The United States of America

The United States of America Artist: The United States of America
Label: Sundazed Music Inc.
Category: Music


Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Format: Extra tracks
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1


UPC: 090771112422
EAN: 0090771112422
ASIN: B0002CX1XY


Release Date: 2004-07-13

The United States of America


Related Categories:

General General
Categories | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Experimental Rock Experimental Rock
Categories | Rock | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
General General
Categories | Pop | Styles | Music
Pop Rock Pop Rock
Categories | Pop | Styles | Music
1960s 1960s
Categories | By Decade | Pop | Styles | Music
General General
Categories | Rock | Styles | Music
Psychedelic Rock Psychedelic Rock
Categories | Classic Rock | Styles | Music
1960-1969 1960-1969
Categories | Decades | Compilations | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

Tracks:

  1. The American Metaphysical Circus
  2. Hard Coming Love
  3. Cloud Song
  4. The Garden Of Earthly Delights
  5. I Wont Leave My Wooden-Wife For You, Sugar
  6. Where Is Yesterday
  7. Coming Down
  8. Love Song For The Dead Ch
  9. Stranded In Time
  10. The American Way Of Love
  11. Osamu's Birthday (originally unissued)
  12. No Love To Give (originally unissued)
  13. I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar (alt. vers., previously unissued)
  14. You Can't Ever Come Down (previously unissued)
  15. Perry Pier (previously unissued)
  16. Tailor Man (previously unissued demo recording)
  17. Do You Follow Me (previously unissued)
  18. The American Metaphysical Circus (previously unissued Columbia Records audition recording)
  19. Mouse (The Garden Of Earthly Delights) (previously unissued Columbia Records audition recording)
  20. Mouse (The Garden Of Earthly Delights) (previously unissued Columbia Records audition recording)

Similar Items:

  1. Tomorrow
  2. Part One
  3. Silver Apples/Contact
  4. An Electric Storm
  5. Clear Light

Album Description

Fueled by the avant-garde sonic ammo of keyboardist/composer Joe Byrd and the haunting vocals of Dorothy Moskowitz, the United States Of America found a way to permanently hard-wire space-age electronic music to the heart of rock and roll on their highly desirable, self-titled 1968 debut. Byrd's kaleidoscopic musical excursions and Gordon Marron's searing violin orbit around the icy vocals of Moskowitz, who—with a passing resemblance to early Jefferson Airplane belter Signe Anderson—remains the group's center, steady as a rock. This heady mind-trip is reissued with the participation of both Byrd and Moskowitz, sports 10 amazing bonus cuts, comprehensively fascinating liner notes by Byrd, himself, and—newly mastered from the original analog source tapes—has never sounded better.

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars A true classic of the 60's.......2007-03-09

This is definitely one of the great albums of all time. A true psychedelic/progressive rock classic -- ahead of its time. The production quality is outstanding, the music powerful and innovative. The disk got a bit of airplay when it came out ('68) but wasn't well-promoted and thus it sort of disappeared. It was out-of-print for decades -- its reappearance is a blessing. Highly recommended.

5 out of 5 stars Great Album! Two small but quite sharp points!.......2007-03-08

Folks, this is a great listen! And yes I have been listening to it off and on for 30+ years now. All the other reviews cover it other than 2 small points:

ONE: If this album has a failing as rock music it is that this is careful playing. Worse yet, a lot of the music is rather tightly composed and arranged. On this level it is a bit like the Beach Boys or Beatles. But it is not always pretty music despite Dorothy's appealing vocals. The sounds are a bit more challenging. On this level it is more like Hendrix from Electric Ladyland with environmental sounds thrown in. This combination will drive people with sissy ears crazy. You are warned: If you only like pretty music or jam bands, then have a nice day. If you like music that is reasonably challenging and complex you MAY like this a lot.

TWO: Despite rumors to the contrary, this is NOT this group's only outing. 'Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies' (essentially the same group) put out 'The American Metaphysical Circus' about the same time. If anything it is more composed, but it is also quite pretty in a sardonic and occasionally downright disgusted sort of way. Joe just does not tolerate knaves and fools gladly. Think Zappa. I also have a solo synthesize LP from Byrd on John Fahey's Tacoma label. (A hoot!) And Byrd did the arranging for Rye Cooder's JAZZ album. (Highly recommended!) I am sure he has been involved in many other projects of which I am unaware. I heard Dorothy on the radio (WRIR Richmond VA) with Country Joe last week. Probably from his `Paris Sessions' LP-- Trust me, DogPile, Google and the various web encyclopedias are full of these folks! Seek and ye shall find.

1 out of 5 stars Treason.......2007-01-17

Sub-par. Amatuerish. Girl can sing, but doesn't sound like she knows what she's singing, kind of like you get your girlfriend of chorale class and ask her to sing on your rock album. Where the guitar? Lot of noise, not much continuity. For historians only. Want to listen to bad rock experiments, try the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band volume 3.

1 out of 5 stars Daring music from te past.......2006-11-03

I ordered the CD The United States of America for nostalgic reasons. In the seventies we lived in a house with a group of people that were very musicminded. This album was (together with An Electric Storm by White Noise)our favourite, especially after smoking some dope or using acid.

And nothing of the original enchantment has gone: this is still a far out record, daring, doing new things (for the time: 1967!) and paving roads for other groups using electronics in their music.

My advice is: get it as long as it can, turn the lights down, get slightly intoxicated and drift away on the wings of Dorothy Moskowitz.

4 out of 5 stars more sixties than the sixties.......2006-04-27

'The United States of America' is a 1960's concentrate. With all of its innovation, experimentation, liberation, disorientation, and high tech tomfoolery, it reeks (in a nice way) of the decade of love. There's plenty of love to be had as well, although it's frequently of the sadomasochistic variety. I owned a vinyl copy of this disc in the late 60's, and although I can't remember whatever became of it (it probably got tossed after repeated and prolonged torture under a worn needle... my own form of audio sadism), I do remember being somewhat enamoured by it's uniqueness, while utterly baffled by what it all meant, especially the provocative lyrics.

It's difficult not to like the sound of much of 'The United States of America', owing primarily to the smooth and sultry dynamism of Dorothy Moskowitz's vocal delivery, kind of like a less breathy, more velvety version of Chrissy Hynde. Composer Joe Byrd contributes vocals as well, especially in the middle tracks, but his sound is less distinguished, and more than anything increases your longing for more Moskowitz. The most sixty-ish track offered is the opener, an indulgence in carnival cocophany appropriately titled 'The American Metaphysical Circus'. In it we receive the groovy "and the price is right... the cost of one admission is your mind", and the sexed-up appetizer "they must come to us for pleasure and for pain". One of the hotter tracks on the disc follows, 'Hard Coming Love', where Byrd's organ runs admirably substitute for the bands non-existant lead guitar. It offers the wonderful double entendre from Moskowitz, "you can't put me down", likening a lover to a good book. Only track seven, 'Coming Down', matches the rock and roll intensity of 'Hard Coming Love' from the original album, but among the bonus tracks are the hard driving winners 'No Love To Give', 'Tailor Man', and 'Do You Follow Me'. The latter two tracks are among three bonus tracks that feature guitar sounds. 'Tailor Man', in fact, is my favorite track, featuring a melody reminicent of Carole King's 'Jazzman'. 'Do You Follow Me' offers an acoustic guitar up front, along with funky, jazzed-up, Dylanesque lyrics. Other tracks of note include the fat, fuzzy organ leading 'I Wouldn't Leave My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar', with Byrd and Moskowitz teaming up on controversial lyrics such as "untying you is fun, and whipping you is grand". Several airy ballads, such as 'Cloud Song', 'Where Is Yesterday', and 'Love Song For the Dead Che' are interspersed within the set, while the closing suite, 'The American Way of Love' consists of song fragments, abundant sound FX, ragtime piano, and Japanese strings. It concludes with a 'Revolution #9' stylized chant of "how much fun it's been". Alternate versions of four tracks, each no better or worse than the originals, are included among the bonus tracks. Most of the alternates were recorded several months prior to the versions that ended up on the vinyl release, and include fewer sound FX, making the vocals more prominent. Tracks fourteen and fifteen, 'You Can't Ever Come Down' and 'Perry Pier' feature a more traditional 1960's pop sound on the order of 'Feelin Groovy', with tasty vocals from Moskowitz.

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