and polish, some adjustments to the orchestrations, some revised lyrics from Tim Rice. It was more about the acting and less about the music, more of a theater piece and less of a rock show, and he put a lot of time and effort into making it so, putting that stamp on the first West End revival in 1996 and each production that followed.

Without weighing in on which version I prefer, I'll simply say there's a distinct difference between major JCS productions before and after 1996 that owes much to ALW's influence, and that's probably what your friend is referring to.

[rftstars]

Camilo Sesto, Mari Trini, Rocio Durcal and Miguel Gallardo.

[balsanja]

Ángela Carrasco - Mamma

[andrewckeeper]

LIDMF Classics “Charlton Special”

[furiouscrusadeavenue]

Camilo Sesto.

[platadesangre]

i understand camilo sesto on a spiritual level because if i saw jesus christ superstar live for the first time in london 1972 i too would go insane about it and waste all my money to bring the show to my country during a dictatorship. cast myself as jesus even

[covers-on-spotify]

“Vivid Así Morir de Amor”

Original by Camilo Sesto

Covered by Kathy Peluso

[mariarosalesv94]

[aschenblumen]

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Jesucristo Superstar («Todo estará en paz»). Arreglos y dirección musical de Teddy Bautista, producción de Camilo Sesto. Versión original en español por Camilo Sesto (Jesús), Teddy Bautista (Judas) y Ángela Carrasco (María Magdalena).

Basta ya de angustias, deja los problemas, olvida las penas. (...) Velaré tu sueño.