I was a big fan of the Batman television series. It started in 1966 when I was in fourth grade, and highly impressionable. And as I was into rock'n roll music at the time, my parents bought me this Batman album for a birthday present. The album seemed a little schlocky, certainly not proper soundtrack music from the TV show or anything, but I dug it for what it was.

Years pass... Decades, actually.

I'm listening to a Sun Ra marathon on local college radio station KFJC a couple years ago. And around 2:00 in the morning they're playing something oddly familiar. Music my neurons recognized from 40 years ago. Yep...

It turns out that the Batman album was actually a recorded jam session with Sun Ra, Al Kooper, and members of the Arkestra and The Blues Project. All uncredited. Who knew? Not me, that's for sure.

Now, in these days of modern times, in this archeological trove we call the internet, you can actually find the contents of the entire Batman album as handy downloadable mp3's on the always delightful and highly recommended WFMU Blog, along with some vital backchannel information. That's so great.

As an aside, I'd forgotten how delighfully twisted the writing on the Batman show was. Here are some quotes. Man, oh man, that's great stuff.