In the history of America, there is perhaps no single person more important to the second half of the 20th century than Sun Ra. He is an enigma, a riddle, a veritable sphinx. The first real Afro Futurist, he led the way by not following anyone, going on a singular path while taking an exceptionally talented group of musicians with him. He falls between jazz and rock, classical and psychedelic, this world and the one he created single-handedly. There was no one else like him. How he ever managed to make a movie as strange as 'Space is the Place' is perhaps the greatest mystery.
Sun Ra was born as Herman Blount in Birmingham, Alabama in 1914, but spent the rest of his life ignoring that fact. While in college he was, by his own later confession, abducted by aliens. Or beamed up to Saturn. It's hard to get the specifics right, but it was a life altering experience. After a miserable time in the military, Herman moved to Chicago, were he found work as a piano player for the great Wynonie Harris. He did everything, from arranging doo wop to solo piano. For an idea of the insane versatility of his work, I would recommend 'The Singles'.
Herman became Sunny Ray, then Sun Ra. Along the way, he started building a jazz big band during a time in the early 1950s when all other large jazz ensembles were disbanding due to the economics of the time - television for short. Sun Ra was tireless; writing, arranging, playing keyboards. His group became the Arkestra, and they played his spaced out jazz.
Space age bachelor pad music was nothing special in the 1950s. With the advent of stereo sound and long playing records, many band leaders were making themed albums reflecting the burgeoning space race, such as Martin Denny, Les Baxter, and Esquivel. Usually, it was a chance to play with sound in the studio, novelty a-go-go, a precursor to psychedelia. Not so with Sun Ra.
Ra's sophisticated music had its roots in Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn; the exotic material that the duo developed for the Cotton Club during the 1920s and 1930s, themed stage shows, jazz variations on the conceptual music of Ravel and Debussy. Sun Ra wasn't interested in studio trickery; he wanted a big band that could do anything and go anywhere at any time. He adopted his new identity, forging his own philosophy from the ground up, building on black nationalism and turning it cosmic. Ra had discipline and an unreal work ethic; the amazing fact was how he spread his philosophy and work ethic to the band, often keeping key musicians forty years. The Arkestra still performs to this day, over 65 years after its inception.
The Arkestra was a way of life based on the thinking of Sun Ra. Here was a black man who simply rejected the white power structure, ignoring it, trying to bring his own race up to an equal stature. To accomplish that, he used the space race to counter the "white = good / black = bad" dichotomy. Space was black, it was infinite, it surrounded us. It was earth that had the problem, earth that was out of balance. That message would continue until Ra's death.
Sun Ra was serious and deadpan; his outlook worked because he never broke character. He was as hard on the black race as he was on the white. Anyone without commitment was fair game. He adopted Egyptian mythology while claiming that he was from Saturn. I'm sure he was laughed at and indulged, but the music was good. There was a constant deluge of released; a true discography is impossible because Ra often recorded (on vinyl) rehearsals and sold these one-of-a-kind documents at concerts. Amazon lists 157 albums. There are many more.
Ra did the quintessential American thing; he reinvented himself and came out a winner. Just as Samuel Clemmons, confederate deserter, wound up in San Francisco, becoming Mark Twain the famous author, so Herman Blount went to Chicago and became Sun Ra, the revolutionary jazz band leader. Perhaps the real comparison should be to Moses, leading a chosen group through the desert as a spiritual leader, trying to get to the Promised Land for 40 years.
The Arkestra intact, Ra moved to New York City in 1961. The band moved in communally, able to rehearse day and night. Praise started to come in from Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk. Coltrane started doing outer space albums, or spiritual ones like 'A Love Supreme'. Pharaoh Sanders joined for a spell. Critics started to write favorably, although audiences were often baffled.
Records were released for a short time on the ESP label, perhaps the strangest record company ever. ESP was formed to release recording in Esperanto, a universal language supposed to break down barriers, thus causing world peace. Typical of other acts they distributed were the Fugs and the Holy Modal Rounders, pure 1960s nut jobs. Ra was in place when the psychedelic revolution began; he was already out of this world, everyone else was simply catching up.
There was success; the cover of Rolling Stone, lecturing at Berkeley, Saturday Night Live. The discs kept coming from all kind of labels, at any opportunity, studio or live. They moved to Germantown, a section of Philadelphia because it was cheaper than NYC. Then came the European tour. It went on forever, and it went to Egypt.
Keep in mind that these people didn't move lightly. There were dancers, sound men, children, fire breathers; there was never enough money. Not a problem for Sun Ra. He would want it to happen, and it would happen. Gigs would appear magically in the next town where they needed to travel. The rock and fusion world started to take notice. Miles Davis used Ra's oboe sound on 'Bitch's Brew'. They played on the same bill as the Stooges and the MC5.
Of all the things that Sun Ra and his Arkestra were ever involved in, the movie 'Space is the Place' must be the strangest. It qualifies as the strangest movie ever made, anywhere, anytime. Strangely, it is very true to the philosophy of Ra, not watered down at all. Cloaked in Blaxploitation, with huge doses of science fiction, surrealism, and pure weirdness, Ra got one shot and did the most with it.
It was a weird shoot that only could have happened in Frisco at that particular time. A cultural community that was willing to support such an out-there venture, help from the notorious Mitchell brothers, a director from public TV, and artists like Gage Taylor helping with set direction. They all lined up to help with the very low budget production. It is perfect Sun Ra, perfect early 1970s, a cutting examination of African-American politics, both internal and external, a look inside the Bay Area culture during this time. All this, besides being absolutely lunatic from first frame to last.
It was not tomfoolery; there was a serious message there, for both black and white. Sun Ra never had trouble letting his freak flag high and put everything into the movie. It begins with a space ship landing on earth, quickly escalating to a card game for the destiny of the black race. Hilarity ensues, and, after much plot and music, ends rather cheerfully with the destruction of the earth.
The input of the Mitchell brothers seemed to be limited to helping with some sets. Johnny Keyes shows up in both 'Behind the Green Door' and 'Space is the Place'. As was typical, the influence of Sun Ra only seemed to radiate outwards; he insisted on a short edit eliminating some of the sex and bordello scenes. The Mitchell brothers, on their next movie, were obviously impressed by the intergalactic aspects and incorporated them into their colossal mess, 'Sodom & Gomorrah; The Last Seven Days', perhaps the only Biblical porn parody ever made.
I first saw the movie as a midnight show, where it left the all-white audience completely baffled. I liked it but didn't have a frame of reference. I still don't, but enough history has gone by for me to know that Ra pulled a big one over on everybody. He got his message out undiluted in a way that can be seen as serious or ridiculous, straight or camp, jazz or rock, exploitation or spiritual. Like his music, the movie returns what you bring to it and what you put into it.
Once the VHS was available, I had to have a copy. It was the short version, the one I had previously seen. Only when the DVD was released in 2003 did I witness the longer cut, full of more sex and even some violence. It doesn't matter; it's not what you will take away from a viewing. Witnessing the Ra ship landing, you see the future of Funkadelic or Earth Wind & Fire. The movie is still ahead of its time.
I first came across Ra around the time of the release of the movie. A group of us would gather, have a smoke, a drink, and listen to weird music. Points were given for finding the strangest sounds. Captain Beefheart, Wild Man Fisher, Moondog; all were spun, along with lame hypnotism and the odd rock platter. The sole black guy in the group started bringing in Sun Ra. Every album was vastly different; cool jazz, free jazz, vocals, electronic noise. I asked him about Ra's mystique, noting the dime store jewelry and cheesy science fiction.
He replied, 'It's a white man's world. What else can he do but make it work for himself." What else, indeed.
Sun Ra made it work for his entire Arkestra up until his death in 1993, and the band still gigs frequently. His music was unique, using electronic keyboards, chanting, massed drumming. There was a documentary in 1980, the more straight-forward 'A Joyful Noise'. But 'Space is the Place' is the entire insane package put together, on a shoestring and in your face. It is glorious.
Starting with nothing then working with nothing for decades, Sun Ra continually produced staggering amounts of work for over half a century. His influence goes deep, even if it is nothing more than allowing your creativity free reign in the face of a hostile world. Writing books, creating a philosophy and a cosmology that freed him from white oppression, there was no other African American like Sun Ra, ever. Accepting by judgmental, forgiving but demanding, he lived and died trying to be all things to all people. You need to check out 'Space is the Place', if only to have your mind and preconceptions blown away.
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