LP, heavy fluorescent orange vinyl; ltd and numbered 1/99 only, rec. August 24, 1979; first landing of the Arkestra at Squat ! on back cover there's even an elusive photo of original Squat entrance/building. Arkestra personnel during that period:John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Elo Omoe, Danny Thompson, Michael Ray, June Tyson, Pat Patrick, Hayes Burnett, and James Jackson, Jr.
"So many fond, fun memories of those magical, wonderfully endless Nights Of Ra at Squat - the time there was a massive blizzard yet the house was at least half-filled for Ra, and half the band arrived an hour late for the first show and played as hypnotically as ever, while the rest of the band gradually straggled in through the snow...and not only did nobody in the audience leave, but I believe more people filtered in to experience the Intergalactic Cosmo Jet-Set traveling circus medicine show...Or the time it was SO packed one of Ra's dancers tripped over a slightly inebriated fan sitting on the floor in front of the stage, and Ra got furious and lectured the crowd about how he oughta pick up and leave right then and there - Giorgio Gomelsky yelled from the back "but Sun Ra, he loves you! we all love you!" Giorgio and others of us in the audience engaged Ra in an intense prolonged bout of debate and pleading - talk about "cosmo drama," it was pure white-knuckle theater (how appropriate!) and Ra did finally calm down and stay to finish the show...or the time late late late one night Ra was parading through the crowd as he always did, chanting "you gotta LEAVE this planet!" and he got to the bleachers in the back where I always sat and a guy was passed out on the 2nd bleacher level and Ra leaned right in his face and screamed "YOU GOTTA LEAVE THIS PLANET!" and the guy woke up and ran outta there terrified...one time the stage was switched from the back wall to the front, with the window onto 23rd Street behind the band - so if you looked hard, you could see passersby peering in - a very "Squat Theater" thing to do!..."