Doug Parkinson In Focus - Hair (1969)

(Galt MacDermot - James Rado - Gerome Ragni)
Australia
#7 Sydney #3 Melbourne #4 Brisbane

Double-sided hit with Without You.

Also recorded in Australia in 1969 on albums by the Australian cast (Wayne Matthews, Keith Glass & Tribe), The Executives and The Flying Circus.

The powerful baritone of Newcastle (NSW)-born Doug Parkinson (1946-2021) became known nationally through his records with In Focus from the end of the 60s.

Earlier, he had fronted Sydney folk-pop band The A Sound (formerly Strings and Things) whose sole single features an almost unrecognisable, lighter Doug Parkinson, but it was with highly regarded Sydney pop band The Questions that his soulful, slightly mannered vocal style came into its own.

In Focus was formed in 1968 with personnel from The Questions and became a popular live band that relocated to Melbourne and had national hits that included Dear Prudence, Without You/Hair and Baby Blue Eyes.

After In Focus, Doug Parkinson sang with bands that included Fanny Adams, a briefly reunited In Focus (1971) and The Southern Star Band. His long-lasting solo career produced charting singles Everlasting Love (1974) and The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Any More (1981). He also appeared in rock musicals and recorded radio and TV jingles.

In the 70s, Doug Parkinson sang on some of the Where No Wrinklies Fly jingles for Melbourne radio station 3AK, and on some of the early jingles for ABC youth station 2JJ (now JJJ).

Suggestion from Terry Stacey.

References: Milesago; Who’s Who of Australian Rock; The Australian Rock Discography 1956-69; CD liner notes for So You Wanna Be A Rock’n’Roll Star?

“Hair”: Official Australian Cast - Hair (1969)

(Galt MacDermot - James Rado - Gerome Ragni)
Australia

Wayne Matthews, Keith Glass & “tribe” on the Australian cast recording from the Sydney production.

Further reading: Album details at CastAlbums.

The Cowsills - Hair (1969)

(Galt MacDermot - James Rado - Gerome Ragni)
USA
#2 USA #2 Sydney #1 Melbourne #1 Brisbane #1 Adelaide #1 Perth #1 NZ

Single on MGM label.

Family pop band, four brothers occasionally joined by Ma and kid sister, and managed by Pa. Their other big hits were The Rain, The Park And Other Things (1967) and Indian Lake (1968).

“Hair”: Official French Cast - Hair (1969)

(Galt MacDermot - James Rado - Gerome Ragni - Jacques Lanzmann)
France

From the original French cast recording with Julien Clerc as Claude, Hervé Wattine as Berger, and la Tribu (the Tribe). French lyrics are by Jacques Lanzmann.

Staged at the Theatre de la Porte St. Martin, the production was a critical and popular success:

The Parisian “Hair” is perhaps the best, the hippiest and happiest of them all. The cast … is splendidly uninhibited and enormously likable … This French-accented “Hair,” with its local jokes and additions, not only shows the vitality of the show in the first place, but also emerges as a perfect original in its own right. This in no sense seems like an adaptation or provincial version.
Clive Barnes, New York Times, 13 Sept 1969, p. 30

Other Countries?
The list is no doubt incomplete, but the Wikipedia article also mentions productions in Germany (Munich), Yugoslavia (Belgrade), Stockholm, Italy (Rome), Israel, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil.

Further reading: 1. The New York Times review excerpted above is archived here but requires a NYTimes paid subscription. 2. Lively archival feature at Paris-Match.

Merci à Philippe.

Zen - Hair (1968)

(Galt MacDermot - James Rado - Gerome Ragni)
Netherlands
#1 Netherlands

Single on Philips label by Amsterdam band.

See Zen page at Alex Gitlin’s Nederpop Encyclopedia.

“Hair”: Official Broadway Cast - Hair (1968)

(Galt MacDermot - James Rado - Gerome Ragni)
USA
Original version

Album on RCA label, May 1968.

Opened on Broadway April 1968 and ran until 1972.

This appears to be the first recorded release of the song.

“Hair”: Original Off-Broadway Cast - Hair (1967)

(Galt MacDermot - James Rado - Gerome Ragni)
USA
Original version: live performance

The rock’n’roll musical Hair – set in October 1967 – opened on 18 October 1967 at the Florence Sutro Anspacher Theatre as part of the New York Shakespeare Festival.

See co-creator James Rado’s official Hair site.

You can read The New York Times review by Clive Barker online at Nina Machlin Dayton’s Hair Online Archives.