Sun Ra - Sleeping Beauty (1979)

This is the great late-night Sun Ra chillout album you never knew about. The band had been working in a more groove-oriented setting off and on for over a year, as evidenced by the albums Lanquidity and On Jupiter, with both featuring prominent electric bass and electric guitar. Sleeping Beauty picks up right where On Jupiter left off, with the gentle, swaying "Springtime Again" echoing the same mellow vibe of "Seductive Fantasy" from On Jupiter. A skittering intro coalesces as different instruments pick up bits of the melody, which is then fully expressed by the horn section and ensemble vocals. It's a simple two-chord vamp, with beautiful solos that seem to embody the reawakening and rebirth of springtime. "The Door of the Cosmos" starts with a gospel-like chant and handclaps, with comments from Ra's electric piano and electric guitar. A strong bassline enters, very reminiscent of "A Love Supreme, Pt. 1: Acknowledgement," but the accompanying chant celebrates the mysteries of the unknown rather than the universal truth of A Love Supreme. This track builds in intensity, but never loses its groove or becomes nearly as raucous as the Arkestra is sometimes known for. "Sleeping Beauty" is the album centerpiece, taking up all of side two. Ra's beautiful electric piano gets things rolling, and the band falls into a peaceful groove before the vocals enter, led by the wonderful June Tyson. These songs are all built on the simplest of structures, and the playing from everyone is understated and sublime. Sleeping Beauty is truly a high point in an unwieldy discography, and something of an anomaly at the same time. There's a good reason copies of this album go for several hundred dollars on the collector's market, but it really deserves a proper release so more people can hear it. Outstanding.

AMG Review by Sean Westergaard

304. [240]  Sun Ra and his Arkestra

Sleeping Beauty/
Celestial Road

Sun Ra (p, ep, org, syn, voc); Michael Ray (tp, voc); Curt Pulliam (tp); Walter Miller (tp); Craig Harris (tb); Tony Bethel (tb); Vincent Chancey (Fr hn); Marshall Allen (as, fl); John Gilmore (ts, perc); James Jacson (fl, bsn, Inf-d); Eloe Omoe (bcl, fl, perc); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, fl, perc); Kenny Williams (ts, bars, fl); Noël Scott (as, bars, perc); Hutch Jones (as, ts); Sylvester Baton (rds); Skeeter McFarland (eg); Taylor Richardson (eg); Steve Clarke (eb); Richard Williams (b); Harry Wilson (vib); Damon Choice (vib, voc); Eddie Thomas (d); Luqman Ali (d); Reg McDonald (d); Atakatune (perc); June Tyson (voc); Rhoda Blount (voc).

Variety Recording Studio, NYC,
June 1979

Springtime Again (Ra) [SR, Jt, DC, MR voc]
Door of the Cosmos (Ra) [SR, JT, DC, MR voc]
Sleeping Beauty (Ra) [SR, JT, DC, MR voc]
Celestial Road (Ra) [ens voc]
Say (Ra)
I'll Wait for You (Ra) [ens voc]

Saturn 79, Sleeping Beauty, was released in 1979.  It is also sometimes known as Door of the Cosmos.  The matrix numbers are 11-1-79A and B.  The personnel previously listed for this LP was inaccurate; the personnel list for Strange Celestial Road is more reliable.

Samarai Celestial said that this album was made before he joined the band and that Eddie Thomas was the drummer (Thomas is the only musician here who was not mentioned in the notes to Strange Celestial Road).  Damon Choice says that the vocals were done by Sun Ra, June Tyson, and himself, with a likely contribution from Michael Ray, who helped with the mixing.

Rounder 3035, Strange Celestial Road, was issued in 1982; issues on Y 19 in Great Britain and on Virgin 201919 appeared in the same year.  All titles reissued on Rounder 3035 [CD] in 1988.  All information from the album jacket, except that it gives no specifics on the instruments played in the reed section and mentions no date.  Because "Strange Celestial Road" was performed at Moers on June 4, 1979, and the personnel is similar (Hutch Jones and Curt Pulliam were both from Philadelphia and joined the band for some months in 1979), our best guess is summer 199.  Samarai Celestial says that then album was made shortly before he joined the band (i.e., before late July).

An edited version of "Celestial Road" (the first 5-6 min.) appeared on an LP sampler called Birth of the Y (Y 33 1/3) released in 1982 (thanks to Steve Fligelstone for this information).

Formerly, Sleeping Beauty and Strange Celestial Road were listed as separate sessions, but Damon Choice says both were made at the same session, and the vocals overdubbed later.

from Campbell/Trent The Earthly Recordings 2nd ed.

Sun Ra and his Intergalactic Myth Science Solar Arkestra
Sleeping Beauty

1. Springtime Again   9:17
2. Door of the Cosmos   9:00
3. Sleeping Beauty   11:51

FLAC

or

320

This one is not my rip or my artwork but I've grown tired of waiting for my CD to show up in the mail and I thought this would be a nice follow-up to Strange Celestial Road so I wanted to post it sooner than later.  Many thanks to the original up-loader and to whomever uploaded

the pics.