Space Ghost Coast to Coast (album)

Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Soundtrack album by Sonny Sharrock
Released 1994 and 1996 (re-release)
Recorded November 19, 1993
Genre Avant-garde jazz
Free jazz
Length 14:26, 17:54 (re-release)
Label Cartoon Network
Sonny Sharrock chronology

Ask the Ages
(1991)		 Space Ghost Coast to Coast
(1994)		 Into Another Light
(1996)
Professional ratings
Review scores
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Allmusic [1]

Space Ghost Coast to Coast is a soundtrack album by Sonny Sharrock, containing music composed for Cartoon Network's Space Ghost Coast to Coast. The disc is a promotional CD advertising the first season of the series, and, as such, is a rarity and very hard to find.

Background

Sonny Sharrock agreed to provide the theme music for Space Ghost Coast to Coast after listening to producer Keith Crofford's description of the show. According to Crofford, Sharrock thought the show sounded "cute." On November 19, 1993, Sharrock and Lance Carter, his drummer of choice, met at Quantum Sound Studio, a recording studio in Jersey City, N.J., to improvise over a guide track created by Atlanta musician Eddie Horst. Horst has fondly recalled Sharrock looking up after a particularly blistering take and asking, "Was that too melodic?" The ensuing session not only passed muster for the show's theme song, but it also inspired all of the music for the album. Horst served as producer and played all other instruments on the tracks. The vocals of Alfreda Gerald, who sings on "Hit Single," were added at a later date. All the disparate elements were mixed by the show's sound designer, Roy Clements.[2]

Sonny Sharrock recorded the seven short pieces about five months before the premiere of Space Ghost Coast to Coast in April 1994, and six months before his death in May 1994.[3] It is one of the last projects he completed in the studio before his death. The album contains "Hit Single," the theme song for Space Ghost Coast to Coast, as well as "Out to Launch," "Fear of a Ghost Planet," and "Rocket #99," which are free jazz compositions that were improvised.[3] As a tribute to Sonny Sharrock, the episode "Sharrock" featured nearly fifteen minutes of unedited takes of music recorded for the show.

Two versions of the CD were released, the first being released in 1994 and lacking the seventh track, and the second version being released in 1996. The cover art for the first version says "No. 1/Apr 15," while the second version says "No. 2/Dec 25." There are changes in the liner notes in the reissue edition as well (i.e. the second version includes short facts about the first 30 episodes of the show, while the first version has a biography of the fictional "Original Way Outs" band).

Track listing

  1. "Hit Single" – 1:23
  2. "Cinnamon Ghost" – 1:43
  3. "Out to Launch" – 4:08
  4. "Fear of a Ghost Planet" – 1:54
  5. "Rocket #99" – 1:45
  6. "Ghost Planet National Anthem" – 3:32
  7. "Ghost Planet National Anthem (remix)" – 3:32

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ "Space Ghost Coast to Coast - No. 2 - Dec. 25". Snard.com. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Nastos, Michael G. "Space Ghost Coast to Coast - Sonny Sharrock". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-01-03.