Despite releasing only one LP, the United States of America was among the most revolutionary bands
of the late '60s, grounded equally in psychedelia and the avant-garde, their music eschewed guitars in favor of strings, keyboards, and haunting electronics, predating the ambient pop of the modern era by several decades. The United States of America was led by composer and keyboardist Joseph Byrd, a Kentucky native raised in Tucson, AZ; there he appeared with a series of rock and country bands while attending high school, subsequently playing vibes in a jazz outfit as a student at the University of Arizona.
Despite winning a fellowship to study music at Stanford, Byrd instead relocated to New York, intrigued
by the avant-garde experiments emerging from the city's downtown music scene; there he began earning international renown for his own compositions, at the same time working as a conductor, arranger, associate producer, and assistant to critic Virgil Thomson.
Byrd eventually returned to the west coast, accepting an assistant teaching position at UCLA and
moving into a beachfront commune populated by a group of grad students, artists, and Indian musicians. He soon began studying acoustics, psychology, and Indian music, but quickly turned back to experimental composition, leaving the university in the summer of 1967 to write music full-time and produce "happenings.
" To perform his new songs, material inspired in no small part by the psychedelic sounds produced during the Summer of Love, Byrd recruited a group of UCLA students (vocalist Dorothy Moskowitz, bassist Rand Forbes, electric violinist Gordon Marron, and drummer Craig Woodson) to form the United States of America; the group's lone self-titled LP, produced by David Rubinson, was recorded for CBS in 1968, its unique ambience due largely to their pioneering use of the ring modulator, a primitive synthesizer later popularized by the Krautrock sound.
By Jason Ankeny
The United States Of America – The United States Of America
Label: Sundazed Music – SC 11124, Sundazed Music – 11124
Format: CD, Album, Reissue 2004
Country: US
Released: 1968
Genre: Rock
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Experimental
TRACKS
01. The American Metaphysical Circus (Lyrics By – Joseph Byrd) 4:56
02. Hard Coming Love 4:41
03. Cloud Song 3:18
04. The Garden Of Earthly Delights 2:39
05. I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar 3:51
06. Where Is Yesterday (Lead Vocals – Gordon/Lyrics By – Dorothy Moskowitz, Bogas, Gordon Marron/Vocals – Dorothy, Joseph, Rand) 3:08
07. Coming Down 2:37
08. Love Song For The Dead Che (Lyrics By – Joseph Byrd) 3:25
09. Stranded In Time (Lead Vocals – Gordon) 1:49
10. The American Way Of Love (6:38)
10.I.Part I - Metaphor For An Older Man (Lyrics By – Joseph Byrd)
10.II.Part II - California Good-Time Music (Lyrics By – Joseph Byrd)
10.III.Part III - Love Is All (Lyrics By – Craig Woodson, Dorothy Moskowitz, Gordon Marron, Joseph Byrd, Rand Forbes)
BONUS TRACKS
11. Osamu's Birthday (Lyrics By – Joseph Byrd) 2:59
12. No Love To Give 2:36
13. I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar 3:45
14. You Can Never Come Down (Lyrics By – Joseph Byrd) 2:32
15. Perry Pier 2:37
16. Tailor Man 3:06
17. Do You Follow Me 2:34
18. The American Metaphysical Circus (Lyrics By – Joseph Byrd) 4:01
19. Mouse (The Garden Of Earthly Delights) 2:39
20. Heresy (Coming Down) 2:32
Bass – Carmie Simon (tracks: 15 to 17), Stu Brotman (tracks: 18 to 20)
Drums – Dennis Wood (tracks: 15 to 17)
Drums [Electric], Percussion – Craig Woodson (tracks: 1 to 14, 18 to 20)
Electric Bass – Rand Forbes (tracks: 1 to 14)
Electronics [Electronic Music], Harpsichord [Electric], Organ, Performer [Calliope], Piano – Joseph Byrd (tracks: 1 to 14, 18 to 20)
Engineer [Original Recordings Engineered By] – David Diller
Guitar – Jeff Marinell (tracks: 15 to 17)
Keyboards – Richard Grayson (tracks: 15 to 17)
Lead Vocals – Dorothy Moskowitz
Music By – Dorothy Moskowitz (tracks: 2, 12, 15, 16), Ed Bogas (tracks: 6, 9), Gordon Marron (tracks: 6, 9), Joseph Byrd (tracks: 1 to 5, 7, 8, 10.I, 10.II, 11, 13, 14, 18 to 20), Kenneth Edwards (tracks: 17)
Organ – Mike Agnello (tracks: 18 to 20)
Organ [Occasional], Piano, Performer [Calliope] – Ed Bogas (tracks: 1 to 14)
Other [Instrument Design Engineer] – Richard Durrett
Producer – David Rubinson
Remix [Original Re-mix Engineering] – Arthur Kendy, Glen Kolotkin
Violin [Electric], Effects [Ring Modulator] – Gordon Marron (tracks: 1 to 14)
Words By – Dorothy Moskowitz (tracks: 2 to 5, 7, 12, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20), Ed Bogas (tracks: 9), Gordon Marron (tracks: 9), Joseph Byrd (tracks: 2, 4, 5, 7, 13, 19, 20), Kenneth Edwards (tracks: 17)
Mastered at Sundazed Studios, Coxsackie, NY. Originally issued as Columbia CS 9614 on March 6th, 1968.
There is nothing to say about that.
ReplyDeleteA MASTERPIECE
Yes it is.
DeleteI might want to say something about that. I once mentioned the band in connection with FIFTY FOOT HOUSE and said that both were ahead of their time and even at that time there was a lack of understanding for this exc. music.
ReplyDeleteThese two bands never lived up to the audience expectations. Hence the commercial failus as only one lp was released at a time. I myself have had the record on my shelf since 1971 and today, also as a cd with all the bonus.
The United States of America disbanded soon after, with Byrd resurfacing in 1969 with The American Metaphysical Circus, credited to Joe Byrd & the Field Hippies, a group of a dozen musicians including vocalists Susan de Lange, Victoria Bond, and Christie Thompson.
DeleteBut, Joe Byrd & The Field Hippies is the next post on Urban Aspirines.
Joe Field...i gave too. Good band but i think not so strong as United...But i haven't heard in a long time. A good opportunity to listen to them again.
DeleteI'm tense what you will bring from the 17 in the future.
O just ordered Harmony complete works(German band) + Methexis in Athen from Kaleidosmoker. Do you know the business? Very good and friendly service as i have experienced anywhere in Greece so far.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteHow United States of America resembles Fifty Foot Hose is, they were both hippie-era bands that knew how to get sounds out of electronic devices, but that's pretty much it. Joseph Byrd came from an academic background, knew a lot about not only the rules he was supposed to use to put the notes and chords (and bleeps) together, but also the increasingly broad exceptions allowed in the 20th century; plus he had access to top of the line synthesizer gear. Corky Marcheschi of Fifty Foot Hose assembled his own electronics out of random devices that he found he could get interesting noises out of, motivated more by personal taste than theory. Both bands were brilliant innovators, but they came from opposite ends of the creative spectrum, scholars vs. tinkerers.
ReplyDeleteI should have mentioned, back when you posted Cauldron, that Marcheschi had organized a new version of Fifty Foot Hose in the late '90s. I saw them at the second Terrastock festival in San Francisco and enjoyed them a lot, and bought their then-new CD Sing Like Scaffold. As I recall, Marcheschi's rig was a two meter square wooden crate full of random-looking hardware, both repurposed circuits and various toys-- I think he had a slinky with contact microphones attached!
Thank you Anonymous for your detailed comment and the infos. The later Fifty Fooot House, i just listened to it. I didn't like that but it was a long time ago. All these revivals are nothing in my opinion. I don't know a band apart from THE FUGS that's like.
Delete