Sun Ra Oblique Paralax (Journey Stars Beyond) on the Saturn label

$

104

TITLES
Side A: 
Oblique Parallax (Ra) 
Vista Omniverse (Ra) 
Celestial Realms (Ra) 

Side B: 
Journey Stars Beyond (Ra) LINEUP AND DATE OF RECORDING  Ra-organ and synth. 

Unknown location; recorded poss. on December 1980.

Credits

• Alto Saxophone – Marshall Allen (tracks: B) 
• Baritone Saxophone – Danny Ray Thompson (tracks: B) 
• Bass – Hayes Burnett (tracks: B) 
• Bass Clarinet – Eloe Omoe (tracks: B) 
• Drums – Samarai Celestial (tracks: A3) 
• French Horn – Vincent Chancey (tracks: A3) 
• Tenor Saxophone – John Gilmore (tracks: B) 
• Trombone – Tony Bethel (tracks: B), Tyrone Hill (tracks: B) 

Notes

A live recording emphasizing Ra's keyboard. On Celestial Realms and the first part of Journey Stars Beyond, he is joined by Vincent Chancey-french horn and Eric "Samarai" Walker- drums. The middle section of Journey Stars Beyond has a cameo appearance by the Arkestra. Jazz Center Detroit, 7/28/1981 (location according to Vincent Chancey. Could, however, be from 12/80, when the band was "in residency" there.)
Notes Printed (actually xeroxed & hand-glued) Saturn label release in white sleeve with huge Sun Ra & His Arkestra sticker on front. 
Like many late 70s Saturns, this was released either 1. as whitelabel, 2. as printed (actually xeroxed & hand-glued) Saturn label or 3. as hand-decorated (with colourful markers) whitelabel. Like many 70s/80s Saturns, it never had a cover. Only way to tell is the etching in the runout grooves. 
This LP is a so-called PHILADELPHIA-SATURN release - hand-assambled by the band in the house of Sun Ra & The Arkestra in Philadelphia at Morton Street, as opposed to the CHICAGO-SATURNS which have the El Saturn labelprint/logo and were made by Alton Abraham - the man who created the whole concept with Sun Ra back in the early 50s and cared for the business/release side of things. 
Prior to the handmade Philadelphia & printed Chicago (El) Saturns and the Thoth Intergalactics (another sub-labelname that appeared on several labelprints) which mainly were made in the 70s and 80s, original SATURN RECORDS LPs from the 50s and 60s have straight 2 colour labelprints (no images or logos, just text), don´t use the "El" on the labelprint and mostly have printed covers - yet they were often hand-assembled and also made in very small numbers (Sun Ra had special arrangements with the pressing plants to let him sometimes press 70 or 90 LPs only!). 
Saturn releases are the most obscure ones in record history, printed in ridiculously small numbers, labels & covers often handmade and sold (at concerts) by the band.  Roughly the Saturn catalogue/discography is divided according to the recording place (where the Arkestra lived and worked) - 1. the Chicago period (50s-1961), 2. the New York period (60s) and 3. the Philadelphia period (70s and 80s). 
To create even more confusion, Sun Ra sometimes took an A side of one release and the B side of another and made hybrid albums. 
By now the Saturn discography is well documented but it took decades to clear up the more than 70 LPs of Sun Ra on Saturn Records released between 1956 and 1988.