You Can't Ever Come Down: Esoteric Revisits "The American Metaphysical Circus"

"We were firmly in the American tradition of artistic and political radicalism intermixed with patriotism, and to thus establish a psychic 'distance' from The Beatles." So stated Joseph Byrd in a 2004 interview excerpted in the liner notes to Esoteric Recordings' new reissue of 1969's The American Metaphysical Circus. The album, credited to Joe Byrd and the Hippies, exemplified the adventuresome spirit of the era which led the venerable Columbia Records label to sign a number of experimental artists to the home of Simon and Garfunkel and Barbra Streisand. Byrd's previous effort for Columbia, a self-titled LP by his group The United States of America, arrived on Columbia in 1968, the same year as other seminal "underground" or avant garde works like Steve Reich's Live/Electric Music. These albums blurred genre lines and eschewed traditional labels like "rock" or "classical" even as they incorporated elements of both.

The United States of America had consisted of Byrd (electronic music/electric harpsichord/organ/calliope/piano), Dorothy Moskowitz (lead vocals), Gordon Marron (electric violin/ring modulator), Rand Forbes (electric bass), Craig Woodson (electric drums/percussion) and Ed Bogas ("occasional" organ/piano/calliope). The group rejected convention, which was no surprise. Byrd was a student of avant-garde hero John Cage and a member of the Fluxus "anti-art" art movement. Despite these credentials, he became interested in the power of pop and rock with young people. Columbia gave Byrd the opportunity to bring the underground to the mainstream.

But after touring alongside the likes of The Velvet Underground and The Troggs, Byrd was actually forced out of the group he founded. He pressed onward at Columbia's classical-oriented Masterworks division with a new collective of musicians which he dubbed The Field Hippies. Among the members was "Pot" on piano and electric harpsichord, with Byrd on organ and electric synthesizer (an instrument which Byrd pioneered in rock). Among the horn section was future L.A. Express leader Tom Scott on saxophones, clarinet and flute.

As on The United States of America, Byrd crafted a sharply satirical song cycle incorporating vintage sounds and song styles into something wholly new. Another choice quote from Byrd is featured in the liner notes: "I thought the 'Wall of Sound' approach [to production] was awful, ending up with a mush that had neither majesty nor focus. And that's where the Beach Boys were headed. Indeed, that's where the Beatles might have gone without George Martin's firm hand. This is not to say that I think we were better than either band." Though Byrd may have been no Phil Spector fan, his own productions were equally intricate and dense, if completely different in structure and style. Some have compared his work to Frank Zappa, but Byrd had little use for his music, either: "I didn't like what he was doing at all - it sounded sloppy and thrown together to me, and the sentiments were juvenile, potty-mouthed and simplistic. Zappa chose easy targets, I thought; I was taking on the entire culture." He added, "He didn't think much of me, either, by the way." For The United States, Byrd had been inspired by Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe and the Fish, and Blue Cheer; Circus went even further in abandoning "traditional" rock forms.

The American Metaphysical Circus does, indeed, turn the culture of the day on its ear in dark, provocative and surprising ways. In one lyric, the happy invitation to "Come fly with me" cedes to "Come die with me." The lyrical strains of "America the Beautiful" figure into the biting, ironically lilting "Patriot's Lullabye": "Beautiful for patriot's dream/Honor and obey/White and free, assemble all/Each to worship in his way..." Similar themes are explored on the ironic "Mister 4th of July" and the scathing "Nightmare Train." Even "Auld Lang Syne" turns sinister in "Leisure World." Byrd commented, "Leisure World (which I regarded as a horror) was the first retirement community in California, a place in which no one could live who wasn't over 55. There are now thousands of them - a cruise ship for people who've abandoned real life."

A testament to the singular, often dark vision of a musical iconoclast, The American Metaphysical Circus is as striking, unsettling and fascinating today as it must have been in 1969. Popular music may have traveled a very different road since then, but many of Byrd's lyrical targets are still fodder for discussion today. Ben Wiseman has remastered this edition, which is a companion to Esoteric's 2014 reissue of The United States of America. Malcolm Dome has supplied the new liner notes in the 16-page full-color booklet which also contains lyrics and album artwork.

The American Metaphysical Circus is available now at the links below!

Joe Byrd and the Field Hippies, The American Metaphysical Circus (Columbia Masterworks MS 7317, 1969 - reissued Esoteric ECLEC2483, 2015) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

The Sub-Sylvian Litanies