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Jobriath (album)

album by Jobriath

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 5, 2026
Entity authorityQ6206839 ↗
Source-derived summary

Jobriath is the debut studio album by the American rock musician Jobriath. Released in October 1973 by Elektra Records, Jobriath was preceded by a significant promotional campaign, attempting to create an American counterpart to David Bowie. The album received mostly positive reviews from critics, but sold poorly upon release. The album was recorded and co-produced by Eddie Kramer (credited as Edwin H. Kramer).

Background

Jobriath had been a musician who was part of the group Pidgeon, and acted as a male lead in the New York and Los Angeles production of the musical Hair.

Discovered and later managed by Jerry Brandt, who heard Jobriath's demo tapes, Jobriath was the last act signed by Jac Holzman before leaving his position in the newly merged Elektra/Asylum Records. The advance in the signing reportedly cost from $50,000 to $500,000. Holzman later described it as one of his misjudgments and reportedly had no "emotional investment" in the music.

Jobriath was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City, with Eddie Kramer co-producing the album. The album cover was photographed by Shig Ikeda.

Editorial summary

“Jobriath (album)” enters the record as album by Jobriath. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Jobriath and album can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1973—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1973-01-01. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Jobriath and album.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“Jobriath (album)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Jobriath and album provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6206839. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1973.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Jobriath (album)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Jobriath (album) primary sources, Jobriath (album) archive and Jobriath research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Jobriath (album)”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Jobriath (album)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.