Sun Ra - Music of the Future (reconstructed)

A lost hybrid!  A few weeks ago, astute reader, Rev.b noticed some interesting remarks in the Campbell/Trent entry for Holiday for Soul Dance.  Rev.b's curiosity proved contagious... it spread to I-), who passed it on to me... and ultimately (I hope) to you.  As always, many thanks to I-) for  taking a good idea and expanding upon it.  Rev.b and I-), this place just wouldn't be the same without you guys!

Below is the text that caught Rev.b's keen eye followed by an offering of a compilation of the tracks culled from the Evidence CDs, Fate in a Pleasant Mood and Holiday for Soul Dance.  The artwork I included is a drawing by Claude Dangerfield who created the covers for several Saturn releases from the 1950's and '60s.  I also re-titled the tracks to match the test pressing.  Keep scrolling after the links for a bit of urban musical arkeology.


72. [61]  Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra

...confirmation of the common origin of many of these tracks is provided by a Saturn test pressing found in a Montréal record store by François Lamarche.  The test pressing was made at Sheldon Recording Studios (aka the Chess studios in Chicago) and titled simply, Music of the Future by Sun Ra Arkestra.  Side A contained "Space Mates," "But Not for Me," and "The Others in There [sic] World."  Side B had "Lights on the [sic] Satellite," "Day by Day," "Ankhnaton," and "Holiday for Strings."  The pressing contains Alton Abraham's old address at 4115 South Drexel -- and gives a Montréal address and phone number for Sun Ra.  It was therefore cut in the summer or early fall of 1961.  However, Saturn did not actually issue any LPs from this session until 1965, and when they began to appear, the tracks had been redistributed.

Sun Ra and his Myth Science Arkestra
Sun Ra and his Astro Infinity Arkestra

Music of the Future (reconstructed)
compiled from the Evidence CDs:
Fate in a Pleasant Mood / When Sun Comes Out
Holiday for Soul Dance

1. A1 Space Mates   7:12
2. A2 But Not For Me   4:11
3. A3 The Others In There World   2:18
4. A4 Lights On The Satellite   3:43

5. B1 Day By Day   3:40
6. B2 Ankhnaton   3:29
7. B3 Holiday For Strings   4:09

-FLAC-

RS

HF

or

-320-

RS

HF

I-) created some CD Artwork celebrate the Music of the Future!
THANKS, I-)
RS  HF
Here are three covers as inserts for a CD case.  i offer two
versions - one with the correct titles and one with the misspelled
titles.

the first one shows the info that i was able to find  (text
description only, i am afraid) that appeared on the test pressing.  as
you can imagine on a test pressing, there may have been a typed sheet,
or it could have been handwritten in the sleeve or ???.  i took that
info and made up a typed sheet of what it may have looked like.
have fun with these!

Here is another interesting bit of Sun Ra history recently introduced to the Saturn List (outerspaceways.info) by rlc.  Below are excerpts of the discussion:

rlc:

Subject: Urban musical archeology

A jazz buff named David Bramble has a significant discovery to report.

At 315 East 35th Street in Chicago, Meyers Ace Hardware occupies the building that once housed a celebrated old-fashioned nightclub, the Grand Terrace.

Incredibly, the mural that was on the wall behind the bandstand during the Terrace's last active years (1955-1957) is still partly preserved.

So one thing we now know for sure is that the black and white photo of Sunny with Richard Evans, John Gilmore, Pat Patrick, and Robert Barry was taken at the Grand Terrace between early October and early December 1955.  Most of the mural can be seen behind and above them; a little is cut off at the top of the photo, and to the far left and far right.

With permission from the owner and the manager, David Bramble was able to take a few color photos three remaining pieces.  They are now located in the manager's office, in the stairwell leading up to the manager's office, and in what looks like a bathroom.

rlc

PS. The owner, David Meyers, recently found an old signboard in the attic or the basement, advertising Sunny's gig at the Grand Terrace.

mgd:

About the "old signboard in the attic or the basement advertising Sunny's gig at the Grand Terrace," does anyone know anything about the other person advertised on the signboard, Dorres [?] Burrage?  Drummer Ronnie Burrage is interested.  I forwarded him a copy of the signboard photo, and he replied, "Thank you, I will have to look into this.  My family in Chicago played, but I only knew about the Sanders side.  My grandmother's brother, father, uncles?"   About Ronnie, he has played music with Richard Davis, John Hicks, Andrew Hill, Jackie McLean, David Murray, Jaco Pastorius, Sonny Rollins, Woody Shaw, McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, et al.

rlc:

What happened is that blues/soul singer Harold Burrage was originally on the bill (along with Rudy Crier, the show producer, he is prominently billed in Chicago Defender advertisements for the gig).

At some point before the show closed (in early December 1955), it looks as though Harold Burrage left and was replaced by another performer named Dorrres something.  The sticker has completely peeled off the right half of the sign, so we don't know the last name.

With some time to look back through Chicago Defenders from late 1955, I may be able to identify Dorres.  Almost certainly not connected with Harold Burrage, though.

Ihor:

it was not a sticker - it is a piece of painted wood that was nailed over harold burrage's name on the board.  the 'dorres' part, on the left, remains nailed on.  the right part, which had covered 'burrage', is missing.  you can see it in detail here.

nd:

Don't know if this was noted before but I found a reference to related info here. 

That links leads to another photo of the same sign and (wikipedia) indicates that the Grand Terrace closed in 1950 which would make this very early Ra indeed!

rlc:

Nou,
In the photo you linked to, the signboard has been set up in front of the largest surviving part of the mural.  Which enables us to see the "Mambo Night" at the bottom.

The Wikipedia article, like many of its offerings on music history, needs correcting.  The Grand Terrace closed and reopened many times.  The Fall 1955 show, which was advertised in the Chicago Defender, was the third that year, there were two attempts to mount shows at the club in 1956, and the last gasp was in the fall of 1957.  The Terrace's final closure came just a few months before the Club DeLisa went out of business.

David Bramble told me that the store gets occasionally visits from people who know that the Sunset Café was once located there.

Also, he told me that a European website referred a few years ago to the remnants of the mural.

One error in the article: the date at which the mural was painted still needs to be established, but there's no way that this kind of Afro-futurism was up behind the stage when Earl Hines played there, let alone in the Sunset Café days.

It actually looks as though it was painted for the Sun Ra engagement.  I kind of wonder what King Kolax, Elmore James, and Tom Archia (who played in the Terrace's last shows, in 1956 and 1957) thought about it.