RIP Joseph Byrd, Electronic Music Composer, Founder of the United States of America

[sgcim]

I wasn't sure where to put this, but The Times had an article on him which was probably taken from this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Byrd

Phil Woods even recorded one of his songs.

Edited December 18, 2025 by sgcim

[clifford_thornton]

I used to have the United States of America as well as The American Metaphysical Circus on LP... interesting, though at the time they didn't really take. It seems line his more curious endeavors are "off the record(s)," so to speak. RIP.

[Joe]

I highly recommend checking out the collection of Byrd's early work on New World. https://newworldrecords.bandcamp.com/album/nyc-1960-1963

[felser]

22 hours ago, clifford_thornton said:

I used to have the United States of America as well as The American Metaphysical Circus on LP... 

I have them both on CD.  The first is excellent due to the vocals of Dorothy Moskowitz and the violin of Gordon Marrone.  The second is less interesting.  Byrd's vocals are actually an annoyance, but credit him with the project conception.

[clifford_thornton]

3 hours ago, Joe said:

I highly recommend checking out the collection of Byrd's early work on New World. https://newworldrecords.bandcamp.com/album/nyc-1960-1963

yeah, wasn't aware of that one until yesterday. Looks great.

[Dub Modal]

Interesting and full life. His half-sister was a famous writer and his father was a mine speculator with claimed lineage to Scottish royalty. 

[sgcim]

Yeah, Byrd was a wild guy! A student of Barney Childs starting a rock band!

Kind of reminds me of the experimentation going on in the 60s with Bob Bruno and his band Circus Maximus. To quote Wiki,

"In late December 1967, the band performed in an unusual pair of "Electric Christmas" concerts together with New York Pro Musica, an ensemble that performed early music. There were two 80-minute performances. The material performed included a reworking of 14th-century composer Guillaume de Machaut's "La douce dame jolie" as an English-language song "Sweet Lovely Lady" arranged by Robert M. Bruno for the ensemble, and Bruno original "Chess Game" that, unbeknownst to Bruno but noted by John White, director of the Pro Musica, strongly echoed the "Romanesca", a piece that first appears in 16th-century Spanish lute books.^"]

Then you have Phil Woods recording "Love Song for Che" on his "Round Trip" album.

[JSngry]

8 minutes ago, sgcim said:

Yeah, Byrd was a wild guy! A student of Barney Childs starting a rock band!

Kind of reminds me of the experimentation going on in the 60s with Bob Bruno and his band Circus Maximus. To quote Wiki,

"In late December 1967, the band performed in an unusual pair of "Electric Christmas" concerts together with New York Pro Musica, an ensemble that performed early music. There were two 80-minute performances. The material performed included a reworking of 14th-century composer Guillaume de Machaut's "La douce dame jolie" as an English-language song "Sweet Lovely Lady" arranged by Robert M. Bruno for the ensemble, and Bruno original "Chess Game" that, unbeknownst to Bruno but noted by John White, director of the Pro Musica, strongly echoed the "Romanesca", a piece that first appears in 16th-century Spanish lute books.^"]

Then you have Phil Woods recording "Love Song for Che" on his "Round Trip" album.

The band with Jerry Jeff Walker? That's crazy!

[sgcim]

8 hours ago, JSngry said:

The band with Jerry Jeff Walker? That's crazy!

Yeah, the collaborations were mainly with Robert N. Bruno (Bob), leader of CM. JJW and the other guys followed Bob's lead.

Here's all you need to know about Bruno:

https://www.soundclick.com/bobbruno

[clifford_thornton]

yeah, Bob Bruno of Noah Howard fame as well. Met him once, seems like a sweet guy.

[felser]

I had a cut by Circus Maximus, "The Wind", on an initial version of my current BFT, but decided I'd take too much grief from certain quarters for including it along with the other vocal cuts.  Very 1967 (in a good way):