Sun Ra Music

This is - like - the great lost Big Band CD. As has been noted, the influence of the Jazz Greats is everywhere. And at moments it would be possible to mistake this for a Mingus or Tadd Dameron session. But there's always some interesting moment of quirkiness that marks it as pure - but prehistoric - Ra. A quick overview:

1) Brainville: Marvelous use of Pat Patrick's baritone sax. A hypnotic theme that has some of the externals of Duke or Mingus but is relentlessly non-developmental in a way they could never be. Muted trumpet emerges out of the ensemble like pure early Gil Evans (Ella Speed, for example). A shout riff functions as a ritornello, almost hilarious in its purely formal nature. What does it propel? Not much...Julian Priester's boppy trombone is grooving.
2) Call For All Demons - Classic Ra theme - the illegitimate child of Caravan and Horace Silver. John Gilmore w/ demented quasi-Dameronian style comping. Jim Herndon's tympani solo (!!!) the star of the show.
3) Transition - Swinging at its most unswinging swinging-ness.The cowbell on the beat. the electric bass dutifully walking. The baritone dominates the sax section in a way that creates teleological visions of Fela. The generic Clifford/Lee - ism of the hard bop trumpeters is really piquant in the context. And then there's James Scales with his tortured Bird-isms.
4)Possession - A ballad which evokes Glenn Miller's Serenade In Blue - a Chicago favorite. All Gilmore, naturally.
5) A Street Named Hell - Could be the theme from the film of the same name. The tympani is again the star - amazing! That electric bass is so bad it's good.
6) Lullaby for Realville - what a groovy period piece - handclaps and everything. Not a pointed parody like Herbie Nichols' 2300 Skidoo, but cut from the same cloth. Than goodness for the upright bass here. Piano solo is beautifully addlebrained.
7) Future - Ra's piano at its approximate best - somewhere between Billy Strayhorn, Tristano and early Cecil Taylor. A strange place. Great orchestration of the drums - bringing them in and out. A whole psychodrama in 2:54.
8) Swing A Little Taste - Ra Jazz at its Ra Jazziest. The title says it all. So many cliches, all served up with a perfect pince sans rire. Enumerating all of them and their derivations could be an article in itself.(Buster) Keaton-esquely hilarious.
9) New Horizons - an almost conventionally beautiful film noir-y ballad. Could come from David Raskin's score for Joseph H. Lewis' The Big Combo. Goes up - tempo near the end for no discernable reason. Performance is so ragged, but that's part of its beauty.
10) Fall Off The Log -The incipient whole-toniness of some of the tunes doesn't really inform the solo sections as much as I might like. That's a typical transition Swing - to - Bop strategy that dates Sonny a bit. But somehow it's all of a jagged piece.
11) Sun Song - finally at the end the organ raises its lovely grotesque head. Perfect South Side Exotica. Chimes, temple blocks. Was Les Baxter an actual influence? I have no doubt...

Simply put, if I had to pick my all time favorite album of a life time, this would be it. It was so far ahead of it's time and so beautiful at the same time, this is as fun to listen to today as it was in the mid 1950s. The only differance is that it sounds like music of today rather than outer space music of the future, now.

John

Ra fans will want this album. It shows where his head was at circa 1956, and captures the Arkestra at an interesting period where they could swing tight and hard. The sound quality and quality of the playing are both high.

It should be noted, though, that the album is still relatively conventional and not as extraordinary as "Super Sonic Jazz" which Ra issued on his own label shortly after this, or the next session for Transition/Delmark now called "Sound of Joy".

These are not the jazz standards of Sound Sun Pleasure and a couple others first on the list, but a great collections of slightly experimental songs that Sun Ra did many times over the years and in his live shows.

Recorded in 1956, Sun Ra's first album (here in its entirety)
is a welcome addition to anyone's musical library. Along with
streamlined swingers like "Brainville" or "Future", sly
finger-poppers like "Lullaby For Realville", and speculative
serenades like "New Horizons" or "Sun Song", the Delmark CD
presents the previously-unissued dance call, "Swing A Little
Taste". With its tip to the orchestral romps of Fletcher
Henderson, Tadd Dameron, and Dizzy Gillespie, bearing a
chromatic savoir faire worthy of Duke Ellington himself,
the landmark session is classic Sun Ra, pointing the way
for the instrumental voicings of the next half-century,
and beyond.

Arkestra perennials such as tenor giant John Gilmore and
maverick baritonist Pat Patrick take their place alongside
unsung titans such as the bright, buoyant trumpeter Art
Hoyle. Others, such as the renowned trombonist Julian
Priester, gained fame elsewhere, only to rejoin the fold
decades later. All and more are a treat for the ears.
As for the pianist (who doubles on haunting organ for the
title song), his playing is joyously bright with sobering
skill; always gentle in his fierce determination.

As the Myth-Realist stated in the 1950s, "There is a
great need for America to give all of its creative
artists a chance". A gauntlet in the face of everything
from that period's McCarthyism to current fund-cutting
and other forms of censorship, Ra's words and music
have always held true to this idiomatic creed.

If you've experienced Sun Ra's artistic diversity
over the years, this disc comes as a powerful
addition but no surprise. If, however, you are
among those who dismiss Mr. Mystery as an eerie
noisemaker, I offer you this delightful shock,
an accurate pointer to what this grandmaster
of Jazz has always been about.

I like Ra's music, in general, for his playing on Keyboards, and for the work of Gilmore and Allen.

On the cut Silhouettes of the Shadow World, there is a break for Gilmore that literally sets my heart racing everytime I hear it. Some of Ra's thinking is lost on me, and I don't always make a spiritual connection to the music, even the stuff I love. That moment however, the long pinched arcs from the sax, endlessly cascading and then peaking again higher and higher; I feel it. It is a one soul trying to communicate with other souls. Wonderful. My first time hearing it was the first time I "got it".

If you are looking to bond with Ra's music, this might be the one.

This is my favorite Sun Ra album, featuring a 10 person ensemble with Sun Ra sticking to mostly piano and including the essential Marshall Allen (alto, oboe, and flute) and John Gilmore (tenor, clarinet, flute). It is from a live concert in Switzerland recorded in 1980 and originally released as a double LP. The recording quality is excellent, and much better than the usual Sun Ra fare. The music includes a mix of standards (Take the A Train, King Porter Stomp, Round Midnight, etc.) with some freer orginals (Light From a Hidden Sun, Disguised Gods in Skullduggery, etc.) along with a requisite June Tyson vocal number (On Jupiter). The performances are excellent and provide a nice example of a latter day Sun Ra live set. I have heard some people pan the version of Round Midnight here, but I find it outrageous and quite enjoyable.

I have awaited the re-release of this on CD for years, but unfortunately two numbers, "Provocative Celestials" and "Love in Outer Space" were deleted to fit the concert on a single CD. The former features some bombastic free jazz with an extraordinary solo of upper register wailing (Allen on oboe?), while the latter is a classic ethereal number with Sun Ra on organ. I can't bring myself to purchase the CD knowing that these performances are missing!

This is a really nice CD from Ra and Co. Mostly old swing charts with a few really nice Freakouts thrown in. The band is really and nicely stripped down.

4 saxes if I remember right, 1 trumpet, Piano (no synths at all!), and 2 drummers. That's it. No vocals, no trombones, no bass even!

The extra space gives Ra, Gilmore, and Allen a great chance to stretch out, and there are no laser beams or 25 other horns to get in the way.

Sound quality is very good by Ra standards, though the mix puts the piano out way in front, even when comping - a bit annoying. Also the heads on a couple of tunes are quite sloppy, especially their take on Round Midnight. But the blowing is great!

This is a reissue of a Hat Art LP set, and 2 tunes were left off so the music could fit on 1 (71 minute) cd. I have not heard the LP so I don't know what I'm missing, but what's left is well worth the price of admission.

This album and "Jazz in Silhouette" are the two which I would recommend to Sun Ra novices. It is beautiful, conventionally enjoyable, toe tapping fun, with excellent solos by John Gilmore. It features some of the earliest use of electric keyboards and extra percussion by anyone, but most of it is vigorous mainstream hard bop, but with a Ra twist to be sure. Virtually any jazz fan could enjoy this one.

Recently a friend asked why most of the reviews I have posted have five stars. I pointed out that the main reason is that the CDs I have reviewed are all ones that I own, and that I research very carefully before I buy anything.

The few that I give lower ratings to are usually impulse buys based on a single recommendation that have disappointed me when they clearly don't stand up to repeated listening.

Let's face it, if you own more than two or three albums by the same artist, some of them will hardly ever get played, so it is well worth while to make sure that you buy the very best work of the artists you like.

For me a top rated (five star) album has to be one that is consistently of the highest standard. It is no good if there are one or two great tracks and the rest is dross. A top rated album has to be one that bears repeated listening without getting tired of it, and it has to sound good and be well recorded. It has to be the best work of the artist in question, and it has to be excellent music in its own right.

Now what does this have to do with Sun Ra and Supersonic Jazz. Just that Sun Ra is the exception that proves the rule, in that I have several of his albums including this one. Listening to this you just forget that it is music, as Sun Ra's remarkable rhythmic and harmonic virtuosity takes you out of yourself on a journey to Eternity, or maybe it is just Saturn.

Anyway, the point is that this music is so good that attempts to describe it just lead you into nonsensical babble. Better just to buy it and hear it for yourself.

Six stars.

The tonal colors just fly out of the music. An underheard jazz masterpiece. This is a great starting point into Ra's music, and a wonderful, deep, varied album. Discographers claim this was recorded in 1956, but it's hard to believe that. The music is absolutely timeless.

Great composition, great imaginative arrangement of those themes across a wide tonal pallette, great playing, and a mastering job that presents the music in all its glory.

buyer beware: there are 2 types of sun ra recordings. 1. great colorful big band music featuring the great saxophone work of john gilmore. (which is the category super-sonic jazz certainly falls into). and 2. experimental free-form jazz. i, personally, cannot stand the pretentious free-form stuff, but when the sun ra outfit is focused on compositions (as they are on this cd) they make jazz about as good to listen to as anybody. this is a perfect cd to introduce yourself to the best kind of sun ra. yes, sir.

Super-Sonic Jazz is not nearly as avantgarde as Suns albums became starting in the early sixties, rather this album documents Sun's earlier more traditional work. Those of you who didn't know that the master of big band free jazz could swing and play the blues you should check this stuff out. I love Sun Ra's more demanding and avantgarde material from the sixties, seventies and eighties, but this album is very cool. You can tell Sun's fancy is just begining to take flight in that he's starting to add different rhythms and instrumentation and more exotic harmony to his repetoire. The arrangements and compositions are just starting to get "out." For instance the album opener India is a bit of exotica played on electric piano. Many of the tunes use tympani and odd melody lines such as the stunning El Is The Sound Of Joy. Other tunes sound like Charles Mingus of the period but with an odd harmonic sensibility. Ra's piano recalls Thelonius Monk in his use of space and occasionally a tiny bit of Sun's Cecil Taylor-like style pokes through. But in general he swings and solos in a more traditional though harmonically advanced way. The playing by his side men is top notch. Featured are John Gilmore, Pat Patrick and Julian Priester. Super Sonic Jazz is just a really enjoyable listen of the beginnings of one of jazz's most out-there and intriguing composers. Its melodic, exotic and swinging. As a bonus it's well recorded.

Writer Henry Dumas and Sun Ra forged a close bond in the mid-1960s when they were residing in New York. This collaborative effort centers on commentary by Sun Ra on a number of social, political and historical issues.

Fascinating, lyrical, poetic and dramatic, the outlooks and opinions of Sun Ra remain timely and urgent. The meeting of the educator and the writer yielded an important project that allows the rays from the genius of Sun Ra to glow upon those who listen to the lectures.

This is a case of being very far off the deep end. Whilst I don't own volume 1, I think vol 2 can stand well on its own. It opens w/ a deep dense tone that sounds like a cello but 1 isn't listed so I imagine it's Robert Cummings' bass clarinet. The Sun Myth takes up all of the 1st side & is relatively epic @ 17 minutes, wherein Ra explores the depths of his tuned bongos & the triple horns of Marshall Allen, John Gilmore & someone whose name escapes me create a very intense moody atmosphere that is the very opposite of the catchy chants of Rocket #9 & Space Is The Place, needless to say it's completely instrumental. A House of Beauty features high pitched flute action & is the short track @ 5 minutes, acting as the build up to the eruption that is... COSMIC CHAOS! 13 minutes of total skronk jazz to the outer reaches of any galaxy of yr choice. Overall it's an uncompromising listening experience whose appeal will be probably be limited, though apparently it's the most popular Sun Ra disc currently. I got the LP reissue from Italy's Base Record company & it's very clear + the superb artwork stiucks out. You also get a poem calle THERE on the back which should probably be read aloud whilst the music plays for full effect, & of course a great picture of the man himself in full regalia. the session was 1 day in late 1965 & released in '66. of course it's in a world of its own.

I love this one - it's mellow and soothing at moments and raucous at others. Many prefer Volume I, but Volume 2 has more color and texture. Sun Ra's work on the electric bongos is a great underpinning to the rest of the action.

Difficult to find but highly recommended!

.. because I wasn't expecting crap.

I am continually amazed and confounded by jazz music, and as my jazz education has progressed, I've had to rid myself of the notion that if I hear something I don't like by a given musician, I will never like anything by that musician. Likewise, I'm learning that just because I like something by someone doesn't mean I will like all their other stuff. Many jazz artists are continually reinventing themselves and trying new and different things, and apparently, that is what Sun Ra did on one or the other of two CD's I have, this one and Jazz in Silhouette. I say that because JIS is a study in big band, swing jazz. Very dynamic and interesting. And very different from this CD. TMC is a study in using the theramin (or something that sounds like one) to make noise, and it just about puts me in therapy. This CD has its moments, and make no mistake, this is intricate and intriguing...well...not music. Sound. Sonny and his musicians sound like they are experimenting, and the result is what you would expect: a lot of sonic data that requires the listener to analyze it. There is nothing resembling a melody or harmony here, nothing that could be written on a score, nothing that you would find yourself humming while doing the laundry or cutting the grass. Also, I've visited Birmingham AL ("The Magic City") many times and live only 90 miles from there, and I would protest that I have some idea of what a CD about the city might sound like. To me, Sun Ra's version just isn't it. I suppose the silver lining to this dark cloud is that I bought Jazz in Silhouette before TMC. Had the order been reversed, there is a good chance I never would have gotten around to buying Jazz in Silhouette, one of my favorite jazz recordings of all time. So hard core Sun Ra fans, avant-garde fans, fans of the unique and unusual in explorations of sound, rhythm, and dynamics, come and get it. Jazz fanatics seeking music: please look elsewhere.

This is not the place to start in avant garde jazz. In fact, I suspect that plenty of perfectly reasonable, open-minded jazz fans will never get into this album. Unlike more accessible albums in the genre (Eric Dolphy's _Out to Lunch_, Ornette Coleman's early albums, John Coltrane's recordings between '61-'65) there's not much for most listeners to touch base with here. Harmony, rhythm, and melody are fleeting; the second half of the epic title track, which features extremely discordant horn blowing, will scare off 99% of the reasonable people.

If you're not completely scared off by this, I strongly recommend buying this album; the title suite is an incredibly intense collective improvisation: Sun Ra plays his eerie clavioline while Marshall Allen manically toots his piccolo and Ronnie Boykins does some killer bowing. Finally the rest of the band joins in to what may be some of the most intense and challenging fifteen minutes ever recorded. It truly is from outer space. The second half of the CD is full of shorter pieces that aren't quite as mind blowing but are still remarkable.

Get it if you dare.

This CD is amazing and while I see 13 reviews for Eric Dolphy's "Out to Lunch," I see no reviews for this cd. This seems to show that people just buy those other albums because they're considered so good (and controversial), but never bothered to delve deep into the vein of free jazz, and this album is one of the greatest in that vein. Sounding harsh at times, this album ebbs and flows like no other. The continuously playing clavioline gives the album a constant theme of eerie unknown, like space, or another world. Yet it always manages to come back to sounding earthly. While Eric Dolphy was amazing and monumental in the same area, he never seemed to have the drive that Sun Ra did, who constantly made his musicians rehearse. This album is amazing and I highly recommend buying it for anyone who seriously listens to jazz, or any kind of music (if you want to have a better life, listen to a wide variety of music, that way you find out what you like.) The Magic City engulfs you and causes you to see things you wouldn't normally see. The songs not only are monumental in their sound, but monumental in their ability to represent visual themes, such as outer space and "the Magic City" itself, Birmingham Alabama. Listen to this CD at your local store, then buy it if you like it.

I'm not going to compare "Magic City" to other jazz albums of the 60's, because it deserves a wider audience than only Sun Ra fans or free jazz afficionados. This album is distinct and amazing even in Sun Ra's eccentric ouevre, and it is without peer. If you appreciate the myriad attempts of 20th Century composers to reach the musical outer limits, such as those of Webern, Berg, Stravinsky, Varese, Bartok, Messiaen, Boulez, Zappa, etc., this is an album you will want to hear. Its textures, sonorities, and extremes of mood, from humor to terror and dread, put it in the august company of every musician who has put a soundtrack to consciousness and creation, to science and synthesis, to form generating itself in pure music. Get it!

This (IMHO) is one of the finest releases from Sun Ra and the Arkestra. Accessable to the neophyte and satisfying to those familiar with Ra's music. Strong composition and execution. RECOMMENDED!

Recorded in two sessions - November 1, 1978, and January 4, 1979 - the album yielded a defining song, Space Is The Place, within the vast discography of studio releases.

Space Fling has a bouncy beat and Manhattan Cocktail - the longest piece - captures the future visions of Sun Ra. Flamingo and The Sunny Side Of The Street are more traditional in theory, but are intriguing intersections of the past with the present.

Released in 1979, the oftentimes hard-to-find gem shows a master at work in the studio with a special artistic confidence to utilize a large canvas to capture celestial happiness.

This is a considerably different set form the Sun Ra Arkestra when put next to "Languidity" which was recorded during the same time frame. This is a straght ahead album with alot more energy and vigor and less of an avante gurade slant to the proceedings. I believe the Arkestra could swing from both albums during the same concert and what a great show that would be to see.
CUrrently they list this as out of print from Amazon[.com] but if you really love The Arkestra from the early to mid 80s when they fully embraced music from big bands standards sonng books from the 40s and 50s this is defintely worth searching out.
Be warned I dont think Sun Ra or the Arkestra ever made a substandard album in their careers and this includes the current Arkestra as led by Marshall Allen who continue to tour and record today.

Here is a gem of a Sun Ra album. No one package can
summarize the diversified genius of the mighty Myth
Realist, but there are a handful of albums which
provide a sweet pictoral for ear and mind. SUPERSONIC
JAZZ and JAZZ IN SILHOUETTE present sumptuous views
into the early years of multiharmoic pioneering, and
stomping good jams to boot! NOTHING IS and LIVE AT
MONTREUX offer the further discpline which Ra and
his Arkestra has brought into the entire realm of
Music, let alone the Jazz avant garde.

With the yet-unavailable-on-CD OMNIVERSE, THE OTHER SIDE
OF THE SUN is an impeccable peek into both the traditional
AND transitional drives which make the master poet/pianist/
arkestrator so deliciously deadly. From the jaunty jump
of "Space Fling" to the heady ethereal conjure of
"Manhattan Cocktail", you know you're on one serious
voyage conducting you through the cosmic and the down
home with a firm smile.
Taste the saucy boogaloo of this album's version of "Space
Is The Place", or the haunting allure by which the standard
"Flamingo" calls to the heart and soul, and ponder those
who endlessly speak of Ra and Arkestra as nonmusical
noisemakers. Add a genuinely-upbeat rendition of "The
Sunny Side Of The Street", and you have a classic album
of Sweet Black Music, great and warming.

From the late 1970s, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SUN is full
of spirit and strength. I invite you to check the great
personnel which fuels this edition of the Arkestra, that
you may know the masters by their most joyful sound, ever
around...

I'm glad this is in print, but it's far from being Ra's best work from this time frame. This is a fairly traditional album that will have more appeal for middle-of-the-road jazz consumers than for Ra's usual target audience. All in all a very "normal" album.

Be aware, this album has NOTHING to do with the "Batman" TV series or any of the movies. Aside from the cover art, a riff on the TV series theme song, and the song titles, there is nothing here that is related to the "Batman" franchise. That said - this is a true "flash from the past", music that you might have heard in numerous smaller clubs across the United States during the mid-1960's. While others have dismissed it, my fave cut is "Flight of the Batman" complete with the silly sound effects and the echo. C'mon, it's just plain FUN and so reminiscent of the "garage bands" I enjoyed locally. Bottom line - if you are looking for a TV or movie soundtrack, you will be disappointed. However, if you want some fun 1960s music, enjoy!

Time to give credit where due! I heard this album over and over from about age 5 until maybe age 10 and, admittedly, it sunk in. However, to hear it now, in my forties, and as a self-described connoisseur of music, I'm quite impressed! I'm eclectic about my favorite tracks, but here goes:

"Batman and Robin Over the Roofs" has a real 'sixties funk sound that perhaps only someone from that era can relate to, but the groove is so engaging I think the song will capture anyone with a soul and perhaps a vivid imagination. As it goes for nearly seven minutes and fades, I think you'll beg for more of the same.

"Batmobile Wheels" is, alas, J. S. Bach(maybe!)-inspired, if you believe "Minuet in G Major" to be Bach's composition. The solo horn (perhaps french horn) is not credited on the album, but deserves kudos for originality with a mid-'sixties semi-comical ad-lib, reminiscent of TV series music of the time (e.g The Flintstones and other Hanna Barbera creations).

Finally, the track that literally takes my breath away is The Riddler's Retreat, with it's pseudo surf city trans-inducing riffs. That must be Marshall Allen on alto-sax. Sweet!! If you hear this one with your eyes closed, don't be surprised if black and white images of 'sixties beach scenes are conjured up. Oh, and let's not forget the guitar sound here. There's a bit of early Beatles sound, ala "She Loves You."

Overall, it's a great album for 'sixties instrumental music lovers who don't mind some classics sampling, such as the Bach sound mentioned earlier, some Hell's Angels theme heard in Batman's Baymorang (sic), and even some of Chopin's "Militaire", heard in Penguin's Umbrella. You might even love what Sun Ra & The Blues Project has done with these pieces from the distant past. Enjoy!

Alright, we know what this is, so here's a simple breakdown:

The title track is a classic rockin' R&B version of the Batman theme, "Batman and Robin Over the Roofs" is an excellent jam and "Robin's Theme" is smokin'!!

"Batman and Robin Swing" is the most interesting of the classically based pieces, "Batmobile Wheels" has fairly interesting classical brass hooks, "Riddler's Retreat" is a quite nice classical sax rendition.

"Penguin Chase" is an odd organ workout with a surf solo nearly ending like a sick Eugene Chadboune bit; while "Flight of the Batman" is uninspired R&B (about like a Boots Randolph cover band except with penny whistle, oddball sound effects, ghoulish laughter and a nice guitar solo!?); and "Joker Is Wild" starts as pedestrian Blues based Surf with a great harmonica, then gets in the groove when the bizarre effect laden Jews harp drops in!? These three fall into the fairly goofy novelty category, but if you're digging the mood of this album; essential.

"Penguin's Umbrella" is repetitive classical, and "The Bat Cave" is just standard blues riffage; and neither one is particularly worth keeping unless you've loved this album since elementary school.

For those who like the quirkyness of Sun Ra, or early electric caucasian Blues; this album would be of historic value to you. Admitedly, the concept of marrying these two bands together to do R&B meets Surf covering Classical is intriguing, and there's a good chance it will grow on you. If musical intellectualism and over-analysis ain't for you; it's straight-forward innocent fun too!

I still have the LP of this album and was very glad to get the CD. Although this is not the original TV theme music, it is very close and certainly has all the 60's feel of the original...

The Batman Theme is the main reason for most folks buying this album but my favorite piece is The Joker is Wild...and I didn't see this cut on any other Batman album.

If you're looking for great 60s, discoteque style music, this is a great album!

I LOVE THIS ALBUM. Seriously. Track 2/Batman's Batmorang (sic) is one of my favorite all-time jams. Why? I don't know. I love the horns for one.

Batman and Robin over the Roofs? It's almost seven amazing minutes long.
This album is ALL OVER THE PLACE. Jazz, Blues, Rock, Surf (Punk) Guitar!
There is not a real bum track here except maybe the overly silly "Flight of the Batman" with the penny whistle (?) sound effects.
The guitar in The Penguin Chase is pure Surf Guitar! Dig the harmonica in there too.
If he's been alive I'd swear that Joe Meek would have been behind this!

Today, 30 July 2007, was the first time I'd heard this album since I was
15 and I recalled note for note at least 9 tracks! I wore out 2 vinyl
copies of this as a kid and I still have one worn copy in my collection.

I might have tried to play that but I forgot about this missing link until last week when 2 co-workers named Dan and Dale were talking to me and I said ......'whoa' kinda like Keanu Reeves.
That got me looking. And allmusic.com told me who Dan & Dale really were and even gave this jem a 4 star rave.
I found a mint vinyl copy and this import CD. I bought the CD first.
I have played this 4 times now and I am not insane or tired of it yet.

Well, maybe I'm insane.
I had NO idea Sun Ra or any of Al Kooper's group played on this until I read allmusic.com's write up of the Mythical "Dan & Dale".
Listening to it now it makes no difference. It still sounds like some surf/blues/jazz band jamming in a studio. Honestly, I am very schooled in music but I never would have thought this to be Steve Katz, Sun Ra or anybody THAT famous.
Heck, I thought Dan & Dale might be playing a state fair somewhere this week.

Buy this album. Myth or Not: it's GREAT! It's NOT a kiddy album.
Now someone tell me if "Batmobile Wheels" riff is from another tune!
Please