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American Masters

How Sun Ra created his own record label, Saturn Records

Season 40 Episode 2 | 2m 03s

In 1957, Sun Ra founded Saturn Records with Alton Abraham, making him one of the first Black artists to have his own record label. The bulk of Sun Ra's enormous discography—well over 1,000 songs and over two hundred albums—was first issued on Saturn Records. "It was me creating something that nobody owned but us."

Support for American Masters is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AARP, Rosalind P. Walter Foundation, Judith and Burton Resnick, Blanche and Hayward Cirker Charitable Lead Annuity Trust, Koo and Patricia Yuen, Lillian Goldman Programming Endowment, Seton J. Melvin, Thea Petschek Iervolino Foundation, Anita and Jay Kaufman, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, The Ambrose Monell Foundation, Ellen and James S. Marcus, The Charina Endowment Fund, The Marc Haas Foundation and public television viewers.
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