The United States of America, not to be confused with the band The Presidents of the United States of America, is a band I’d never heard of before. Maybe because this is their only album and it wasn’t much of a commercial hit. Or maybe because they play “a challengingly complex brand of art-rock.”1 Because it was too much of a challenge for me. I liked a couple of songs but for me most of this sounds like someone took all the instruments one might use to start a band and put them into a dishwasher and hit ‘run’. And calling yourself The United States of America is a bit much. Maybe it’s too dated for me.
My Rating:
Barret Hansen concluded his Rolling Stone review with this: “Obviously the U.S.A. is mainly into idea-rock. And the ideas are fantastic, but without interpretive power to match, the resulting music is cold and cerebral. Like so much 20th-century classical music. Too bad, because there is much happening here that should be spread far beyond the limited number of people who will really dig this album.”2
Far Out Magazine: “The United States of America were on the front lines of the psychedelic explosion, complete with all the prerequisite experimental tendencies and left-wing politics.” And, “(H)iding within the failure of The United States of America is a truly revolutionary band somewhere among the wreckage. Years before electronic music became a genre of its own, The USA were pioneering techniques that would blossom in the next eras of rock music.”3
In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Robert Morton wrote:
“The United States of America” sold poorly upon release, thanks to Columbia’s near total lack of faith. As (composer and band founder Joseph) Byrd put it, ‘There was scant enthusiasm from the executives for a band whose name they hated, whose music they didn’t understand, and whose politics they thought treasonous.’ But over the years, the group has developed a devoted cult following and influenced numerous modern bands, most notably Broadcast.”4
Charts
• Peak on Billboard album chart: #1815
• Singles on Billboard charts: n/a
• RIAA certification: n/a
Released on March 6, 1968. Here’s what else was happening:
Pop Culture
• Number one song: Love is Blue (L’amour est Bleu) by Paul Mauriat6
• Number one album: Blooming Hits by Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra7
• Number one movie: Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner by Stanley Kramer8
• Most watched TV program: The Andy Griffith Show9
• NYT bestseller, fiction: The Confessions of Nat Turner by William Styron10
• NYT bestseller, non-fiction: The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris11
Other albums released that month
• The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack by The Nice
• We're Only in It for the Money by The Mothers of Invention
• Birthday by The Association
• Eli and the Thirteenth Confession by Laura Nyro
• Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls by Dionne Warwick
• Reflections by Diana Ross & The Supremes
• Move by The Move
• Song to a Seagull by Joni Mitchell
• The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter by The Incredible String Band
• I Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me by James Brown
• A Long Time Comin' by Electric Flag
• A Portrait of Ray by Ray Charles
• Safe at Home by The International Submarine Band
• Scott 2 by Scott Walker
• The Further Adventures of Charles Westover by Del Shannon12
Sport
• Mar 2 19 year-old American Peggy Fleming wins her 3rd consecutive World Ladies Figure Skating Championship in Geneva, Switzerland; announces her retirement, turns professional and eventually goes into broadcasting.
• Mar 3 In a blockbuster trade, Toronto Maple Leafs send future Hockey Hall of Fame left wing Frank Mahovlich to the rival Detroit Red Wings.
• Mar 3 Jean Béliveau (Montreal) becomes 2nd NHLer to score 1,000 pts.
• Mar 4 Joe Frazier takes his record to 20-0 and captures vacant world heavyweight boxing title; stops Buster Mathis in 11th round TKO at Madison Square Garden, NYC.
• Mar 15 Bob Beamon sets indoor long jump record (27'2-3/4").
• Mar 23 NCAA Men's Basketball Championship: UCLA beats North Carolina, 78-55; Bruins back-to-back titles; Lew Alcindor tournament Most Outstanding Player for the 2nd of 3 consecutive years.13
Notable Births
• Mar 2 Daniel Craig, English actor (James Bond films), born in Chester, England.
• Mar 3 Brian Leetch, NHL defenseman (Team USA, NY Rangers), born in Corpus Christi, Texas.
• Mar 3 Diann Roffe-Steinrotter, alpine skier (Olympic gold/silver-92), born in Warsaw, New York.
• Mar 4 Dionna Harris, American softball outfielder (Olympic gold 1996), born in Wilmington, Delaware.
• Mar 4 Patsy Kensit, English actress (Lethal Weapon 2, Hanover St), born in London, England.
• Mar 6 Carla McGhee, American basketball forward (Olympic gold, 1996), born in Peoria, Illinois.
• Mar 6 Michael Romeo, American progressive heavy metal guitarist (Symphony X), born in New York Clity.
• Mar 6 Moira Kelly, actress (Cutting Edge)
• Mar 7 Jeff Kent, American MLB infielder (NY Mets), born in Bellflower, California
• Mar 8 Shawn Mullins, American folk-rock singer-songwriter ("Lullabye"), born in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Mar 9 Johnny Kelly, American drummer (Type O Negative), born in Brooklyn, New York.
• Mar 11 Lisa Loeb, American Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter ("Stay (I Missed You)"), born in Bethesda, Maryland.
• Mar 12 Aaron Eckhart, American actor (Thank You for Smoking), born in Cupertino, California.
• Mar 12 Merton Hanks, American NFL safety, 1991-99, 4X-Pro Bowl (San Francisco 49ers; Seattle Seahawks), born in Dallas, Texas.
• Mar 15 John Tardy, American heavy metal vocalist (Obituary - "Slowly We Rot"), born in Miami, Florid.
• Mar 15 Jon Schaffer, American heavy metal guitarist (Iced Earth), born in Franklin, Indiana.
• Mar 15 Mark McGrath, American rock singer (Sugar Ray - "Every Morning"), born in Hartford, Connecticut.
• Mar 20 Ultra Naté, American sance and R&B singer-songwriter ("Free"; "If You Could Read My Mind"), born in Havre de Grace, Maryland.
• Mar 21 DJ Premier (Preemo), hip hop producer.
• Mar 22 Euronymous [Øystein Aarseth], Norwegian black-metal guitarist and producer (Mayhem), born in Surnadal, Norway (d. 1993).
• Mar 23 Damon Albarn, English rock singer-songwriter, and musician (Blur - "Girls & Boys"; "Country House"; Gorillaz - "Clint Eastwood"; "Feels Good, Inc."), born in Whitechapel, London.
• Mar 26 James Iha, American rock guitarist and songwriter (The Smashing Pumpkins; A Perfect Circle), born in Chicago, Illinois.14
Historical Events
• Mar 1 Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" first performed as a 15-minute pop cantata at Colet Court School in London.
• Mar 3 Greek, Portuguese & Spanish embassies bombed in the Hague.
• Mar 3 Pirate station "Radio Caroline" goes off the air when its ships Mi Amigo and Caroline are boarded and seized before the day's broadcasting began.
• Mar 4 3rd Academy of Country Music Awards: Glen Campbell and Lynn Anderson win.
• Mar 4 Martin Luther King Jr. announces plans for Poor People's Campaign.
• Mar 8 Bill Graham's New York rock venue Fillmore East opens in Manhattan.
• Mar 9 10th Grammy Awards: Up Up & Away, Sgt Pepper's wins 4.
• Mar 10 North Vietnamese and communist Laotion troops overrun a secret US radar facility, Lima Site 85, on a Laos mountaintop.
• Mar 11 Otis Redding is the first person in the US to posthumously receive gold record for his single "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay".
• Mar 12 Indian Ocean island nation Mauritius gains independence from Britain (National Day).
• Mar 13 Nerve gas accident at Skull Valley, Utah, kills 6,000 sheep.
• Mar 15 Diocese of Rome announces that it "deplored the concept", but wouldn't prohibit rock & roll masses at Church of San Lessio Falconieri.
Mar 15 US Mint stops buying & selling gold
• Mar 16 General Motors produces its 100 millionth automobile, the Oldsmobile Toronado.
• Mar 16 My Lai massacre occurs when American soldiers kill ~400 unarmed Vietnamese civilians, in one of the most controversial incidents of the Vietnam War.
• Mar 16 Robert F. Kennedy announces presidential campaign.
• Mar 18 US Congress repeals requirement for a gold reserve.
• Mar 19 Howard University, Washington, D.C., students seize administration building.
• Mar 20 LBJ signs a bill removing gold backing from US paper money.
• Mar 21 Israeli forces cross Jordan River to attack PLO bases.
• Mar 23 Rev Walter Fauntroy, is 1st non-voting congressional delegate from DC.
• Mar 27 Suharto officially succeeds Sukarno as president of Indonesia.
• Mar 31 US President Lyndon B. Johnson announces in an address to the nation that he will not seek re-election.
• Mar 31 US President Lyndon B. Johnson authorizes a troop surge in Vietnam, bringing the total number of US soldiers to a peak of 549,500.15
Notable Deaths
• Mar 10 Helen Walker, American actress (Brewster's Million, Lucky Jordan), dies of cancer at 47.
• Mar 20 Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish film director (Passion of Jeanne d'Arc), dies at 79.
• Mar 23 Edwin O'Connor, American writer (The Edge of Sadness - Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, 1962), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 49.
• Mar 24 Alice Guy-Blaché, French film director who was the first woman to direct a film (The Fairy of the Cabbages), dies at 94.
• Mar 27 Yuri Gagarin, Russian cosmonaut and 1st man into space (aboard Vostok 1), dies in a Mig-15 plane crash at 34.16
Enjoy and listen without prejudice. Cheers!
YouTube playlist, which I found a lot more interesting than the USA album: 113. You're Welcome 113; The United States of America by The United States of America
Prime: 113. The United States of America by The United States of America
Ibid.
Morton, Robert; The 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die; ed by Robert Dimery, p. 143.
Ibid.