The
American Metaphysical Circus is the First and Only Album by the
American Psychedelic-Rock Band Joe Byrd & The Field Hippies.
Joseph “Joe” Byrd had been one of the leading figures of the Communist Psychedelic Band The United States Of America, and had been the one pushing all the groundbreaking innovations present on the Record. With the demise of The USofA in 1968, he assembled around himself a group of the most Avant-Garde Studio Musicians he could find and set to experiment further and further. The American Metaphysical Circus experimented heavily with Synthesizer and Vocoders (Not an Instrument, but it certainly can be used in more experimental sounds, it basically is a Machine that reproduces the Human Voice), one of the first instances in Rock Music where both are used as an almost Main Instrument. The group only lasted during the Recording of the Album and never played live, however the Album managed to become a Classic, and has been re-issued numerous times in CD. 100,000 copies are reported to have been sold and were subject to quite a controversy as Joe Byrd never received a dime from the Label (Columbia/CBS).
Best Tracks – “Kalyani”, “You Can’t Ever Come Down”, “Moonsong: Pelog”, “Nightmare Train”, “Gospel Music”, “The Elephant At The Door” and “The Sing-Along Song (Reprise)”. It does not manage to grasp my attention as The USofA did. Maybe the extremely experimental verge of it, kind of turn some Songs into exercises and not on a Song in itself, as The USofA had. There are, of course, fantastic Tracks, that make it more than worth the listen, but in my humble opinion, it does not reach the Cult Status it was given by a lot of people.
Joe Byrd & The Field Hippies:
Joseph “Joe” Byrd had been one of the leading figures of the Communist Psychedelic Band The United States Of America, and had been the one pushing all the groundbreaking innovations present on the Record. With the demise of The USofA in 1968, he assembled around himself a group of the most Avant-Garde Studio Musicians he could find and set to experiment further and further. The American Metaphysical Circus experimented heavily with Synthesizer and Vocoders (Not an Instrument, but it certainly can be used in more experimental sounds, it basically is a Machine that reproduces the Human Voice), one of the first instances in Rock Music where both are used as an almost Main Instrument. The group only lasted during the Recording of the Album and never played live, however the Album managed to become a Classic, and has been re-issued numerous times in CD. 100,000 copies are reported to have been sold and were subject to quite a controversy as Joe Byrd never received a dime from the Label (Columbia/CBS).
Best Tracks – “Kalyani”, “You Can’t Ever Come Down”, “Moonsong: Pelog”, “Nightmare Train”, “Gospel Music”, “The Elephant At The Door” and “The Sing-Along Song (Reprise)”. It does not manage to grasp my attention as The USofA did. Maybe the extremely experimental verge of it, kind of turn some Songs into exercises and not on a Song in itself, as The USofA had. There are, of course, fantastic Tracks, that make it more than worth the listen, but in my humble opinion, it does not reach the Cult Status it was given by a lot of people.
Joe Byrd & The Field Hippies:
- Pot – Piano, Conductor, Harpsichord.
- Ed Sheftel – Trumpet, Flugelhorn.- Christie Thompson – Vocals.
- Ernest “Ernie” Anderson – Voices.
- Fred Selden – Clarinet, Saxophones, Flute.
- Ted Greene – Guitar.
- Joseph “Joe” Hunter Byrd – Organ, Vocals, Keyboards, Conductor, Synthesizer.
- Larry Kass – Tabla.
- Michael Whitney – Acoustic Guitar.
- Chuck Bennett – Bass Trombone.
- Victoria Bond – Vocals.
- Ray Cappocchi – Tuba, Tenor Trombone.
- Dana Chalberg – Flute, Piccolo.
- John Clauder – Percussion, Drums.
- Susan de Lange – Vocals, Electronic Voices.
- Meyer Hirsch – Flute, Saxophones.
- Don Kerian – Trumpet, Cornet.
- Gregg Kovner – Drums, Percussion.
- Tom Scott – Clarinet, Saxophones, Flute.
- Harvey Newmark – Bass.
- Harihar Rao – Percussion.
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