The idea came from Courtney and his frustration with organized religion. Both Link and he wrote the show, and appeared in it as well. Courtney said of the show, "I was walking through
Central Park, and the whole show just sort of came to me on that 20-minute walk. I usually did the concept and the book and the lyrics, and Peter did the music. So I hit him with the idea and he was hot to do that. In fact, he probably was more anxious to do it than I was...He's very productive. So I said let's do it, and I started working on the lyrics and giving them to him as fast as I could. So it became, in effect, well, the plot is pretty much my life story." Both were actors looking for the next thing. Courtney was appearing on the
NBC daytime drama
The Doctors. At the same time, Link was on the
CBS daytime drama
As the World Turns as the pot-smoking, troubled Tom Hughes. Afterwards, Link would join
Hair and replace
Gerome Ragni as Berger. The show was written in two weeks, and it first premiered in a showcase production at
The Village Gate, financed by Courtney and Link. It opened on March 11, 1969, and was given a positive review by
New York Times columnist
Lawrence Van Gelder. It was picked up by producer David Black, who had produced
George M!, and got them booked at the
Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater by the
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, but unfortunately, the booking was canceled, supposedly by the director, Robert Montgomery. Courtney said of the incident, "I heard lots or rumors about what happened, mainly that Robert Montgomery didn't like this kind of filthy, disgusting stuff--that's why we didn't get to open at Lincoln Center." Black got the musical moved to the Jan Hus Playhouse for its off-Broadway run, starting on September 24, 1969, and ending on April 19, 1970, after 239 performances. It earned a profit of $55,000. Black convinced Link and Courtney to close the New York production for the summer, bring it to
Los Angeles, and try to reopen it in the fall in a Broadway theatre. Due to bad casting,
Salvation never get a chance on Broadway. Two efforts to help the show came too late. The first was the cast album by
Capitol Records, produced by
Nick Venet, which had begun to do well. The second was singer
Ronnie Dyson (
Hair), who recorded a single of "
(If You Let Me Make Love to You Then) Why Can't I Touch You?", which sold over a million copies and peaked at #8 in 1970. ==Synopsis==