Sun Ra - Batman and Robin - The Sensational Guitars of Dan & Dale (1966)

No joke - this album is a little glimpse of heaven. This reviewer has imagined the latter as having (among many things) its own version of Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, circa 1964-1965, with Fred Neil, Jimi Hendrix, Phil Ochs, Gene Clark, the Serendipity Singers, Art & Paul, Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, and a hundred other acts playing every night, any night; the music on this album makes me think of something like I'd probably hear if I walked in on a Blues Project rehearsal in that celestial sphere. It is the Blues Project (possibly without Al Kooper, who says he didn't make the session, regardless of what the CD and our ears say), with Sun Ra on the Hammond B-3 organ, John Gilmore and Marshall Allen on tenor and alto, respectively, Pat Patrick on bass, and Jimmy Owens and Tom McIntosh on trumpet and trombone. And apart from the first track and the packaging (which probably cost more, for the licensing of the Batman images, than the session did), none of it has anything to do with Batman or comic books. The story is this -- sometime in 1966, producer Tom Wilson persuaded (probably with the offer of some quick bucks) Sun Ra and members of his band, and the members of the Blues Project, to lay down 35 minutes of music for a Batman and Robin album credited to "The Sensational Guitars of Dan & Dale." It was a quickie exploitation effort sponsored by some toy company in New Jersey (where these sessions were cut) intended to sell some dance music for discotheques and parties by cashing in on the craze surrounding the Batman television program. The album, showing the Caped Crusader and his partner swinging down on bat-ropes, has been a denizen of dollar-record bins and nostalgia shows for decades, and just happens to feature some of the hottest musicians in New York City; beyond Sun Ra and his band, there's Danny Kalb, Andy Kulberg, Steve Katz, and Roy Blumenfeld, who at that time was one of the best bands working in the city. Most of side one is attributed to Sun Ra and his band, though Kalb and Katz seem to be all over the place, assuming they're the only guitarists (and it sounds like them), while side two is attributed principally to the Blues Project -- certainly "The Joker Is Wild" is the Blues Project, and if Al Kooper wasn't at these sessions, then Sun Ra turned down considerably on this cut. "Batman and Robin Over the Roofs" features Jimmy Owens prominently, along with Sun Ra and the two guitarists, in the longest jam on this record (which, as a statement of quality, is also one of the best cuts). No, Batman and Robin doesn't match the importance of the Blues Project's own official recordings, or anything that Sun Ra was doing officially, but what a chance to hear these guys kicking back for a half-hour's anonymous blues jamming. Everything here, apart from the Neal Hefti "Batman Theme" is public domain blues built on some familiar material (including Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Bach), one cut, appropriately entitled "The Riddler's Retreat," quotes riffs and phrases from a half-dozen Beatles songs, and another, "The Bat Cave," that's this group's answer to "Green Onions" (and a good answer, too). Along with Sun Ra, who dominates every passage he plays on, Steve Katz and Danny Kalb are the stars here, romping and stomping over everything as they weave around each other, while Gilmore, Allen, and Owens occasionally stepping to the fore, Blumenfeld makes his percussion sound downright tuneful in a few spots, and some anonymous female singers throw out a lyric or two on a pair of cuts, just as a distraction. Andy Kulberg and Pat Patrick alternate the bass chores, and at times they're practically playing additional lead instruments. It's all almost too good to be true, catching the Blues Project when they were still playing together happily -- maybe this isn't the jam they would have wanted preserved 35-plus years later, but neither is it embarrassing, and fans of either Sun Ra or the Blues Project might well want this record just for the sheer strangeness of it. Italy's Universe records has reissued Batman and Robin in gorgeous sound, re-creating the original cover art and making it into a gatefold, with some irrelevant '70s-era Batman panels printed inside. Note: Some of these same tracks, or others out of the same session, were repackaged as horror film-focused albums, which are less well known and have yet to show up on CD.     - Bruce Eder, allmusic.com           

 

Tracklist:                           

A1	Batman Theme
A2	Batman's Batmorang
A3	Batman And Robin Over The Roofs
A4	The Penguin Chase
A5	Flight Of The Batman
A6	Joker Is Wild
B1	Robin's Theme
B2	Penguin's Umbrella
B3	Batman And Robin Swing
B4	Batmobile Wheels
B5	The Riddler's Retreat
B6	The Bat Cave

 

Sun Ra - Batman and Robin - The Sensational Guitars of Dan & Dale (1966)

(320 kbps, cover art included)