Sun Ra - Space Probe (1978)

I have good news – I uploaded space probe together with full scans of this rare LP... I recommend to start with Dimensions In Time from When Sun Comes Out, then go with Primitive (in fact the second part of Dimensions In Time) and The Conversion of J. P. and then to go with the title track (recorded 7 or 8 years later)... In fact this rare LP was originally released with 2 tracks on side A and the title track on side B, but then in re-releases Saturn changed the sides... and in this order you will hear the full track – Dimensions In Time/Primitive, which is an interesting experience... I included the scans of front and back of the LP with a small card attached to a white cover back, then another version of the front side of the LP, then 4 scans of the labels – two of side A, one handmade and one of side B...

Above are some of my notes from Paul W. regarding this amazing album (one of my personal favorites). I like to think of Space Probe as a concept album and the inclusion of Dimensions In Time and the reversal of Sides A and B follows the probe's investigations very nicely.

SPACE PROBE
1. Dimensions In Time 3:52
2. Primitive 2:30
3. The Conversion of J.P. 13.54
4. Space Probe 18:01

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Space Probe

Sun Ra (mini-Moog, syns).

Variety Recording Studios, NYC, prob. 1970

This track was released on the Philadelphia label as Side A of Saturn 14200A/14200B, Space Probe, in 1974.  As Chris Trent points out, it is not entirely clear which was Side A -- the label identifies this side as 14200A, but the matrix number is 14200B.  On Alden Kimbrough's copy, this is identified as Side B on the label.  John Gilmore stated that "Space Probe" was made in Philadelphia.  1970 seems likely because of Ra's extensive solo Mini-Moog activity around that time, but 1971-1973 cannot be ruled out.  According to Urs Berger, some releases of 14200A give 1970 as the date -- and others give 1973!

Sun Ra (p); John Gilmore (bcl, perc); Marshall Allen (fl); poss. Minerva Colón (cowbell); poss. Pat Patrick (cga, perc); poss. Tommy Hunter (perc); unidentified (cga).

Coreographer's Workshop, NYC, 1963
The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed. - Campbell/Trent

Art Yard has recently released an expanded version of Space Probe (Woo Hoo!).

Sun Ra: Space Probe (Saturn 527/Art Yard CD 011)

Space Probe is another super-obscure Saturn release with a tortured history. Originally released in 1974, early discographies assigned a catalog number Saturn 527, although no known copies bear this number (See Campbell & Trent, p.107, 158). Instead, matrix numbers 14200A /14200B appear on most labels, although the sides are sometimes reversed (Id.). To make things even more confusing, the album was sometimes titled A Tonal View Of Times Tomorrow, Vol.1 (Saturn 527!) and, worse, there are numerous hybrid versions of Space Probe with a completely different B-Side (See, Id. for all the gory details). And that’s just the beginning of the discographical weirdness. So it goes with Sun Ra records! And that’s essentially why I feel compelled to write about this stuff—it’s the only way I can make sense of it all. Thankfully, the Art Yard label has recently reissued the original version of Space Probe in an expanded CD edition which includes unedited performances and several unissued outtakes from the era. Hooray!

The title track was recorded in August, 1969, shortly after Sun Ra purchased his first MiniMoogs, making it one of the first epic synthesizer solos he ever recorded. And it is truly epic: almost eighteen minutes of spaceship noises, cosmic bloops and bleeps and other electronic mayhem. While not as hair-raising as later live performances would be, it’s still an adventurous solar voyage and demonstrates his near-osmotic mastery of the complex technology. Michael D. Anderson, Executive Director of The Sun Ra Music Archive, makes an interesting (if somewhat garbled) statement about Ra’s electronic keyboards in his liner notes for this release:

Sunny was great in using the moog and other organs as an extension of himself reaching out into the outer spheres. This is why later in the mid 80’s when the Moog, Farfisa and the Yamaha organs were stolen in the [sic] Sunny began to strictly play piano and more standard music material. I knew that this unnoticed by others [sic] pained him. I would look at the expression on his face and you could see that he had so much more to say but was limited without the organs.

I had never heard Sun Ra’s keyboards had been stolen and Szwed makes no mention of it in his biography. I just figured he went digital like everyone else by the mid-80’s. In any event, it’s true: the big multi-keyboard freakouts were eventually abandoned by that time.

Side B of Space Probe goes in a completely different direction, consisting of two tracks recorded at the Choreographer’s Workshop in New York City on April 29, 1962. Originally, “Primitive” was just a couple of minutes of percussion jamming, but when Evidence was preparing the CD release of When Sun Comes Out, they discovered the rest of the track.

Continue reading at Nuvoid's Sun Ra Sundays