the of mirror eye

* the cosmic rays: daddy’s gonna tell you no lie (3.5 mb)
* yochanan: hot skillet mama (3.5 mb)
* juanita rogers with mr. v’s five joys: teenager’s letter of promises (3.5 mb)
from sun ra - the singles : evidence : ecd 22164-2

ah, sun ra. the man from saturn. this cosmic messenger who took listeners of his big band to alternate realities with his electric keyboards, wild charts, space chants and egyptian cosmologies. so, what was he doing peddling 7 inch singles by doo-wop vocal bands like the cosmic rays, soul/blues singers like yochanan or female soul singers like juanita rogers? what was sun ra doing leading and playing with these groups that, on the surface, have very little to do with avant garde space music? his choice of the 7 inch single was also strange, as it was a tool used by pop artists - not avant garde jazz musicians - to make the quick buck.

it seems apparent that, in the beginning at leas, ra made singles with acts like the cosmic rays and yochanan as sincere attempts to provide a platform for talents who’d either come to him or business partner/producer alton abraham for assistance and had caught their ear. ‘we were not about money,’ says abraham. ‘we were never about money. we were doing the things the creator willed us to do - to awaken the people to turn to the creator; to prepare people for the new age, the space age, an age where all things are possible by creating a new art form.’

(from the liner notes)

for whatever reason he released these, just be glad that he did. these are great slabs of soul/doo wop that on the surface seem pretty normal. but if you listen a little closer, there’s just something a little off about them. a tweaked harmony here and there, an odd piano line, intersting subject matter. this is a great collection put out by evidence records. it collects every single known to be in existence that did not appear on an album. this was a true labor of love for them as sun ra was not known to be a great archivist of his own music. he released, along with these singles, multiple albums a year in limited quantities on his own imprint with little to no distribution. so it was a miracle that these singles survived.

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