Nuclear War

Here's Yo La Tengo in 2002 covering Sun Ra's 1984 composition.  Vocals and percussion are by Ira Kaplan, Georgia Hubley and James McNew, and the backing vocals are by their kids and family August Kaplan, Hillary Hubley, and Isaac Hubley, along with Claire Hill, Stephen Hill, Erin Schwartz, Eufemia Vercillo, Isabel Ramirez, Leila Rosenthal, Max Rosenthal, and Sophie Rick.

I saw Sun Ra perform this piece one night in 1984 at Atlanta's now-defunct Moonshadow Saloon, It blew my mind that night as much as hearing Yo La Tengo having their way with it does now. However, I don't recall too much else now about that boozy night at the Moonshadow other than Nuclear War and the sheer thrill of sharing a barroom with Sun Ra and the Arkestra.

I've actually been fortunate enough to have seen Sun Ra in New York and Boston multiple times during the period of approximately 1974 to 1980, including an epic five-night residency in Boston's Orpheum Theater, as well as less frequently in the 80s and on up until he left this plane of existence in 1993.  

I even got to meet him in real life a couple of times, once on the subway in New York and another time coming out of a matinee screening of Invasion of the Body Snatchers in Boston.  We didn't exactly have conversations on those occasions (although I'm sure that there is much that he could have taught me) other than my acknowledging that he was indeed Sun Ra, but let me say this - the man was always in character.

Yo La Tengo are heavily influenced by Sun Ra, and they named their classic album And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside Out after a Sun Ra quote ("At first, there was nothingness, and then nothingness turned itself inside out.").  Not that there aren't a lot of other bands out there with Sun Ra influences, ranging from NRBQ to Akron/Family. 

I actually meant to talk here about nuclear war (I'm against it), but there's no way that I'm going to post about Sun Ra and his music without including something by the man himself.  There's no date on this video, but I'm going to guess it's sometime between 1972 to 1976 just by the appearance of things.  This is really, seriously, what his shows were like back then, with the dancers, the singers, the free improvisations, and the sing-along sermons.  So without further to-do, I'm just going to assume that you're against nuclear war, too, and let Sun Ra himself get in the last words.