On September 6, 1978, “Columbia” label released “Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds”, the debut Jeff Wayne studio album. It was recorded May 1976 – July 1977, and was produced by Jeff Wayne. The album retells the story of “The War of the Worlds” by H. G. Wells.
Personnel:
- Jerry Wayne – spoken words (The Voice of NASA), orchestration, conductor
- Richard Burton– spoken words (The Journalist: the narrator-protagonist)
- Justin Hayward– vocals (The Sung Thoughts of the Journalist)
- David Essex– spoken words, vocals (The Artilleryman)
- Chris Thompson– vocals (The Voice of Humanity)
- Phil Lynott– spoken words, vocals (Parson Nathaniel)
- Julie Covington– spoken words , vocals (Beth)
- Chris Spedding – giuitar
- Jo Partridge – guitar
- Ken Freeman – keyboards, synthesizer
- Herbie Flowers – bass
- Barry Morgan – drums
- Barry De Souza – percussion
- Ray Cooper – percussion
- Roy Jones – percussion
- George Fenton – lute, santoor, zither
- Pest (Geraldine Wayne) -sounds
- Geoff Young – recording
- Laurence Diana – recording assistant
- Bill Foster – mastering
- John Pasche – logo design, art direction
- Nick Broome – design
- Terry Relph-Knight – design
- Geoff Taylor – painting
- Michael Trim – painting
- Peter Goodfellow – painting
- Music Activity Management – musical coordinator
- The General Booking Company – musical coordinator
- Jerry Wayne – executive producer
Track listing:
All dialogues by Doreen and Jerry Wayne, based upon H.G. Wells’s original text.
All tracks by Jeff Wayne, except where noted.
- The Eve of the War
- Horsell Common and the Heat Ray
- The Artilleryman and the Fighting Machine
- Forever Autumn – lyrics by Paul Vigrass and Gary Osborne
- Thunder Child – lyrics by Gary Osborne
- The Red Weed (Part 1)
- Parson Nathaniel
- The Spirit of Man – lyrics by Gary Osborne
- The Red Weed (Part 2)
- Brave New World -(lyrics by Gary Osborne)
- Dead London
- Epilogue (Part 1)
- Epilogue (Part 2)