Search - Sun Ra :: Second Stop Is Jupiter

MORE 50'S DOO-WOP/RHYTHM AND BLUES FROM SUN RA

Stuart Jefferson | San Diego,Ca | 12/21/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"One disc 38 minutes in length approximately. The sound (in mono) is as good as remastering can do,but its certainly not pristine. The booklet is very informative,with a continuation (from Volume 1) of the history of Sun Ra and the doo-wop/r&b vocal groups he worked with in the 50's.



This is another (Volume 2) collection of unreleased studio and rehearsal tracks with a number of vocal groups Sun Ra worked with for various record labels,or for his own projects. This is straight doo-wop/r&b-about as far away from the Sun Ra most listeners are familiar with. There is one track by Sun Ra,"Stuff Like That There",a home recording from 1949 with Ra on piano/vocal. As on the first volume,there are no John Gilmore sax solos,no percussion workouts,and no keyboard wizardry from Sun Ra. This is music from the era when vocal groups of this type could be heard on virtually every radio station in any big city. About as close to the Ra most people are familiar with are tracks like "The Second Stop Is Jupiter",by the COSMIC RAYS,or "Spaceship Lullaby",by the NU SOUNDS. The repeated lyrics from the COSMIC RAYS sound similar to some of the repeated phrases Sun Ra would use later on,on his "space" tracks.



These tracks are similar to some of the tracks found on Sun Ra's "The Singles" set (Evidence Music),and "Spaceship Lullaby",also released under Ra's name on the Atavistic label. This is most likely for listeners who want everything Sun Ra ever recorded, or had a hand in. While this music is enjoyable in it's own right,its more of an historical interest of what Sun Ra was doing during this era in the studio,with various vocal groups. As I said in the review of Volume 1,these tracks should have been compiled to take advantage of the length of a CD. If you like doo-wop/r&b (some of it admittedly sloppy),this is an interesting set. Just don't go looking for the Sun Ra (except track 16,Sun Ra is featured on piano/vocal) most listeners are familiar with-he's not here.



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