Tag: Harry Chapin

Whatever Happened To…Ted Neely

Ted Neeley age, hometown, biography | Last.fm

Ted Neely was born in Ranger, Texas in 1943. As a young man, he formed a band called ‘The Ted Neely Five’.

He played the lead in two productions of ‘Hair’ and also starred in a production of ‘Tommy’, which led to him performing on Broadway in ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’ but not as Jesus. He had originally auditioned for Judas but became part of the chorus and understudy for Jesus instead. He played the title role in the L.A stage version and eventually the film version of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ in 1974, where he met his wife, Leeyan Granger. (She was one of the dancers in Simon Zealots and King Herod’s Song). They have two children, Tessa and Zackariah. He received a Golden Globe nomination for best actor and New Star Of The Year.

After his success on the big screen, he released a solo album and sang in ‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart Club Band on the Road’ and appeared on T.V, with his band. He returned to the stage to reprise his role in Jesus Christ Superstar in the late seventies.

As well as releasing solo and collaborative albums, he became songwriter, arranger and producer for many well known artists, including Tina Turner, Ray Charles, The Kinks and Meatloaf. He also wrote musical scores for movies and T.V series, including A Perfect Couple 1979 and NBC’s Highway To Heaven. He returned to playing with his new band ‘Pacific Coast Highway’ in the late seventies.

Ted Neeley - TV Celebrities - ShareTV

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the original film, the ‘A.D tour’ of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ ran from 1992 to 1997. He played Jesus a reputed 1,700 times. (It’s obviously a bit more than that now)!

In 1999, Ted played in rock musical, ‘Rasputin’, as the title role. In the next five years, he performed in the world premiere of Murder in the First and Waiting For Godot by The Rubicon Theatre. He was also sound consultant for Harry Chapin revue, ‘Lies and Legends’

He performed in a one night benefit of JCS at the Ricardo Montalban Theatre in Hollywood in 2006. The new ‘A.D Tour’ followed, with a minimalist set and lasted between 2007 and 2010.

2012 saw Ted back on the road with new group, ‘The Little Big Band.‘ performing songs from Hair, JCS, Sgt Pepper, as well as their own songs.

Ted played the role of ‘The Publicist’ in Alleluia ! The Devil’s Carnival in 2015.

Ted was invited to Rome to play Jesus in JCS, directed by Massimo Romeo Piparo. Italian group Negrita also featured on stage, as well as a 12 piece orchestra. For a year, the show toured in Italy with overwhelming positive responses and sold out signs.

Another return to Italy for another JCS Tour. This time extending into The Netherlands and Belgium before coming back round to Italy in 2017.

Easter 2018, saw Ted back in the Netherlands, followed by Bulgaria and Spain. Then an Italian tour until December of the same year. I’m sure it would have continued if it hadn’t been for Covid, but knowing Ted, and his optimistic outlook, the tours will return again soon.

Ted Neeley - Movies, Age & Biography

Celebrating the life of…Harry Chapin

Who is this man? If it wasn’t for Star Trek, I might never know

What has a Star Trek Next Generation novel got to do with me writing a celebration of Harry Chapin’s life? Well, there is a connection but I’ll tell you later. For now, I want to talk about the man himself, Harry Chapin, a folk singer born in Brooklyn, New York in 1942. He started out wanting to be a documentary maker and for a while, he did just that. He was even nominated for an Academy Award for directing a boxing documentary called ‘Legendary Champions‘ in 1965.

He soon turned his attention to music, at first teaming up to play and sing with his brothers and dad and then performing on the nightclub circuit. He was discovered by Elecktra Records, where he won the first multi million dollar recording contract in a bidding war between major producers.

His first album, ‘Heads and Tails’ was a world world success. He followed this up with 10 more studio albums over the years and released 14 singles. His best known songs are probably ‘Taxi‘, his first single, and ‘Cat’s In The Cradle,’ a story about a father not having enough time for his son. The son grows up, becomes a father and makes the same mistake. Harry, by this time, was married with two children and three stepchildren. Harry’s wife wrote the lyrics as a warning to him. His father hadn’t been around much and now it looked like he would repeat history. Harry put a melody to the words and that’s how the song came about.

By the end of the seventies, Chapin was one of the highest paid musicians, and yet, he was never very popular with music critics. They didn’t like his music and they didn’t like the unconventional way he put a song together, perhaps it wasn’t the standard accepted way, whatever that is.

His social activism began in the mid seventies.

‘He saw poverty and hunger as an insult to America’

Harry’s daughter, Jen

He co-founded the organisation World Hunger Year, now WhyHunger. More than half of his concerts were benefits. He donated a third of his paid concerts to charity too. He often performed alone, just with a guitar to keep costs down. His widow, Sandy says, ‘He was supporting 17 relatives, 14 associations, 7 foundations and 82 charities.’

On the way to perform at a free concert, aged just 38, he was involved in a car crash, which resulted in his death. He was post humously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his tireless involvement in social issues, particularly the issue of hunger, world wide and in America. He is recognised as a key member of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger. He was the inspiration for USA For Africa and Hands Across America.

A Hungerthon was held to benefit Harry’s World Hunger League, highlighting the severity of hunger in America, in New York City and in the tri state area. After his death, the Hungerthon continued. At the the Live Aid concert, held in Philadelphia, in 1985, Kenny Loggins was presented with the first ‘Harry Chapin Award’ for his work in fighting hunger in America.

The Harry Chapin Foundation continues with his widow as chairperson.

And now, Star Trek, where’s the connection and do you really care, probably not, but I find it strange how seemingly unconnected things come together in delightful ways. If it wasn’t for the Star Trek Next Generation novel ‘Power Hungry’ which is about emergency famine relief, needed for the planet Thiopa, I wouldn’t even know who Harry Chapin is, let alone be writing about him. Ignorance isn’t always bliss. The writer, Howard Weinstein had dedicated the forward/introduction to Harry Chapin. I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t know of him before that but after reading about his life, I felt compelled to celebrate it.