The SUN RA album-by album thread!

MPS had a distribution agreement with BASF (maker of chemicals and magnetic tapes) between 1971 and 76. During that time, the MPS releases received new catalogue numbers

 

UNIVERSE IN BLUE (Saturn, 1972)

1. Universe In Blue
2. Blackman
3. In A Blue Mood
4. Another Shade Of Blue


Sadly, yet another Ra album of which I am painfully unfamiliar. There's this ( http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/sun_ra/universe_in_blue/ ), of course. And Campbell lists it as part of a 1971 or 1972 big band live set. But that's just about all I know of this one.

 

STARWATCHERS (Saturn, 1973)

1. Starwatchers
2. Discipline 2
3. The Shadow World
4. Third Planet
5. Space Is The Place
6. Horizon
7. Discipline 8

More 1971 big band Live In Cairo tapes (in fact, some copies of this album were sold under the title 'Live In Egypt Vol. 2' and some as 'Horizon'). I'm not exactly sure what the track placement for the pieces on side one (1-3) are supposed to be, though. It starts out with the 'This is the Theme of the Stargazers' chant, but doesn't actually play the melody, so it's possible that either it's just not credited, or that 'Starwatchers' is just a mistaken mistitling. The whole 20 minutes of side one actually sounds like a single piece, though there are individual segments (flute, synth, sax, drums, etc.). Unfortunately, there are five distinct segments (and no bands), so determining which are supposed to be which piece is baffling. Honestly, I really don't think the contents of side one were paid attention to when the label copy was being put together. (Is 'Discipline 2' possibly the bulk of the set and the other two tracks just token bookends?) Mayhap if this album is ever reissued on CD, corrections will be made. Neither Campbell nor Geerken are much help on this one. Campbell, though, does seem to think that this LP was actually released in 1974, if not later. Mine has a (p)1972 on the label, so I'd love to know what his basis for this might be. Geerken claims 1973, and I'm deferring to him. Disregarding what the song titles or lengths are actually supposed to be, what this is is an astonishing noisy freakout; atonal and dissonant in the most satisfying way.

Side two (4-7), on the other hand, is a return to the far more traditional musical settings. Warm melodies with only a hint of synthetic dissonance as a spice to add flavoring. Whereas the side one noisy freakout moments are like a scary Halloween, the side two noisy freakout moments are like a cheerful Church social. (except possibly 'Horizon' (a synth solo), which sound kinda like random sound effects for a Saturday morning kids' cartoon about a wacky robot. (why, yes, as a matter of fact, I DID just see 'Wall-E' recently. why do you ask?)) Also, there are clear distinctions between songs, which makes things far more relaxing and comfortable. Maybe that's intentional? It does seem as if the concert material was re-shuffled in order to make for more interesting album sides. 'Space Is The Place' is only a short fragment, of course. Fans would have to wait until the entire piece would be released on vinyl. I wonder if this is all that was played, or if they edited the track for the LP? It should be noted that the final track does feature one heck of a great Gilmore skronk.

 

Been away for holidays, moving to a new place, and other stuff for some weeks now, but will be back for the coming discussions.

This is one Sun Ra I haven't heard, seems like one of the more special Saturn issues when programming the sequencing of the songs in this set.

 

I think this is a great, underrated Sun Ra album, which I hope will be reissued some time. The first song is a long excursion in space blues, and is in two pieces, apparently because of having to turn the tape or something. The next 2 songs are also great Arkestra stuff, somewhat on the border of controlled improvisation and wild exploration.

The real classic here is "Another Shade Of Blue" where the Arkestra swings freely like they do at their best, and with a lot of great playing by all. One of my favourite Ra tunes. Chris Trent chose this title for his small book on Sun Ra records.

 

Here is the cover:



and a review from the Sun Ra forum:

http://www.the-temple.net/sunra/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35&highlight=nidhamu

 

Here is the sessions information with the cover for Horizon:

http://www.the-temple.net/sunradisco/horizon.html

 

Actually, mine's entirely different from that. I've got lots of multi-colored felt pen markings squiggled all over the front cover, making a giant frame for a small (about 6"x10") printed sheet of Ra at the keyboards illustration glued on to a plain blank sleeve. It's pretty elaborate.

 

It's seems like there's even a third cover for Nidhamu:

http://dreamchimney.com/sleevery/sleeves/view/788

Which one will the reissuers choose?

It seems like Horizon is some kind of sister album for Nidhamu, both were recorded in Egypt at the tour in 1971 in the same set of events. That might also have been the first time Hartmut Geerken was involved with Sun Ra clan?

 

Seems like Mr.Geerken has written an article or two on Sun Ra's stay in Egypt where the Arkestra recorded the albums "Dark Myth Equation Visitation", "Horizon", and "Nidhamu" in 1971:

http://www.hartmutgeerken.com/html/zeitschriftbeitr_zu_sun_ra.html

Here is also an interview with Geerken from the Sun Ra arkive in 2003:

http://www.the-temple.net/astroblack/sunraarkive/issue4/

Great photos and interview here!

 

DEEP PURPLE (Saturn, 1973)

1. Deep Purple
2. Piano Interlude
3. Can This Be Love?
4. Dreams Come True
5. Don't Blame Me
6. S'Wonderful
7. Lover Come Back To Me
8. The World Of The Invisible
9. The Order Of The Phaoraonic Jesters
10. The Land Of The Day Star


A right bloody weird one, this is. A very odd hybrid of material from two very different eras. Actually, even the title is odd; the first pressings came with a label that reads "Deep Purple (formerly 'Dreams Come True')", but one issued with the 'Dreams Come True' title didn't show up until a few years later. Also, 'Dreams Come True' was also used as the title of a compilation album (a/k/a 'Just Friends'). Quite confusing.

Side one (1-7) is all from 1953-55 as would be best described as interesting vintage material. Odd little piano, violin and vocal ditties. Side two (8-10) are pieces recorded in 1973. Track 8 would best be described as a screechy atonal endurance test. Track 9 almost hints at a Big John Patton sound, but with a distinctive walking bass. Track 10 is a rather creepy keyboard block chord piece overlayed with bowed string that doesn't seem to have much structurally in common. Then Gilmore gets the last word with an upbeat third theme. As far as baiting your audience goes, we're almost in Frank Zappa territory here. It's unlikely that anyone who enjoys one of these sides would also be entirely comfortable with the other.

It's annoying that Evidence didn't see fit to reissue this on CD in its original form. Even though both albums in their entirety would easily have fit on one disc, they chose to include only side one as bonus tracks on the 'Sound Sun Pleasure!!' disc. None of the original artwork was included. The tree tracks from side were were later reissued (in slightly remixed form) as part of the two-disc set 'Cymbals' & 'Crystal Spears' (although if the 'Deep Purple' tracks had not been included there, the rest of that release would have fit on a single disc as well. it's hard not to suspect that all this unnecessary shuffling was done just so they could squeeze an extra $25 out of the fans.)

 

I haven't heard this one, but it is certainly one of the more bewildering song selections by Alton Abraham(?) on Saturn Records.

The sessions and cover:

http://www.the-temple.net/sunradisco/deep.html

From this page:

http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~campber/sunra.html

On his very first tape machine, Sonny recorded Stuff Smith and himself playing in his tiny apartment at 5414 South Prairie Avenue. They performed a duet featuring the Solovox, a primitive electronic instrument that Sonny had picked up back in 1941, while still in Birmingham. Sonny had a thing about purple (he thought people would be healthier if they ate more purple food). He released Deep Purple nearly a quarter century later on his Saturn label, and the tune remained in his repertoire for the rest of his career. It would be featured on his very last recording session, when he accompanied Billy Bang for Soul Note in 1992.

and

Saturn 485 (released in 1973) was an LP titled Deep Purple (on some copies, Dreams Come True). The artists on this collection were billed as "Sun Ra and his Arkestra"; on some copies, "featuring Stuff Smith on Violin" was added. The LP had printed white labels with a Chicago address for Saturn Records, but no covers were printed. Consequently, there are many cover varieties, consisting of various generic Sun Ra LP sleeves, many of them hand decorated by members of All of Side A of this LP was reissued on Evidence 22014, Sound Sun Pleasure!!, a CD from 1992.

The Solovox was an early electronic keyboard instrument (already in Sonny's possession as early as 1941; it can be seen attached to his piano in a photograph that was reprinted in John F. Szwed's book Space Is the Place). When asked for a session date, members of the Arkestra told Bob Rusch “pre 1953,” by which they meant before John Gilmore joined the band; previous discographies have generally said 1953. However, Anthony Barnett, author of Desert Sands: The Recordings and Performances of Stuff Smith, says that Smith probably left Chicago by the end of 1952, and had relocated to New York by February 1953 at the latest. Tommy Hunter recalled recording this get-together (supposedly, just one tune because Sonny was running out of tape) in 1948 or 1949. Sonny Blount had traveled to Cleveland earlier in 1948 to purchase an early model recorder that used paper tapes.

More on "Deep Purple" on Campbell's great site on Sun Ra's early years in Chicago.

 

It seems that both "Horizon" and Nidhamu" will be released on CD this fall according to DustyGroove!

http://www.dustygroove.com/item.php...imit=100&x=18&y=8&kwfilter=sun+ra

http://www.dustygroove.com/item.php...imit=100&x=18&y=8&kwfilter=sun+ra

 

Glad you dug it!

 

Another cover here for "Deep Purple", pretty cool:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Purple_(Sun_Ra_album)

 

Just ordered from Honest Jon's:

Sun Ra - Of Mythic Worlds



A new reissue of a record from the Philly Jazz label in the late 70's. Same label that released the classic "Lanquidity" with Ra.

 

??- All I get is a "403 forbidden" notice -??

I'm still waiting on a CD reissue of that one. Philly Jazz is long since defunct, no? Is that a legit reissue or a more grey-area deal?




ASTRO BLACK (Impulse!, 1973)

1. Astro Black
2. Discipline
3. Hidden Spheres
4. The Cosmo-Fire


Believe it or not, this one I ain't got. It's not that copies don't show up with some regularity on eBay, it's just that they always seem to have REALLY badly damaged covers. A couple of sealed cutouts have shown up over the years, but I've always lost those bids. Plus, the motivation is somewhat diluted by my unjustified optimism that surely SOMEBODY, SOMEWHERE would eventually put this out on CD. (Really? Impulse!/Universal Japan couldn't manage it? Or Evidence? (wouldn't it have made a far more reasonable partner for 'Pathways To Unknown world' than an unreleased album (which really should have been part of the 'Great Lost Albums' set, anyway))). There is an upload available here: http://ileoxumare.blogspot.com/2008/02/sun-ra-astro-black-1973.html although, for some reason, I can't seem to play it. Neither iTunes nor Windows Media Player recognize it on my computer. So, I continue to wallow in ignorance. I assume it's one of the good ones, though. And I hafta wonder why 'Discipline" doesn't have a number assigned.

 

finally, something I have, albeit as a needle-drop...ME LIKE ! (recorded El Saturn Studio, Chicago 5-7-72) My fave period is the early mid to late mid seventies....DO IT !!!!

 

Astro Black has one of my favorite covers, and the music was 'mixed for compatible stereo and quadrophonic reproduction by means of the Standard Matrix system, and should provide an exceptional listening experience when heard on any high-quality audio system'.

 

Here is information from Jazz Loft:

http://www.jazzloft.com/p-48062-of-mythic-worlds-lp.aspx

It seems to have been reissued on the Philly Jazz label. The "Lanquidity" LP has also been reissuedd there:

http://www.dustygroove.com/browse.php?label=129520&incl_oos=1&incl_cs=1&format=all

 

"Astro Black" is one of my favourite records with Sun Ra, and a must. What is special with this record is the prominence of the bass of Ronnie Boykins as a theme throughout the record, as well as the fine sound and mix on this session. All the songs are somewhat linked together by themes, but standing well on their own. A lot of great improvisation and arranging by the man and the Arkestra here.

The session information:

http://www.the-temple.net/sunradisco/astroblack.html

This record has strangely not been reissued, even if this must be one of the more accessible records from the Sun Ra catalogue to reissue sound-wise.

A comparable record might be "Space Is The Place" from the same year, released on Blue Thumb records. (And later reissued on CD by Impulse! in 1997).

 

...and track 2 should, of course, be identified as 'Discipline 99'...

 

Sun Ra recorded a lot of songs called "Discipline" with a number ranging from 2 to 99 in the early seventies, and recorded these on several albums. These were also often played live.

Here is a short excerpt from a recent version with Jerry Dammers Spatial Ark Orchestra:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90_dHd_ZgnA

A comparision between Frank Zappa and Sun Ra that mentions "Discipline" is here:

http://vermontreview.tripod.com/essays/razappa.htm

 

Two Ra classics from the 70's more that's just been reissued on CD by Art Yard: