Sun Ra footage

Before leaving Exeter recently, some Sun Ra came up in a last.fm stream I was listening to with Vicky and Pok - something recorded live in Egypt in '71. This, in combination with an anti-Disney essay I'd just been reading then reminded me of something James O'Donnell - an old friend in Wisconsin - had brought to my attention some time in the late 80's: the "Pink Elephants on Parade" section of the Disney film Dumbo, which he described as "incredibly psychedelic" (and the music for which, I'd later been told, was composed by Mr. Ra). So, as you do these days, I searched YouTube. James was right!


Actually, I've just discovered that Sun Ra covered the original Disney tune, and someone has synch'd his recording with the Dumbo footage. Which is sort of disappointing...but it's also good to know that Ra never dealt with the evil Disney empire!

This then led to further searching for Sun Ra footage. We weren't disappointed. Here's some amateur cine footage of the Cosmic Arkestra (or whatever his band was called at that point) in Egypt (and Sardinia) in '71:


..and here are two parts of a mini-documentary called Spaceways




Loads more Sun Ra footage here!