Sun Ra saturn re-issues

Many of the earliest Sun Ra titles (late 50's to early '60's) on his own Saturn label have been reissued on LP from the original tapes by the original producers, which is a rare and wonderful thing. This is not news, because they have been out for a few years. I just want to mention that these pressings are excellent and the sound is suprisingly good. This is of note because the original tapes are not 'audiophile quality', and the original LP's are hard to listen to for serious audiophiles more often than not, but the material is so monumental that we MUST hear it. Ra is a pivotal figure, and the early saturns are key in his oeuvre.

They have cleaned them up MINIMALLY, which is a good thing, meaning that they only ventured in where absolutely necessary. This, and using master tapes make these reissues a rare pleasure. Often better or as good as the original LP's, and I know, I own almost all of them.

Now I am not a fan of most contemporary pressings, and certainly the '180 gram vinyl' (or whatever they call it) has been a consistent disappointment. Original pressings from the 50's-70's are almost always better. However these are worth buying if you are new to Ra. And know that a $200 original might not sound any better!

I highly recommend the following titles: We Travel the Spaceways, Atlantis, When Sun Comes Out, Interstellar Low Ways, Cosmic Tones For Mental Therapy...and the great "Magic City" (one of my all time favorites).