The United States of America

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The United States of America
General information
Genre (s) Psychedelic rock
founding 1967
resolution 1969
Founding members
electronic sound generator, electric harpsichord , organ , calliope , piano , synthesizer
Joe Byrd
Dorothy Moskowitz
Gordon Marron
Rand Forbes
Craig Woodson
Other members
Organ, calliope, piano
 Ed Bogas

The United States of America were a psychedelic rock band from the 1960s that released an album in 1968. The band was one of the pioneers of electronic music .

history

The band was formed in 1967 by Joe Byrd, Dorothy Moskowitz, Gordon Marron, Rand Forbes and Craig Woodson. Later Ed Bogas also joined.

The self-titled LP (1968) achieved a certain cult status despite little commercial success. In addition, for the first time in the history of rock music, synthesizers specially developed for the LP are used on this LP, while the use of electric guitars (except for an electric bass) is completely dispensed with.

Despite positive reviews, the album was poorly marketed by CBS Records, sold poorly, and was soon removed from the catalog. The band's only tour was also problematic, as band members were arrested for drug possession and the technical equipment failed several times. The resulting tension in the band led to The United States of America disbanding in 1969.

Joe Byrd formed the band Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies in 1969, which released the album The American Metaphysical Circus . Singer Dorothy Moskowitz later worked with Country Joe McDonald .

plant

The United States of America
Studio album from The United States of America

Publication
(s)

1968

Label (s) CBS Records , Sundazed Records

Genre (s)

Psychedelic rock

Title (number)

10 (or 20 in the new edition)

running time

37:07 minutes

production

David Rubinson

The United States of America is the band name, album title and program of this LP at the same time: to depict the musical and cultural diversity of an America in 1968, following the example of the Beatles , who with Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band for the first time as a record in 1967 had dealt with self-contained, coherent work.

The programmatic work, comparable to a song cycle in classical music, was, according to a statement by singer Dorothy Moskowitz, not intended by the band's musicians: “As a whole, the album does not have a coherent, unified vision (…) If you listen to each song, it's almost like a variety show. ” And yet this“ variety show ”, when you hear it today, is a self-contained work.

In their lyrics, the five musicians paint the picture of a decadent affluent society, in which the satisfaction of every need can be bought ( "The American Metaphysical Circus" ), in which old couples live as strangers next to each other ( "Stranded in Time" ) and a bourgeois family man his underage lover explains that he will not leave his "wooden wife" for her:

"I won't leave my wooden wife for you, sugar, I've got a split level house with a wonderful view, sugar, three sweet kids and a Yorkshire terrier, too, sugar. And I just couldn't stand it if you come home late from school. "

This image of a bigoted, alienated society is counteracted by lyrical passages full of longing ( “Cloud Song” , “Love Song for the dead Che ” ) and sections full of lust for life ( “The American Way of Love” ), which in the statement “Love is all "culminate, which, against the background of the time, the love and peace era, rounds off the work as" good news ". The music is ironically reminiscent of the soundtrack of a Hollywood romance.

What is unusual for a "Psychedelic" rock record from 1968 is that a guitar is never used. In addition to drums and bass, there is an electric violin, an electronic harpsichord, organ, piano and various other electronic instruments - including the first primitive synthesizers - as well as the cool, sometimes icy singing of singer Dorothy Moskowitz and her male bandmates Gordon Marron (violin), Craig Woodson (drums, percussion, etc.), Rand Forbes (bass) and Joseph (Joe) Byrd (keyboard instruments, electronic sound generator).

Even if Joseph Byrd acted as the head of the United States of America , the group consisted of independent musical personalities, which probably favored the quick breakup of the band. Both Byrd and Moskowitz had studied music, and Byrd had also studied ethnomusicology and psychology. The LP was produced by David Rubinson , various guest musicians were used, including Ed Bogas. The electronic sound generators were specially designed for this record by Richard Durrett.

The songs on the LP alternate between medieval melodies, Beatles harmonies and quotes from early jazz and ragtime hits. They are connected and introduced by sound collages that are influenced by European and American electronic avant-garde and musique concrète (Joe Byrd was involved in the Fluxus movement and was familiar with Stockhausen's works). Right at the beginning of the album, at least four different marches and hymns are played at the same time, arranged and conducted by Byrd or recorded and superimposed on a Calliope himself, a process that is supposed to be reminiscent of Charles Ives . In addition to film music quotes and everyday noises, new types of electronic sounds fit into the overall aesthetic image. Bass and drums deliver varied, sometimes very fast and forward-lashing beats (as in "The Garden of Earthly Delights" ). In the finale “The American Way of Love” , a hymn to the homosexual line on 42nd Street , all the songs on the record appear again as quotations.

meaning

Barry Graves lists the band's album among the 300 most important milestone albums in rock music in his Rock Lexicon . It was also included in The Wire's “100 Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening)” .

Discography

  • The United States of America (1968), CBS Records
    1. The American Metaphysical Circus 4:55
    2. Hard Coming Love 4:43
    3. Cloud Song 3:18
    4. The Garden of Earthly Delights 2:39
    5. I Wouldn't Leave My Wooden Wife for You, Sugar 3:52
    6. Where Is Yesterday 3:07
    7. Coming Down 2:40
    8. Love song for the Dead Che 3:25
    9. Stranded in Time 1:50
    10. The American Way of Love 6:38
  • The United States of America (reissued, 2004), Sundazed Records
    as above with the following bonus tracks :
    1. Osamu's Birthday
    2. No love to give
    3. I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar (Alternate Version)
    4. You Can't Ever Come Down
    5. Perry Pier
    6. Tailor Man
    7. Do you follow me
    8. The American Metaphysical Circus (Alternate Version)
    9. Mouse (The Garden of Earthly Delights)
    10. Heresy (Coming Down)

literature

  • Christian Graf: Rock Music Lexicon America, Africa, Australia. Volume 2. Fischer: Frankfurt am Main, 1996. pp. 997/998.
  • Barry Graves, Siegfried Schmidt-Joos: Das neue Rock Lexikon (Volume 2), ISBN 3-499-16321-7

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Barry Graves, Siegfried Schmidt-Joos: Das neue Rock Lexikon (Volume 2), ISBN 3-499-16321-7

Web links