Sun Ra – Twin Stars Of Thence
Sun Ra – Lanquidity
Sun Ra – There Are Other Worlds (They Have Not Told You Of)
I’d meant to get this up on May 22nd, which would have been the 102nd birthday of Sun Ra, but in some ways, his leaving this Earthly realm on May 30th, 23 years ago, fits even better. I bought this record towards the tail end of 2015 from a type of dealer I like to call, “Elvis People.”
These are often sellers who don’t really sell many records, except a plethora of minty copies of Elvis records, but every now and again they have something a bit more special. But since they don’t know “this” kind of music or they no longer even own a record player, you (sometimes) can get a steal. In this case, I was doubly lucky, because the record had been auctioned off the previous week, but the person who won decided not to pay and so back up it went. This 1st Press copy of Lanquidity was described as “G,” often the record grading mark of death, but what was also clear from the description is that it wasn’t play tested. As you can hear, while there is some surface noise, I wouldn’t have graded this less than a VG or VG+. That’s the first win here.
The second win, was that not only is this a 1st press of Lanquidity, notable because of the pasted on front and back covers and the lack of labels on the vinyl itself, it’s also an alternate mix of the album. 
This mix sounds a bit brighter to me, nt as murky as the “regular” version. But the real pleasure is that there are extra bits of music here, including the extra greasy opening to “Twin Stars Of Thence” and a full four extra minutes to the song “That’s How I Feel.” I chatted with Cool Chris of Groove Merchant, and even he’s never had a copy of this record! So all told, I probably got this record for roughly $200 to $400 less than it “should” have sold for…I love “Elvis People.”
Cheers,
Michael