Customer Reviews

United States of Mind

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I loved these albums when they were first relesed in the 70's and have been a fan of Silver since the 50's. People like the first reviewer, who haven't been around that long, sometimes miss the point. This is not hard bop plays gospel or watered down Horace. These songs have political reference to the time that they were written, i.e. the Vietnam War and the Black struggle for freedom in America. Listen to the music and hear the lyrics and you will understand what its all about.

If you are looking for the standard Blue Note Horace Silver (acoustic, quintet/sextet, w little or no vocals) this is not one the to get for that. This is music for those on the path to higher heights. If you want to jam to some truly inspirational music, this is a gem waiting for you to discover it. If you can grasp the wisdom of the law of cause and effect, eating healthy & working out, and just living life at a higher frequency, I promise you that you will be thankful that this CD became manifest in your world. Like probably anyone reading this review, I have a very large music library. If I were to have to start my collection all over, this would be one of the first CDs I would purchase. "All is in mind!"

I'm glad to see this stuff is finally available. I love Andy Beys work I heard Happy Medium on Public Radio and really liked it. Thanks Bluenote!!!

Horace's personal fave, and who am I to disagree?

I've listened to this CD hundreds of times, since it was initially re-released in 2004. (The only other CD I've ever listened to more is Nirvana's "Nevemind." I love albums with "mind" in the title.) Driving on Sylvan Avenue in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, passing the Rudy Van Gelder studio,an unassuming little shack down the road a piece from CNBC, where Horace actually recorded this much maligned, sorely overlooked masterwork, this music transports me to a time I lived through, but was barely conscious of. But since the Bush crony administration consists of Nixon loyalists, history seems to be regurgitating itself, tragically, making this CD both contemporary and essential.

"The United States of Mind" is a scream for the American spirit to return to it's senses and slough the encroaching fascism, a political ideology which subjugates humanity for the sake of industry, that was overtaking America at that time, and seems to be making something of a comeback, alternating between the Republican Lite of the Clintons and the Nazi Lite of the Bushes.

But enough about political context, what about the music?

It's slamming from "That Healin' Feelin'," a thrashy instrumental number, where the RMI keyboard that Silver adopted for this trilogy jarrs the jazz purist bores who have hobbled the progress of jazz with their conservative nature and basically rejects technical perfection for pure raw feeling, hence the title. (This number explains why so many middle-aged trash metal fans have gravitated to Horace Silver, since the late '90s.)

"The Happy Medium" was a commercial hit back in the day. It's a ditty about being moderate (without being a mediocroty) sung with such intensity by Andy Bey.

"The Show Has Begun" echoes the Shakespeare thing, that all the world's a stage and we're all merely playas. Act wisely.

"Love Vibrations" is a non-gender specific romance song, a token of respect from Silver to Bey's homosexuality. Silver proves that kindness is a prerequisite to intelligence.

"Peace" is a gentle call for...well, for peace... sung with a muscular whispery vibrato by Bey. It eases the listener with a positive message about the power of a positive outook, and poetic imagery. Note the very trippy outro by Silver. Wow!

"Permit Me To Introduce You To Yourself," "Wipe Away The Evil," and "There's Much To Be Done" are more traditional gospel numbers, albeit secular ones, both sung by Andy Bey's sister, Salome. The drums do kick maja butt, as the lyrics preach self-awareness and personal responsibility.

"Nobody Knows" is the strongest non-Andy Bey track off this trilogy, sung by Gail Nelson. It's a slow, intense drag of a song. The lyrics are very writerly, which many traditionalists will find offputting, about what will the future bring. Will we be able to balance freedom and decency? Nobody Knows; only time will tell.

"Acid, Pot or Pills" and "What Kind of Animal Am I" (sounds like a Barbara Walters' question) are the most dated, if you listen superficially. Repeated listenings, however, reveal beautifully structured songs. "Acid, Pot or Pills" is teetotalling and trippy simultaneously, and "What Kind of Animal Am I" is, ironically, much better when you listen to it high. Actually, it would make a great children's song. Somewhat out of place on this platter. However, this song made me recognize how many people resemble animals. I, myself, resemble a chimp.

"Won't You Open Up Your Senses" is the by far and away the best song of all. It's about expanding your mind by acknowleding that an adult is nothing but a decaying child. Accept this and live with the simplicity of a child. Happiness will follow suit.

"I've Had A Little Talk" should be the theme song for Whole Foods. This song espouses eating right. Stay away from processed foods. After all, you are what you eat - explains why I'm such a puss.

I could summarize the rest of the songs for you, but I'd like to end on a joke. So, long story short, buy this CD. It's great. If I'm lying, I'm dying. But better me than Bush: if he's lying, you're dying. Better me than you, right?

I avoided this music for a long time due to the facile philosophizing of the dumb-ass lyrics and the general buffoonery of the overall presentation. Horace's "philosophy" was (and is) childish and crude, with earnest exhortations of obvious life messages (chew each mouthful 27 times). I'm on it, sir!

But I came to realize that, for whatever reason, this music had deep meaning for him. More than one interview has made that crystal clear. And if it has meaning for him it automatically has meaning for me. So I gave the discs some fresh spins.

What I found was a cornucopia of great Silver tunes, rendered mostly in compact form (no trumpet or tenor solos) and featuring some very nice piano solos from Horace. He plays electric piano on these cuts (with Cranshaw on electric bass), so the feel is a little different but the familiar Silver touch remains. And the tunes have a nagging way of sticking in your head all day long.

A number of "hardcore" Horace fans on this board have slammed the United States of Mind. My rejoinder to them all is to just sign up for the ride and be grateful to the gods that this slighty nutty, mostly puzzling and entirely wonderful music exists.

Horace was/is one of the all-time greatest pianists and composers in Jazz. He was a very prolific composer. This 3 album set is very untypical of his music, and it should be appreciated for it's spiritual and lyric content. It shows Horace doing something unique, not his usual groove. "Silver and Voices" was another 1970's album that was also Very different from Horace's trademark/usual sound. How Much Does Matter Really Matter? ?

This album has some pretty corny songs in retrospect...but it was conceived in an era that was consumed with all kinds of free experimentation... sometimes the experiments were flirting with (OMG!) commercialism, but there were a few pretty good songs produced here as well. Nothing, NOTHING with Andy Beys Voice and Horace Silvers Hands could be as worthless as a previous reviewer has stated, its worth a listened to those who never heard it and nostalgically pleasing to those who heard it back in its day.Open up your mind.

If you were not a visionary in jazz, or hooked up with one, the late 60s was a tough time. Free Jazz had run its course, Coltrane, a major trendseter, was dead, and rock and roll was swamping the subculture the way jazz had in the 40s and 50s. Kids were going to the Filmore, not the Village Gate. Even Miles was moving jazz into rock venues, and there were few strong enough to do that without seeming like they were just jumping on the bandwagon. Bop just sounded old and recycled.

All of this illistrates why United States of Mind is a decent album, not a great one. There is straight hard bop, albeit with a Fender Rhoads or a Calvenet, and some vocal numbers. None of these are bad, or even mediocre. This is good music, just not particually exciting.

There is also a track, Acid Pot or Pills, which is a great soul number. It is not inventive, but it is a great piece of wha wha funk; an interesting experiment on an album that is too modern to be pure bop, but does not go nearly far enough with its modernazations to have an edge.

If you like good, middle of the road jazz, there is nothing wrong with buying this album, even if you buy it just for Acid Pot or Pills. It is nice to listen to, but compare it to Bitches Brew or even Cannonball Adderly's late 60s deep soul romps, and it will be hard for United States of Mind to hold your interest.

This albums sets a personally negative milestone. This is the first Blue Note recording or Horace Silver recording that I can honestly say I hate. I just received it. Gave both CDs a patient listen 3 times. It will now be in the bin of the nearby used-records store in my town.

I possess close to 400 Blue Note recordings from the late '40s to the early '70s, but I've never actually counted. Approximately 15 of those are from Silver. I have some non-Blue Note recordings by him as well. I adore Horace and I am appreciative of his enormous contribution to jazz piano. I love Blue Note recordings from the '40s to the '70s, including the more poppish, boogaloo-rock-soul jazz recordings of the late 60s through the 70s.

This album is atrocioius. Please don't buy it, even for the novelty of it. There is some novelty to this album but it is passionless and bland. Words I never use to describe Blue Note recordings from the era or Horace Silver recordings. Lyrically, I've rarely heard anything so ridculous and corny, and the lyrics are, unfortunately, extremely prominent, much more than a means of delivering a good tune.

This album is made up of three previous recordings that were called "Phase 1: That Healin' Feelin'," "Phase 2: Total Response," and "Phase 3: All," which were designed to make up the project, "The United States of the Mind." Now, look at what I just wrote. Look at the titles. If that is not revealing, then I don't know what is.

Lyrically, the album is addressing New Age approaches to the holistic lifestyle. It never wavers from that theme. Lyrical phrases such as "I've found a happy medium to lighten my load" and "natural whole foods are the way to go" (I kid you not) are the norm and not this critic being selective of the exceptions. The songs are tuneless and filled with motionless vamps and passionless solos. The whole album is an enormously long, souless and pallid jam session. The band literally sounds like it is playing background music for a wedding. cannot imagine what Horace was thinking (or smoking? ingesting?) when he made this. Reissue producer Michael Cuscuna's liner notes are revealing. He never personally endorses the music but writes about what it meant to Silver.

A notable crime is how he has massacred his beautiful, vintage ballad, "Peace." Do not buy this. Please, please, please. If you are a Horace/Blue-Note fan, then you are sure to be disappointed. If you like music and you buy this, then you are bound for a quick trip to the used-music shop or Amazon-marketplace.

My God this sucks, what the Hell was Blue Note thinking when this garbage was prepared for the RVG treatment? The music is like a bad Shaft sex scene, or some background filler for 70's pimps to put on; no, wait even pimps knew their music better than this dribble. I'd pay 2 cents for this if it were in that price range, but apparently some suckers have spent almost $20 on this nightmare; remember this is when Blue Note was sold and went completly down hill- (history) O, well. jb