Sun Ra - Spaceways (1966) - Calling Planet Earth Box CD 2

This record certainly has a tortured discographical history! In December, 1971, Sun Ra sold a cache of tapes to the Black Lion label so as to pay the Arkestra’s traveling expenses from Denmark to Egypt. Sadly, much of this music was never released. In 1974, El Saturn released this album as Outer Spaceways Incorporated (143000A+B) – although it was sometimes entitled A Tonal View of Times Tomorrow, Vol.3. Inexplicably, some of this music also appeared on numerous hybrid pressings of later Saturn albums such as Primitone and Invisible Shield among others. Finally, in 1998, the German DA Music label released a three-CD box set entitled Calling Planet Earth (Freedom 7612), containing some (but not all) the Black Lion holdings, wherein this album is stupidly re-titled Spaceways. I say stupidly because another disc in this otherwise fine box set is inanely titled Outer Spaceways Incorporated, making an already confusing discography needlessly opaque. This is the kind of thing that makes Campbell and Trent’s Earthly Recordings of Sun Ra so absolutely necessary!

In any event, Spaceways (or whatever you want to call it) is a great companion piece to the classic Nothing Is. Most of the music appears to have been recorded around 1966, given the presence of the trombonist Teddy Nance (who died in 1967) and Ra’s distinctive piano/Clavioline combo. Recorded in stereo, it offers remarkably good sound quality for the period. The first track, “Prelude and Shadow-Light World” (originally titled “Chromatic Shadows” on the El Saturn LP), opens with a long, dramatic piano introduction which prepares the way for the ensemble chant, “Sun Ra and His Band from Outer Space.” Then comes the notorious “Shadow World,” which is marked by a slightly more relaxed tempo than usual and a honking, wailing bari sax solo from Pat Patrick. Ra takes a solo turn before giving way to burbling percussion. Finally, Ra conjures up a mammoth space chord to bring things to a close. The second track, “The Wind Speaks,” appears to be from the same concert and is another beautiful Ra ballad featuring a choir of flutes and piccolo. Eventually, Boykins takes a solo turn with the bow and Ra enters to duet on the electric Clavioline. Ra then returns to the piano for some frenetic variations on the theme before an elegiac, full ensemble re-statement. This composition was later re-titled “Somebody Else’s World” after acquiring lyrics. 

(Continue reading at NuVoid's Sun Ra Sundays)

127. [112]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra

Outer Spaceways Incorporated /
Primitone /
Spaceways

Sun Ra (p, Clavioline, gong); Teddy Nance (tb); Bernard Pettaway (tb); Marshall Allen (as, ob, fl, picc, perc); Danny Davis (as, fl, perc); John Gilmore (ts, perc); Pat Patrick (bars, fl, bgo); Robert Cummings (bcl, perc); Ronnie Boykins (b); Clifford Jarvis (d); poss. Lex Humphries (d); James Jacson (log drums, fl); Carl Nimrod [Carl S. Malone] (hand drums).

prob. New York City, 1966

          Chromatic Shadows (Ra)
          [incl. Sun Ra and His Band from Outer Space and The Shadow World] [ens voc]
          The Wind Speaks (Ra)
          Outer Spaceways Incorporated (Ra) [ens voc]

These tracks were issued in 1974 on (Philadelphia) Saturn 143000A/B, Outer Spaceways Incorporated.  All tracks from this album were sold to Black Lion in December 1971 but never released on that label (the 1998 CD on Freedom comes from the Black Lion holdings -- see below).  The album has also appeared with a Chicago label and the serial number Saturn LP 530.  sometimes titled A Tonal View of Times Tomorrow volume 3.  The album was derived from three live concerts; all of these probably took place in New York City.  The date is based on stylistic considerations and the fact that Teddy Nance died in 1967.  Mark Webber gives 1967 as the date; Julian Vein says 1967-1968.  Note that "Sun Ra and His Band from Outer Space" opens the concert, instead of closing it, as it did on "Atlantis" and at later performances.  Also there is no organ or Clavinet.  Personnel identified by rlc; Ali Hassan was given as one of the trombonists in the first edition.

This album was completely omitted from discographies before Webber's because Side A (matrix 143000A) of this album frequently replaced the original Side A of My Brother the Wind Volume II on hybrid pressings.  Undoctored copies of Outer Spaceways Incorporated with the original Side B (matrix 143000B) are considerably less common.  "The Wind Speaks" was retitled "Somebody Else's World" after Sun Ra added lyrics.

Also, some copies of The Invisible Shield are hybrids that include 144000B as Side A and 143000B as Side B.  According to Urs Berger, these  hybrids have bluish Philadelphia Saturn labels and a 1973 date, and were sold in plain white porthole sleeves.

There is another distinct hybrid, issued on the Philadelphia Saturn label in the 1970s, that includes 143000A as Side A and 14200A (from Space Probe) as Side B.  It is titled Primitone (thanks to Hartmut Geerken and Urs Berger for information).  It was re-pressed and distributed by Recommended Records in the early 1980s.

Still another hybrid involves 143000B (the side that is much less often encountered on Saturn LPs).  This is a hybrid Invisible Shield that carries 14400B as Side A and 143000B as Side B.  Urs Berger's copy has bluish labels from Philadelphia (with a 1973 date) on both sides and was sold in a plain white  porthole sleeve.  Another pressing of this hybrid was sold at concerts in Britain in 1990 and 1991; copies had a blue-purple Chicago-style El Saturn label and a plain white sleeve.

All tracks from the original Saturn album were reissued in April 1998 as Spaceways (Freedom CD 740147).  This was originally part of a three-CD set titled Calling Planet Earth (Freedom 7612).  On this release the first track was titled "Prelude and Shadow-Light World" (apparently following notations that accompanied the tape that was sold to Black Lion).

128. [112a]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra

Outer Spaceways Incorporated /
Primitone

Sun Ra (p.); Marshall Allen (voc, perc); Danny Davis (voc, perc); John Gilmore (voc, perc); Pat Patrick (voc, perc); Robert Cummings (voc, perc); Ronnie Boykins (b, voc); Clifford Jarvis (d); poss. Lex Humphries (d); James Jacson (log drums, voc); Carl Nimrod [Carl S. Malone] (hand drums, voc); other Arkestrans may have been present.

prob. New York City, 1966

          We Travel the Spaceways (Ra) [ens voc]

This brief version of "We Travel" was spliced on at the end of "Outer Spaceways Incorporated" on all Saturn releases; it was not separately banded.  Careful listening indicates a similar band lineup to the preceding session, but a different concert -- unless Sun Ra exiled Ronnie Boykins to the opposite end of the stage in the middle of the proceedings.

See the previous session for information about the Saturn releases and their tangled history.  The track was reissued in April 1998 on Spaceways (Freedom CD 741407); this was originally part of a three-CD set titled Calling Planet Earth (Freedom 7612).

145. [128]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra

          Outer Spaceways Incorporated

Sun Ra (p.); unidentified (b); poss. Clifford Jarvis (d); poss. Lex Humphries or Robert Barry (d); James Jacson (log drums, voc); Carl Nimrod [Carl S. Malone] (hand drums, voc); June Tyson (voc); Marshall Allen (voc); Danny Davis (voc); John Gilmore (voc); prob. Pat Patrick (voc, bgo); other Arkestrans may have been present.

prob. New York City, 1968

          The Satellites Are Spinning (Ra)

This performance actually consists only of the end of "The Satellites Are Spinning": "We sing this song to / Abolish sorrow" etc.) followed by an unaccompanied piano improvisation.  June Tyson leads the chant; she joined the band around the beginning of 1968.  Careful listening indicates that this number is from a different concert than either of the other two that were used for Saturn 143000A/143000B.  It is not as well recorded as either of the 1966 concerts that were used on the album, and the bassist (contrary to what was said in the first edition) is not Ronnie Boykins.

In April 1998 the original Saturn LP was reissued as Spaceways (Freedom 741047) in a three-CD set called Calling Planet Earth (Freedom 7612).  This track was inanely retitled "We Sing the Song" on the reissue.

from The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.  Campbell/Trent

Spaceways (Outer Spaceways Incorporated) (Freedom 740147)

1. Prelude And Shadow-Light World   9:21
2. The Wind Speaks   9:13
3. We Sing This Song   5:49
4. Outer Space Incorporated   9:59
5. We Travel The Spaceways   2:27

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