Sun Ra - Otherness (1974) (Reconstructed)

Otherness is a fascinating hybrid featuring tracks from Side A of the 1971 release, My Brother the Wind Volume II, alongside tracks from Side A of the 1966 recording, Outer Spaceways Incorporated.  As he is want to do, Ra toys with our conception of time by placing the more recent recordings on Side A and saves the older recordings for the B Side.  He even includes two versions of "Somebody Else's World" which gives this release a unique cohesion as we first enjoy the 1971 version featuring June Tyson's intonations of Ra's song-poem before delving into much older, extended instrumental version titled "The Wind Speaks."  Many thanks to Rev.B for bringing this hybrid to my attention and for sharing with us pics of his treasured LP. 

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 (bas, 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).

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 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 called 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 involved 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).



157. [139]  Sun Ra and his Solar Myth Arkestra

My Brother the Wind Volume II

Sun Ra (intergalactic [Farfisa] org); Kwami Hadi (tp); Akh Tal Ebah (tp, mell); Marshall Allen (as [solo], fl, picc); Danny Davis (as, acl, fl); John Gilmore (ts, perc); Danny Ray Thompson (bars, fl); Pat Patrick (bs [all solos], fl); James Jacson (ob, perc); Alejandro [Alex] Blake (b); Clifford Jarvis (d); Lex Humphries (d); Nimrod Hunt (hand drums); William Brister [Rashid Salim] (perc); Robert Cummings (perc); June Tyson (voc).

Saturn LP 523, My Brother the Wind Volume II, was released in 1971.  Some copies carry the serial number SRA 2000; some are titled Otherness.  All titles from the original release reissued in 1992 on Evidence 22040 [CD].  Evidence includes the final 2:30 of "Walking on the Moon," which was edited out of all Saturn issues by Richard Wilkinson because of poor sound engineering.  "The engineer didn't get along withSun Ra and messed up some of the tracks," resulting in his being fired, according to Wilkinson.  (The extra verses of "Walkin' on the Moon" were used in live performances during this period.)

"Otherness Blue," "Pleasant Twilight," and "Walking on the Moon" were also reissued on Saturn XI, the Saturn anthology LP titled Just Friends, in 1983.  "Otherness Blue" was also included in a 1997 Sun Ra CD sampler on Japanese Paddle Wheel KICJ 315, Sun Ra Came Down to the Earth.

Most Saturn copies of My Brother the Wind Volume II are hybrids which delete the original Side A (including "Somewhere Else" and "Contrast" from this session) and replace it with Side A of Outer Spaceways Incorporated.  Some of these hybrids carry the serial number 5221 instead of 523.  Still others are identified as Saturn LP 522 (!) on the jacket (thanks to Peter Roberts for a description of this variant, which was on sale briefly in the late 1970s).  Discographies frequently list an Impulse reissue, AS-9289, but this was never released.

Personnel from the Saturn jacket.  "Walking on the Moon" refers to the feats of Neil Armstrong and so must date from July 1969 or later.  Current date and location from Richard Wilkinson, who is firm about 1970 (the first edition of this discography gave late 1969 as the date).  Information about the rejected track from Jerry Gordon.  Gordon says that the LP was for sale in summer 1970. 

(Reconstructed)

1. A1 Otherness Blue    4:49
2. A2 Somebody Else's World    4:03
3. A3 Pleasant Twilight    3:37
4. A4 Walking On The Moon    6:13

5. B1 Chromatic Shadows    9:18
6. B2 The Wind Speaks    9:10

or