Sitarswami Plunges Into The Unsavory Underworld Of The Avant-Garde Dept.

My gateway (screeds Sitarswami - Ed.) into the heady, unsavory, sometimes discordant underworld of the avant-garde was The Chrome-Plated Megaphone of Destiny. Using that as a touchstone, let’s examine the bona fides of three other late 60’s exhibits. Three similar, yet singular, attempts to integrate electronics and musique concrète into a three-minute rock song. But rather than re-reading In the Penal Colony, consider what follows, listen, and form your own opinions.

The United States of America – self titled (1968). Headed by Joseph Byrd who studied with John Cage in NYC in the early 1960’s, the United States of America was a group of non-rock musicians that Byrd gathered from his avant-garde NY days and his academic and performance circles in Los Angeles. Recorded in LA, the album garnered a major label release on Columbia, consequently benefiting from a decent recording budget (including producer David Rubinson -- whose credits include Moby Grape and Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi, Sextant & Headhunters) and a quality studio.  Reportedly, the sessions were marred by recurring clashes between Byrd and Rubinson. Compounding the drama was the presence of singer/instrumentalist Dorothy Moskowitz, an integral component of the band but a former girlfriend of both Byrd & Rubinson. Byrd, often described as “difficult to work with,” also disagreed with Columbia’s art dept. regarding the cover art. Byrd wanted a plain brown cover with the group’s name stamped across the front. Columbia agreed to use his design (on the original pressing) as wrapping paper over their cover artwork – similar to later releases by Led Zep and XTC. A rushed second album, The American Metaphysical Circus, was issued the next year on Columbia Masterworks as by Joe Byrd & the Field Hippies. It sold better than the USA lp, and the first three songs build upon the promise of that record, but the spark dissipates quickly thereafter. Byrd drifted into occasional film/tv work -- one highlight being the sound/voices of the miniature drones that man the agricultural starship in Douglas Trumbull’s Silent Running. In the mid-70’s Byrd recorded two smaller “historical” albums for Takoma and produced Ry Cooder’s Jazz. While the USA album was being recorded Byrd arranged Phil Ochs’ The Crucifixion, notable for its everything but the kitchen sink (and regrettably, no sitar) instrumentation and is included as a bonus track.

The Fifty Foot Hose – Cauldron (1967). Issued on Limelight (a jazz and contemporary classical label that would soon release Pierre Henry’s mind-numbing adventure Le Voyage, and speaking of Henry, my only recommendation for Ceremony, his rock meets electronics collaboration with Spooky Tooth, is to avoid it) and manned by Cork Marcheschi. He was a sculptor, a Varèse and Cage devotee who also played bass with The Ethix, a local Bay area r&b band. On a one-night stand side gig he met guitarist David Blossom.  The two of them, plus Blossom’s vocalist wife, Nancy, fashioned the FFH soundscapes produced by Dan Healy (one of the Grateful Dead’s chief soundmen) and recorded at Columbia studios in San Francisco. By 1969, Marcheschi had refocused his sights on visual art, while the others, in a time-honored late-60’s tradition, joined a production of Hair.  The Ethix’ last gasp had been an improvised, cacophonous tract recorded in Cork’s parents’ basement. Sounding eerily like the caterwauling experimental ravings of Joseph Byrd acquaintance and fellow ex-Cage student, Yoko Ono, Bad Trip was released as a 45 but recorded at 33 rpm. According to an abandoned website found while browsing incognito, the 33 rpm recording was sped up purposely before the mastering. The 45’s label didn’t specify a playing speed so the song, aptly titled by the record company’s owner, was intended to be played back at either 45 or 33 – both versions are included as bonus tracks, as are two of the demos which earned FFH their record deal.

Spoils of War – self titled (1968-69) Formed by James Cuomo, another Cage admirer, as a University of Illinois (at Champaign/Urbana) graduate student, and guitarist Al Ierardi. The group’s name is taken from a musical instrument invented by Harry Partch from spent artillery shells. Using a band member’s studio, Cuomo recorded a reel-to-reel audition tape used to secure gigs, and a self-pressed ep to be sold at local concerts. These were not officially released until 1999 by Shadoks records – a label that specialized in rare psychedelia. The album sported stunning artwork, by Malcolm Smith, lifted from the June 1954 publication of Imagination (a cover illustration for Slaves to the Metal Horde) and, not surprisingly, somewhat lo-fi production values. Shadoks later released a two-lp set also titled The Spoils of War which contained one album’s worth of live extended Spoils and a second record of post-War NY sessions consisting of shorter pieces sung by the marvelous Annie “The Hat” Williams. Cuomo moved to Paris in 1970 where he founded the group Mormos (which included Annie the Hat) who recorded two albums for CBS/France. The first, the sumptuous, yet spare, Great Wall of China features a few re-imagined versions of earlier Spoilsongs. In the early 1980’s, Cuomo recorded with Viv Stanshall, eventually becoming his musical director.