Sputnik 1 by Nick Jaffe

This album is an attempt to tell the story of the first man-made object placed in orbit, the Sputnik 1 satellite. The story is not told chronologically and the characters and voices are a drawn partly from historical figures and also from my own impressions and ideas about popular consciousness. I have taken considerable license with the facts; this is much more a commentary on history than a history per se.

PLEASE CLICK ON THE INDIVIDUAL SONG LINKS FOR MORE OF THE STORY AND ADDITIONAL IMAGES.

The main historical source for this album is Asif A. Siddiqi's excellent and authoritative history, SPUTNIK AND THE SOVIET SPACE CHALLENGE (University of Florida Press, 2003). Siddiqi's book is the place to begin if you want to develop your own reading of this fascinating chapter in the history of humanity.

Tracklist

1.	Katyusha	4:05

2.	Just a Few Scraps	2:40

3.	Studies and Themes	3:11

4.	On the Brink	3:25

5.	Walks to Talk About Satellites	2:11

6.	Hypergolic	4:03

7.	Flying to Kapustin Yar	3:18

8.	Orbit 1	5:50

9.	January 4th, 1958	2:58

Credits

released October 15, 2010

All songs written, performed, recorded and mixed by Nick Jaffe. Vocals on "Katyusha" by Talonie Starr. Album mastered by Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering.

I am infinitely grateful to Susan, my parents Sarai and David; my many musical friends and collaborators including Alyson, Nina, Jess, Cuz, T., Shawn, Ced, Tina, Obi, Chico, Talonie, Kimeon, K. LA, Dennis, Mike and Clinetta, John Moulder, and everyone else I have the pleasure and privilege of making music with, GW, Fran, and Sue H.. Thank you all, one satellite to another.

With the exception of the track "Studies and Themes," all guitar sounds on this album were created with a Nash T-63 Telecaster named "Sputnik." Amps included a Carr Rambler and Slant 6V, and a silverface Fender Princeton Reverb named "R7." For more technical information or other questions or comments contact Nick Jaffe at nicnite@aol.com. Thank you.

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