Disambiguation: for Film version see Catch My Soul

Catch My Soul

For UK Stage version see Catch My Soul Catch My Soul is a 1974 film produced by Jack Good and Richard M. Rosenbloom, and directed by Patrick McGoohan. It was an adaptation of Good's stage musical of the same title, which itself was loosely adapted from William Shakespeare's Othello...

Catch My Soul was the UK stage version of the rock musical produced by Jack Good

Jack Good (producer)

Jack Good is a pioneering former TV television producer, musical theatre producer, record producer, musician and painter of icons.-Career:...

. The show was a showcase for the talents of Lance LeGault

Lance LeGault

Lance LeGault , sometimes credited as W. L. LeGault, is an American film and television actor, best known as Colonel Roderick Decker in the 1980s American television series The A-Team.-Personal life:...

, PP Arnold, P.J. Proby and an introduction to the rock music

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

ian Robert Tench

Bobby Tench

Robert Tench , also known as Bob Tench, Bobby Tench and Bobby Gass is a British vocalist and guitarist. Originally a bass player he began singing with Gass influenced by artists such as Sam Cooke and Ray Charles...

 and the band Gass

Gass (band)

Gass was a rock band formed in May 1965 by Robert Tench, Godfrey and Errol McLean. They were managed by The Active Management Group. The band fused inspired melodies with soul, Latin influences, blues and progressive rock often employing complex rhythms....

. It was loosely adapted from Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

's Othello

Othello

The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...

 and the character of Iago

Iago

Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's source is traced to Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi . There, the character is simply "the ensign". Iago is a soldier and Othello's ancient . He is the husband of Emilia,...

 had originally been played by Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis

Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...

 in the US production which had closed in 1968..

The First UK stage performance was at the University Theatre Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

 by the 69 Theatre Company with Angharad Rees

Angharad Rees

Angharad Mary Rees is a Welsh actress, best-known for her British television roles during the 1970s, garnering notice for her leading role as Demelza in the 1970s BBC drama series Poldark.-Career:...

 as Desdemona. The London stage version opened at The Roundhouse

The Roundhouse

The Roundhouse is a Grade II* listed former railway engine shed in Chalk Farm, London, England, which has been converted into a performing arts and concert venue. It was originally built in 1847 as a roundhouse , a circular building containing a railway turntable, but was only used for railway...

 later in 1969 and moved to the Prince of Wales Theatre

Prince of Wales Theatre

The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre on Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in the City of Westminster. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner...

 in the West End in 1970. The show also toured larger UK cities and closed in January 1972. The original UK cast recorded Catch My Soul

Catch My Soul (UK original cast album)

Catch My Soul. A live recording of the original cast was recorded with the original UK cast of Jack Good's Catch My Soul-The Rock Othello...

 (1971), with music as interpreted by Gass

Gass (band)

Gass was a rock band formed in May 1965 by Robert Tench, Godfrey and Errol McLean. They were managed by The Active Management Group. The band fused inspired melodies with soul, Latin influences, blues and progressive rock often employing complex rhythms....

, the house band

House band

For the British band that existed from 1984-2001, see The House BandA house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to...

 at that time. A film Catch My Soul

Catch My Soul

For UK Stage version see Catch My Soul Catch My Soul is a 1974 film produced by Jack Good and Richard M. Rosenbloom, and directed by Patrick McGoohan. It was an adaptation of Good's stage musical of the same title, which itself was loosely adapted from William Shakespeare's Othello...

, was released in 1973 with a different cast.

The plot

Jack Good's Catch My Soul

Catch My Soul

For UK Stage version see Catch My Soul Catch My Soul is a 1974 film produced by Jack Good and Richard M. Rosenbloom, and directed by Patrick McGoohan. It was an adaptation of Good's stage musical of the same title, which itself was loosely adapted from William Shakespeare's Othello...

 was based on Shakespeare's

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

 play Othello

Othello

The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...

 and set in a commune

Commune

Commune may refer to:In society:* Commune, a human community in which resources are shared* Commune , a township or municipality* One of the Communes of France* An Italian Comune...

. Good's musical contained many of the human elements of Shakespeare's

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

 original work. The characters names were kept as in the original play, but there were deviations from the plot which Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

 wrote. This alienated many performing Performing arts

Performing arts

The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...

 critic

Critic

A critic is anyone who expresses a value judgement. Informally, criticism is a common aspect of all human expression and need not necessarily imply skilled or accurate expressions of judgement. Critical judgements, good or bad, may be positive , negative , or balanced...

s, but the plot was a success with the public.

Othello is a wandering evangelist who happens onto Iago's remote commune. There he marries the lovely Desdemona much to the chagrin of Iago, who also loves her. The conniving commune leader then manages to quietly pressure Othello until murder and tragedy ensue.

Featured artists

Peter Knight produced the album Catch My Soul 'Jack Good's Catch My Soul-Rock Othello. He was the son of another Peter Knight

Peter Knight (composer)

Peter Knight was an English musical arranger, conductor and composer.-Career:Knight was born in Exmouth, Devon, England. He worked with Independent Television light entertainment stars from 'Spot The Tune' with Jackie Rae and Marion Ryan to the comedy series 'Home to Roost' ...

 and produced the London version of the musical

Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...

 Hair

Hair (musical)

Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...

 (1968).

P. P. Arnold

P. P. Arnold

P. P. Arnold is an American-born soul singer who enjoyed considerable success in the United Kingdom in the 1960s and beyond.-Early life:...

 appeared as Bianca

Bianca (Othello)

Bianca is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's Othello . She is Cassio's jealous lover. Despite her brief appearance on stage, Bianca plays a significant role in the progress of Iago's scheme to incite Othello's jealousy of Cassio. Bianca is traditionally regarded as a courtesan,...

. She worked with the Small Faces and was signed to the Immediate

Immediate Records

Immediate Records was a British record label, started in 1965 by The Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham and Tony Calder and concentrating on the London-based blues and R&B scene.-History:...

 record label. Arnold also had success as a solo Pop

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 singer and backing vocalist

Singing

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

, working with an eclectic mix of recording artists including, Andy Gibb

Andy Gibb

Andy Gibb was an English singer and teen idol, and the youngest brother of the family whose other male siblings formed the Bee Gees: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb.-The early years:...

, Boy George

Boy George

Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...

, Roger Waters

Roger Waters

George Roger Waters is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. He was a founding member of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of bandmate Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became the band's lyricist, principal songwriter...

 and Ocean Colour Scene

Ocean Colour Scene

Ocean Colour Scene are an English Britpop band formed in Moseley, Birmingham in 1989. They have had five Top 10 albums and six Top 10 singles to date.-Early days :...

. In 1984, she returned to the stage in the cast of the musical Starlight Express

Starlight Express

Starlight Express is a rock musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber , Richard Stilgoe and Arlene Phillips , with later revisions by Don Black and David Yazbek . The story follows a child's dream in which his toy train set comes to life; famously the actors perform wearing roller skates...

 as Belle the Sleeping Car

Belle the Sleeping Car

Belle, the Sleeping Car is a character from Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Starlight Express. She is an old sleeping car, who once raced with Poppa, and, like her former partner, has fallen on hard times in her age. She races with Rusty in heat 2, however they are beaten by Electra and Pearl...

. In mid 2007, she released her first recorded work for several years, Five In The Afternoon. The album is a duet with The Blow Monkeys

The Blow Monkeys

The Blow Monkeys are a British new wave band that formed in 1981 as a new wave-oriented act. The first single, "Live Today Love Tomorrow" was released in 1982. They subsequently recorded more commercial pop rock hit makers, and finally became a dance group, shortly before splitting up at the...

 frontman Dr. Robert.

P.J. Proby appeared as Cassio

Michael Cassio

Michael Cassio, or simply Cassio, is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's Othello. The source of the character is the 1565 tale "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio; Cassio is unnamed in Cinthio but referred to as "the squadron leader." In the play, Cassio is a young and handsome lieutenant...

. He was a successful singer

Singing

Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

 and songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

. Proby later became better known for his theatrical portrayals of Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

 in the musical Elvis Live, a show which Jack Good

Jack Good (producer)

Jack Good is a pioneering former TV television producer, musical theatre producer, record producer, musician and painter of icons.-Career:...

 first produced in 1977. In 1993, Proby appeared in the biographical musical by Jack Good

Jack Good (producer)

Jack Good is a pioneering former TV television producer, musical theatre producer, record producer, musician and painter of icons.-Career:...

 "Good Rockin' Tonite", TV programme as himself. In 1994, he was in a musical which told the story of Roy Orbison

Roy Orbison

Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...

, called "Only the Lonely

Only the Lonely

"Only the Lonely " is a 1960 song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson. Recorded by Orbison, it became his first major hit. As an operatic rock ballad, it was a sound unheard of at the time, described by the New York Times as expressing "a clenched, driven urgency". It is seen as a seminal event...

".

Lance LeGault

Lance LeGault

Lance LeGault , sometimes credited as W. L. LeGault, is an American film and television actor, best known as Colonel Roderick Decker in the 1980s American television series The A-Team.-Personal life:...

 appeared as Iago

Iago

Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's source is traced to Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi . There, the character is simply "the ensign". Iago is a soldier and Othello's ancient . He is the husband of Emilia,...

, a role he played again in the 1974 Metromedia

Metromedia

Metromedia was a media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and owned Orion Pictures from 1986-1997.- Overview :...

 film version of Catch My Soul

Catch My Soul

For UK Stage version see Catch My Soul Catch My Soul is a 1974 film produced by Jack Good and Richard M. Rosenbloom, and directed by Patrick McGoohan. It was an adaptation of Good's stage musical of the same title, which itself was loosely adapted from William Shakespeare's Othello...

. He was an American television and movie actor starting his career in movies

Feature film

In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...

 starring Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

. Later on he appeared in television shows and television movies, his best known television role was as Colonel Roderick Decker in The A-Team

The A-Team

The A-Team is an American action adventure television series about a fictional group of ex-United States Army Special Forces personnel who work as soldiers of fortune, while on the run from the Army after being branded as war criminals for a "crime they didn't commit". The A-Team was created by...

. Le Gault also appeared in other successful television programmes including, Magnum, P.I.

Magnum, P.I.

Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network....

, Knight Rider, Airwolf

Airwolf

Airwolf is an American television series that ran from 1984 until 1987. The program centers on a high-tech military helicopter, code named Airwolf, and its crew as they undertake various missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War theme....

 and Dallas

Dallas (TV series)

Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...

.

Original cast members

• Jack Good
  Jack Good (producer)
  Jack Good is a pioneering former TV television producer, musical theatre producer, record producer, musician and painter of icons.-Career:...
  
   - Othello
  Othello
  The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
  
  
• Dorothy Vernon - Emilia
  Emilia (Othello)
  Emilia is a character in the tragedy Othello by William Shakespeare. The character's origin is traced to the 1565 tale, "Un capitano Moro" from Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's Gli Hecatommithi. There, the character is described as young and virtuous, is referred to simply as the ensign's wife,...
  
  
• Lance LeGault
  Lance LeGault
  Lance LeGault , sometimes credited as W. L. LeGault, is an American film and television actor, best known as Colonel Roderick Decker in the 1980s American television series The A-Team.-Personal life:...
  
   - Iago
  Iago
  Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's source is traced to Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi . There, the character is simply "the ensign". Iago is a soldier and Othello's ancient . He is the husband of Emilia,...
  
  
• Jeffry Wickham - Rodrigo
• P.J. Proby - Cassio
  Michael Cassio
  Michael Cassio, or simply Cassio, is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's Othello. The source of the character is the 1565 tale "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio; Cassio is unnamed in Cinthio but referred to as "the squadron leader." In the play, Cassio is a young and handsome lieutenant...
  
  
• Sharon Gurney - Desdemona
  Desdemona (Othello)
  Desdemona is a character in William Shakespeare's play Othello . Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, a man several years her senior. When her husband is deployed to Cyprus in the service of the...
  
  
• PP Arnold - Bianca
  Bianca (Othello)
  Bianca is a fictional character in William Shakespeare's Othello . She is Cassio's jealous lover. Despite her brief appearance on stage, Bianca plays a significant role in the progress of Iago's scheme to incite Othello's jealousy of Cassio. Bianca is traditionally regarded as a courtesan,...
  
  
• Emil Dean Zoghby - Montano

Singers

• Jean Gilbert
• Dana Gillespie
  Dana Gillespie
  Dana Gillespie is an English actress and singer.-Career:Gillespie was born to the Baron De Winterstein Gillespie, an Austrian radiologist, and his wife. She grew up in England and her family's villa in Maccagno, a village on Lake Maggiore, Italy...
  
  
• Totlyn Jackson

The Chorus

• Kevin Dean
• Karin Dominic
• Kookie Eaton
• Eva Lewis
• Marcia Miller
• Vernon Pickering
• Anthony Smart
• Michael Trussel
• Sandra Wood
• Liz White

The house band

Gass

Gass (band)

Gass was a rock band formed in May 1965 by Robert Tench, Godfrey and Errol McLean. They were managed by The Active Management Group. The band fused inspired melodies with soul, Latin influences, blues and progressive rock often employing complex rhythms....

 were a British rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band. They left the show when Catch My Soul moved to the Prince of Wales Theatre

Prince of Wales Theatre

The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre on Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in the City of Westminster. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner...

 in February 1971.

Band members

• Robert Tench
  Bobby Tench
  Robert Tench , also known as Bob Tench, Bobby Tench and Bobby Gass is a British vocalist and guitarist. Originally a bass player he began singing with Gass influenced by artists such as Sam Cooke and Ray Charles...
  
   - vocals and guitar
• Derek Austin - organ and piano
• DeLisle Harper - vocals and bass
• Godfrey McLean - drums

Robert Tench

Bobby Tench

Robert Tench , also known as Bob Tench, Bobby Tench and Bobby Gass is a British vocalist and guitarist. Originally a bass player he began singing with Gass influenced by artists such as Sam Cooke and Ray Charles...

 is better known as Bobby Tench

Bobby Tench

Robert Tench , also known as Bob Tench, Bobby Tench and Bobby Gass is a British vocalist and guitarist. Originally a bass player he began singing with Gass influenced by artists such as Sam Cooke and Ray Charles...

 and also performed with the band on the London club circuit before joining the second Jeff Beck Group

The Jeff Beck Group

The Jeff Beck Group were an English rock band formed in London in January 1967 by former Yardbirds guitarist Jeff Beck. Their innovative approach to heavy sounding blues and R&B was a major influence on popular music.- The first Jeff Beck Group :...

 in May 1971. He later recorded with Linda Lewis

Linda Lewis

Linda Lewis is an English vocalist, songwriter and Guitarist. Lewis is the oldest of six children two of whom also had singing careers...

 and is best known for his work with Freddie King

Freddie King

Freddie King , thought to have been born as Frederick Christian, originally recording as Freddy King, and nicknamed "the Texas Cannonball", was an influential African-American blues guitarist and singer. He is often mentioned as one of "the Three Kings" of electric blues guitar, along with Albert...

, Hummingbird

Hummingbird (band)

Hummingbird were a British rock band, formed in 1974 by Bobby Tench of The Jeff Beck Group and Streetwalkers fame. Hummingbird recorded three successful albums, released by A&M using Ian "Sammy" Samwell as their record producer...

, Humble Pie

Humble Pie (band)

Humble Pie was a rock band from England, finding success both in the UK and the US. They are remembered for songs such as "Black Coffee" "30 Days in the Hole", "I Don't Need No Doctor", and "Natural Born Bugie"...

, Streetwalkers

Streetwalkers

Streetwalkers were an English rock band formed in late 1973 by two former members of Family, vocalist Roger Chapman and guitarist John "Charlie" Whitney...

 and Van Morrison

Van Morrison

Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...

.

Additional musicians

• Lennox Langton-congas
• Keith Maynard-trumpet
• John Bennett-trombone
• Phil Kenzie-tenor and baritone saxophone
• Bob Thompson-trumpet
• Geoff Driscoll-tenor saxophone, flute and tin whistle
• David Coxhill-baritone saxophone and flute

Further reading

• Hjort, Chris and Hinman, Doug. Jeff's book : A chronology of Jeff Beck's Career 1965-1980 : from the Yardbirds to Jazz-Rock. Rock 'n' Roll Research Press, (2000). ISBN 0-9641005-3-3
• Joynson, Vernon. The Tapestry of Delights - The Comprehensive Guide to British Music of the Beat, R&B, Psychedelic and Progressive Eras 1963-1976. Borderline (2006). Reprinted (2008). ISBN 1899855157
• Morley, Sheridan. Green, Donald Edward. Jensen, Donald Edward. Review copies: plays and players in London, 1970-74. Robson Books (1974). Digitized (9 Feb 2007).ISBN 9780903895255

External links

• [ Jack Good] at allmusic.com
• PP Arnold official site