The Wiz (The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard Of Oz"): Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

LP (a), jacket (b), and sleeve (c) of the original cast recording of The Wiz. The LP has a green, white, and red label on the front and back that begins with the logo for Atlantic Records, [A / Atlantic / SD 18137]. The red section has a list of songs that play on each side of the record. In the white line in center of the label, the front of the LP reads, [STERIO ONE] while the back reads, [STEREO TWO].

The jacket features an image of a woman standing with black and multicolor hair. One of her legs is bent forward and the other blends into the background of a flowing gown. The title of the record is printed in large, black, bold letters in the top left, [THE WIZ / THE SUPER / SOUL MUSICAL "WONDERFUL / WIZARD OF OZ"]. The title continues on the top right, [ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM / WINNER 7 TONY AWARDS / INCLUDING "BEST MUSICAL" CONTAINS "EASE ON DOWN THE ROAD"]. The Atlantic Records logo is on the bottom right and a copyright on the bottom left that reads, [© Copyright The Wiz Company]. The back of the jacket has all the information about the LP including the actors, producers, musicians, etc. A large stamp on the top right in gold ink reads, [Promotional Copy / NOT FOR SALE]. At the bottom is a large photographic image of the four main actors in The Wiz, Hinton Battle as the Scarecrow, Stephanie Mills as Dorothy, Ted Ross as the Lion, and Tiger Haynes as the Tin Man.

The sleeve is white with black text. In large bold font at the top of the front and back reads [THE WIZ]. On the left front of the sleeve are the names and singers of each song. The right has information on musicians, background voices, chorus, and where it was recorded. The back of the sleeve has a four column description of how The Wiz came to be made, and the full story of The Wiz by act written by William F. Brown.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1975
• Published by: Atlantic Records, American, founded 1947
• Directed by: Geoffrey Holder, Trinidadian American, 1930 - 2014
• Recorded by: Tiger Haynes, American, 1914 - 1994
• Recorded by: Ted Ross, American, 1934 - 2002
• Recorded by: Hinton Battle, American, born 1956
• Recorded by: Stephanie Mills, American, born 1957
• Recorded by: André De Shields, American, born 1946
• Recorded by: Clarice Taylor, American, 1917 - 2011
• Type: record covers
• Type: long-playing records
• Medium: (2018.6a) vinyl with ink on paper;
• Medium: (2018.6bc) ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W (a. LP): 11 7/8 × 11 7/8 in. (30.2 × 30.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (b. Jacket): 12 3/8 × 12 5/16 in. (31.4 × 31.3 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (c. Sleeve): 11 15/16 × 12 1/8 in. (30.3 × 30.8 cm)
• Place made: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Black power
• Topic: Disco (Music)
• Topic: Funk (Music)
• Topic: Musical Theatre
• Topic: Rhythm and blues (Music)
• Object number: 2018.6abc
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Gregory and Helynsia Brown
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © The Wiz Company Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.