Guest Appearances
Sun Ra As Sideman
Guest Appearances
Sun Ra As Sideman
A: Lightning Struck the Poorhouse
B: Dig this Boogie
Harris-voc; Jackie Allen-tp; unknown-as; Sonny Blount (Sun Ra)-p;
unknown-b; unknown-d. Recorded Nashville, 1946
Reissued on Krazy Kat KK783, Nashville Jumps. [Webber and Trent] Trent says that the altoist plays in a distinctive Chicago R&B manner. Ra's piano style on Dig This Boogie is comparable to the Chicago blues playing he went in for in the late 1970s; cf. the "Chicago 1943" scene in Space Is the Place.
A: Drinking by Myself
B: My Baby's Barrelhouse Harris-voc; Jackie Allen-tp; unknown-as; Sonny Blount (Sun Ra)-p; unknown-b; unknown-d. Recorded Nashville, 1946.
Reissued on Route 66 KIX3, Mr. Blues Is Coming to Town, and KIX20, Oh Babe. [Webber]
A: St. Louis Blues
B: She Only Fools with Me Gene Wright-b; Hobart Dotson-tp; John Avant-tb; Roy Grant (or Frank Robinson)-as; Yusef Lateef-ts; Sonny Blount (Sun Ra)-p; Robert Henderson-d. The Dozier Boys-voc on St. Louis Blues and She Only Fools with Me. Recorded in Chicago, 10-11/48.
[Buzelin and Stahl; correct title for the B side from Lord]
According to Lord's Jazz Discography, Invitation to the Blues and possibly another version of Big Time Baby (both with vocals) were recorded at this session but not released.
A: Big Time Baby
B: Music Goes Round and Round
Gene Wright-b; Hobart Dotson-tp; John Avant-tb; Roy Grant (or Frank Robinson)-as; Yusef Lateef-ts; Sonny Blount
(Sun Ra)-p; Robert Henderson-d. The Dozier Boys-voc on both sides. Recorded in Chicago,
Š10-11/48. [Buzelin and Stahl]
A: Pork 'n' Beans
B: Dawn Mist
Gene Wright-b; Hobart Dotson-tp; John Avant-tb; Roy Grant (or Frank Robinson)-as; Yusef Lateef-ts; Sonny Blount
(Sun Ra)-p; Robert Henderson-d. Recorded in Chicago, 10-11/48. [Buzelin and Stahl]
Ra was always cagey about his presence on these singles (he did confirm working with the Dukes of Swing). Julian Vein says that the pianist on these two sides is similar to the player on the Wynonie Harris session (G1 and G2).
Riverboat
Summertime (Gershwin)
Lawdy Miss Lucy
Sonny Cohn-tp; Flip Ricard-tp; Marty Martinez-tb; Harlan "Booby" Floyd-tb; Porter Kilbert-as; Leon Washington-ts;
Mac (McKinley) Easton-bs; Earl Washington-p; Jimmy Richardson-b; Saunders-d. Sun Ra-arr. Chicago, 12/31/53.
[liners to CHV 415, courtesy of Bill Kenz]
According to Julian Vein, the arrangements are by Sun Ra. He has no hard evidence, just the knowledge that Ra did arrangements for Saunders and the fact that some Ra touches can be heard on G6 and G7. Recorded for Chess Records, unreleased till the early 70s. First two items issued on the LP CHV 415, Southside Jazz. The last issued on Leo Parker/Sahib Shihab/Red Saunders, The Late Great King of the Baritone Sax (CHV 413). [Trent]
It's Raining Again
Detour Ahead
Time for Moving
Always on the Blue Side
Joe Williams-voc; with the Red Saunders Band: Sonny Cohn-tp; Riley Hampton-as; Leon Washington-ts; McKinley
Easton-bs; Earl Washington-p; Ike Perkins-eg; Walt Champion-b; Red Saunders-d. Sun Ra, arr. Chicago, supposedly
1954.
6 tracks were recorded at this session; according to Julian Vein, these 4 have arrangements by Sun Ra (the other two were In the Evening and Blow Mr. Low). Personel listd in Leslie Gourse's book, Every Day: the Story of Joe Williams (Quartet Books, 1985). She says Williams gives 1950 as the date. Gourse gives 1941 as the opening date for the "new" Club DeLisa, but no closing date (in fact, the club was still functioning, perhaps in a diminished state, in 1956). In any case, Williams left to join Count Basie around Christmas 1954. The liner notes to Chess 415, by Joe Segal, state that Saunders' band was resident at the DeLisa for no less than 22 years (which would have to include the "old" club).
Side A:
Batman Theme (Hefti)
Batman's Batmorang [should be Batmarang]
Batman and Robin over the Roofs
The Penguin Chase
Flight of the Batman
Joker Is Wild
Side B:
Robin's Theme
Penguin's Umbrella
Batman and Robin Swing
Batmobile Wheels
The Riddler's Retreat
The Bat Cave
unknown-tp; unknown-tb; Pat Patrick-bs; John Gilmore-ts; Marshall Allen-as; unknown-hca; Sun Ra-Hammond B-3 org
(on Batman Theme and probably the other items on Side A); Al Kooper-org (Side B); Steve Katz-lead eg; Danny
Kalb-eg; Andy Kulberg-eb; Roy Blumenfeld-d; unknown female vocalists (on Batman Theme); unknown female
vocalist (on Robin's Theme).
An LP, about 34 minutes long, produced by Tom Wilson for a toy company in Newark, New Jersey. January 1966. [Ed Bland via Pleshar; thanks to Pat Padua for matrix numbers 11- 5 1-66 on mono version and 12-5 1-66 on stereo version, as well as a tape and a reproduction of the cover (background color is slightly different on the mono version); thanks to Richard Shapiro and Rick McRae for information about The Blues Project around this time.]
To save money, every track except the Batman Theme was based on public domain items like Chopin's Polonaise Op. 53, horn theme from slow movement of Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, love theme from Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, and lots of perdurable early rock riffs. [rlc]
Ed Bland also used Ra and Arkestrans on rock sessions and with blues/R&B singer Popcorn Wylie (supposedly on Epic records). Details unknown.
includes:
[Side A:]
[3.] The Ballad of Smokey Joe [medley containing Minnie the Moocher (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler, Cab Calloway) / Kicking the Gong Around (Arlen, Koehler, Calloway) 4:38]
[5.] The Old Man of the Mountain (Calloway) [2:55]
[Side 2]
[3.] Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime? (Harburg-Gorney) [4:08]
Phil Alvin (voc) with Sun Ra & the Arkestra: Ra-p; Fred Adams-tp; Al Evans-tp, flg; Tyrone Hill-tb; Marshall Allen-as, fl; John Gilmore-cl, ts; Eloe Omoe-bcl, as; Danny Thompson-bs, as; Ronald Wilson-ts; James Jacson-bsn; Bruce Edwards-eg; Rollo Radford-eb; Arthur O'Neil-d; Stanley Morgan-d, cga; June Tyson-voc. Variety Studios, New York, 1986.
[Album jacket; rest of the album by Phil Alvin and others] Alvin's opus is a homage to various black performers he admires, including Leadbelly and Peetie Wheatstraw. The three pieces with Sun Ra revisit Cab Calloway and his repertoire. [rlc]
The band went to the studios immediately after a gig at Sweet Basil (was it March? or later in the year?). They arrived at 7 AM; the session began at 8:30 AM and went on till 1:30 am the next morning. Ra left the piano only three times during the session; he wrote out the entire arrangements of the three tunes (none of which the band had ever played before) based only on vague indications provided by Phil Alvin. [Thompson]
One track, Face the Sun, features about one minute of Sun Ra's sampled declamation (credited to Blast First records) along with The Grid (a duo). [Szwed, Trent]
Only Time Will Tell (Stuff Smith) (5:33)
Satin Doll (Ellington-Mercer) (8:01)
Deep Purple (DeRose-Parish) (6:24)
Bugle Blues (Stuff Smith) (2:52)
A Foggy Day in London Town (Gershwin-Gershwin) (3:58)
April in Paris (Duke-Harburg) (5:18)
Lover Man (Davis-Sherman-Ramirez) (6:27)
Yesterdays (Kern-Harbach) (4:12)
Billy Bang-vln; Sun Ra-p; John Ore-b; Andrew Cyrille-d. Sear Sound, New York, 9/20-22/92.
[CD leaflet; Ra is credited with playing synthesizer but none can be heard on the released tracks]
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