Sun Ra with Ted Nugent

Did Sun Ra really make a record with Ted Nugent? Or is this just a rumor spread about "Black Antiques"?

Britney's cover of Funkadelic's "Red Hot Mama"

Just a rumor. But Sun Ra *was* going to be the keyboardist in Damn Yankees until it was discovered he wasn't a big fan of Night Ranger.

"Can I take you high enough? Pretty sure I can. Is Saturn high enough for you?"

have you already seen this

This is quite a diverse album, even by Sun Ra standards. There's a big electric guitar presence on here, in a seriously rock-guitar-solo way too, which is pretty unusal for a Ra album. There were rumors of it being Ted Nugent, but according to the Sun Ra discography the guitarist was "a medium height Afro-American of lean build", so I guess that rules Mr. Nugent out.

http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/sun_ra/the_antique_blacks/

one Ra album I've always wanted but never been able to get my hands on

Yeah, the late great, I was actually referring "The Antique Blacks".

it just got reissued by art yard, i have it here on the coffee table

oooh!

love those art yard reissues

it is as good as everyone says it is, i was kind of unimpressed w/ art yard after "disco 3000" and "media dreams", especially compared to the atavistic sun ra reissues that came out around the same time, but this one and "nidhamu / dark myth equation" are really amazing

"space probe" is really good too, haven't heard the newest live one (the ann arbor jazz festival recordings which are probably insane)

One of those Ann Arbor records is amazing, but one has a LOT of recitation, and can be safely avoided. And of course I can't remember which is which right now.

I have three of those Ann Arbor jazz fest reissues, they're pretty solid, I forget which one is best.

I really liked the Disco 3000 reissue! didn't get the Media Dreams one.

for some reason I want to say the "It Is Forbidden" one is the better set, altho it has the shittiest sleeve

i liked "disco 3000" and "media dreams" a lot, i meant that i didn't like the ones after (sleeping beauty, on jupiter, purple star zone) that i didn't like so much

horizon was ok but i prefer the other recordings from the same egypt trip, the salah ragab disc i like but wasn't really thinking about it

i know there are a lot of people who like the ones i listed but they're too, uh, "80s sun ra" for me, maybe same reason i never really got into nuclear war or strange celestial roads

it's not even the playing or the songs, i just don't really like the *sound* of those albums, needs more murkiness

yeah I like all those, except for Purple Star Zone, which I haven't heard

I don't think this is new information, still pleasantly surprising:
http://www.vh1.com/news/208534/ted-nugent-quotes-about-music/

19. Unexpected Influences
“I’m aware of Yusef Lateef and Sun Ra and John Coltrane. My music cup runneth over. I try to encourage people: don’t cut anything off, don’t limit yourself. Give it a good listen: you might find something in that goofy Sun Ra noise, that dissonance. Before I learned ‘official musicality’ – which you should avoid at all costs – I listened to some Sun Ra and Yusef Lateef and John Coltrane and that’s where ‘Journey to the Center of the Mind’ came from. When you intentionally and aggressively pursue musical communication with those powerfully impactful musical geniuses, you will pick up something.”

Didn'yt Sun Ra live next door to one of the MC5 or the Trans Love Energies commune at some point in the 60s. So the Detroit/ra interchange was more with them than the Amboy Dukes or anybody.

THough Ra/Arkestra or whatever they were called at the time were living in Detroit or Ann Arbor for a while,not just visting the festivals. I'm assuming the latter was a by product of the former, & if they were living next to TLE then there was presumably contact with John Sinclair at that point, if it was before he went to jail.

ok I'll admit I was surprised by "I’m aware of Yusef Lateef"

MC5 Nugent and Ra were all running around Detroit around the same time, they were def all aware of each other (especially Ra and the MC5 - the last time I saw the Arkestra Kramer was playing guitar with them)

here's Sinclair interviewing Ra in '66: http://www.blastitude.com/13/ETERNITY/sun_ra2.htm

The MC5 and Sun Ra shared bills a bunch of times.

And Yusef Lateef was part of the same Detroit scene as the Jones brothers (Hank, Thad, and Elvin), Paul Chambers, Kenny Burrell, many others. Granted, this was a decade or so before the ascendance of the 5 and the Amboy Dukes, but it not unlikely that Ted first heard about him from people who'd seen him in clubs around town.

Bet this was fun:
http://theconcertdatabase.com/sites/theconcertdatabase.com/files/1969-05-16_1.jpg

Don't forget, Lateef made an album called Yusef Lateef's Detroit: Latitude 42º 30' Longitude 83º in 1969. He was definitely still a presence in the city (even if he was living in NYC) at that time.

I dunno that line-up is cool and all...but can I get on the list?

MC5 Nugent and Ra were all running around Detroit around the same time, they were def all aware of each other

I would expect so since "Starship" on Kick Out The Jams is credited to MC5/Sun Ra.

would totally pay 50 cents to see MC5, Sun Ra, and Golden Earring

"Starship" on Kick Out The Jams is credited to MC5/Sun Ra.

this confused me for the longest time, since afaict Ra never released a song called "Starship"

It's a poem, or what Sun Ra called a poem.

It's on the back of one of his albums anyway.

right, but the MC5 track is instrumental so why did they bother

or wait am I mixing it up with the Spacemen 3 version (also credited to MC5/Ra) which is instrumental

arggh I'm sure we've been over this

MC5 version definitely has lyrics.

("LEAVING. THE SOLAR SYSTEM. LEAVING. THE SOLAR SYSTEM.")

And the DKT/MC5 did a version of it in the 00s with the Marshall Allen-led Arkestra, with David Thomas doing the vocals.

Yes, that's what I meant, it's a poem set to music.

I was trying to find the photo I've seen somewhere with several Detroit bands in an office. I think it has the Stooges and Mc5 in with Funkadelic and a couple of other bands.
Not finding it through google so far.

You mean this? Stooges and MC5 and their hangers-on at their Elektra signing, but no Funkadelic.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f5/b5/72/f5b572a0c10229a81531275823d0cb64.jpg

ok I'll admit I was surprised by "I’m aware of Yusef Lateef"

But is he familiar with the works of Pablo Neruda?