THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA @ 55

 

Marking it’s 55th anniversary today is the “one and done” eponymous album by ‘60s psychedelic rebels, The United States of America, which was released on March 6th, 1968. Though the group only released this single LP, it has become one of the most revered cult records to come from the psychedelic era.

In 1963, aspiring avant-garde composer and musician, Joseph Byrd, was in New York, studying music and participating in the Fluxus experimental music movement along with contemporaries such as John Cage, Morton Feldman, LaMonte Young, David Tudor & Yoko Ono. While there, he met vocalist and fellow music student, Dorothy Moskowitz. The two began a personal and professional partnership which would see them relocate to LA later that year.

After a time, Byrd, who was rather politically motivated and had joined the Communist party, decided that popular music, specifically the more psychedelic rock of the late 1960s, would be a suitable vehicle for him to express his musical visions while also communicating his radical political views. To this end, he recruited 3 additional band members to augment his various electronic keyboards and Dorothy’s vocals. The band coalesced with the addition of Gordon Marron (electric violin, ring modulator), Rand Forbes (electric bass) and Craig Woodson (electric drums, percussion).

Byrd chose the name of the band for deliberately provocative purposes, reasoning that it was similar to hanging the flag upside-down, as a symbol of distress and to draw attention to the problems facing the country. The band’s structure was unusual for the time not only for the emphasis on the then emerging new electronic instruments (synths, percussion and ring modulators, etc), but also for its lack of guitars. With no real experience creating “rock” music, Byrd went into composing and arranging the album with the sensibilities of a contemporary, experimental classical composer, something he later regretted due to his naivety. However, the resulting recordings were striking in their strangeness and unique approach to the genre.

At the time of its release, the album gained little traction and the group quickly disintegrated in a frazzle of personality clashes and musical differences as they each pulled in different directions. This even went as far as petty instances of “volume wars” between musicians on stage and fisticuffs after shows. The group duly disbanded and it’s members pretty much all went on to more rewarding careers. Byrd initially regrouped as Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies, releasing the LP, The American Metaphysical Circus (1969). The album revamped a number of songs and themes from the USA album, even taking those ideas further in some cases, but he then went on to do film and TV scores and teaching. Moskowitz also took up teaching and making children’s music while the remaining members went on to have moderately successful session musician careers.

It would be years later that the album would be recognized for its truly pioneering approach and incorporation of cutting edge electronic instrumentation, along with groups like Silver Apples. Personally, I discovered a vintage copy of the LP in 1983, shortly after moving to Vancouver. I was sharing a rental house with some band mates and the manager of the property had a small garage in the backyard which was filled with his massive record collection. It was wall to wall, floor to ceiling, packed with shelves full of thousands of albums. He took a liking to us being musicians and gave us free access to search through and borrow records. The United States of America stood out for me immediately when I looked at the cover and saw pictures of the electronics. I was not disappointed by what I heard. I recorded a few songs from it on reel to reel, but it wasn’t until 2004 that I finally got a CD copy and had a chance to enjoy the album in all its remastered glory. That reissue also featured numerous alternate takes, outtakes and demos. I wouldn’t discover Byrd’s 1969 Metaphysical Circus album until 2019, however.

Today, it persists as a distinct product of a strange time. For it to continue to stand out against the backdrop of so many other musical achievements of that era is truly remarkable.