The United States of America was an American experimental rock band founded in Los Angeles in 1967 by composer Joseph Byrd and vocalist Dorothy Moskowitz, with electric violinist Gordon Marron, bassist Rand Forbes and drummer Craig Woodson.

Their 1968 self-titled album, often cited as an early showcase for the use of electronic devices in rock music, was met with critical acclaim and minor chart success.

[11] On one occasion in 1965, as the concluding part of a series of concerts and events called "Steamed Spring Vegetable Pie" (a title taken at random from The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook), Byrd organized a blues band fronted by his friend Linda Ronstadt, to play during a "happening".

Byrd said that "the realization that rock was an access to a larger public came out of that concert, and the idea of forming a band began taking shape.

In early 1967 Byrd started to form a rock band with another politically radical composer, Michael Agnello, together with Moskowitz, bassist Stuart Brotman (previously of Canned Heat and later of Kaleidoscope), and African drumming expert Craig Woodson who had also been involved in the New Music Workshop.

"[11] According to Moskowitz, the choice of the band name "The United States of America" was intentionally provocative: "Using the full name of the country for something so common as a rock group was a way of expressing disdain for governmental policy.

"[8] As well as crediting the influence of Dada-inspired band The Red Crayola,[14] Byrd said: We were very conscious that we were plunging into rock without any real knowledge of, or experience in, the medium.

[15] Byrd explained: the two engagements at The Ash Grove helped define us as a combination of experimental rock and performance art.

We traveled with a bunch of gear, including a calliope, a 3' x 4' neon American flag (which had alternately flashing red and white stripes), and a full-size plaster nun.

They undertook a short tour of the East Coast, with Richie Havens and The Troggs, with their performances in Boston and Greenwich Village being especially well received.

On "Hard Coming Love", Byrd wrote the title and first verse, and Moskowitz contributed what she referred to as the "lame doggerel that follows".

Byrd later described "Stranded in Time", arranged by Marron, as "a weak Beatle-esque copy of 'Eleanor Rigby', [which] could not be performed live because it called for string quartet.

"[6] The record was released in early 1968, at a time when there was a receptive audience for “underground music” which combined musical experimentalism with radical social and/or political lyrics – other examples, in their very different ways, including the Velvet Underground (who shared a common background in the New York experimental music scene; according to Moskowitz, Nico at one point tried to join the USA),[10] Frank Zappa (whom Byrd disliked, considering him a niche-marketer "subsumed in a self-referential loop"),[11] Love's Forever Changes, Country Joe and the Fish, and Jefferson Airplane.

The album is littered with references to Byrd's obsession with old-time American music such as the Dixieland jazz intro on "I Won't Leave My Wooden Wife for You, Sugar".

Musically, the songs ranged from pseudo-classical elegance ("Stranded in Time" and "Where Is Yesterday") to aggressive discordance and hard rock ("The Garden of Earthly Delights" and "Hard Coming Love"), with heavy electronic distortion and collages of music such as brass bands, in line with Byrd being heavily influenced by Charles Ives.

Byrd commented that "as I tried to make our sound harder, Dorothy was trying to go softer, perhaps responding to an unconscious influence of autobiographic women songwriters of the time: Janis Ian, Laura Nyro, and Joni Mitchell.

[7] In contrast, Moskowitz has said that the company were "just trying to market us", and "we were the ones who were being sanctimonious ... [and] rigid ...", also claiming that producer Rubinson lost interest in the band after Agnello left.

"[10] In any event, Byrd announced that he was leaving, and, according to Moskowitz, when he changed his mind, "the manager pleaded with me to accept him back, but I wouldn't.

"[10] Rubinson said: "Joe Byrd was one of the most insane examples of control freak that I've, to this day, ever experienced ... he was really bizarre, and a very, very difficult person to deal with.

[7] The album was described by critic Richie Unterberger as "a near classic",[17] "a tour de force (though not without its flaws) of experimental rock that blended surprisingly melodic sensibilities with unnerving blasts of primitive synthesizers and lyrics that could range from misty romanticism to hard-edged irony.

For the relatively few who heard it, the record was a signpost to the future with its collision of rock and classical elements, although the material crackled with a tension that reflected the United States of America itself in the late '60s.

"[10] Describing Moskowitz's vocals as "reminiscent of an icier Grace Slick", he also said that the electronic textures crafted by Byrd "were not simulations of strings and horns, but exhilarating, frightening swoops and bleeps that lent a fierce crunch to the faster numbers, and a beguiling serenity to the ballads.

"[10] According to Unterberger, "the very fact that the equipment was so primitive... lent a spontaneous resonance and warmth that has rarely been achieved by subsequent synthesizer technology.

"[10] Producer David Rubinson commented: The ring modulator and the volt-control oscillators and voltage control filters – they didn't come in a set, like they did in a Moog.

[10]According to critic Kevin Holm-Hudson, "what distinguishes the United States of America from some of its contemporaries ... is the seriousness and skill with which they incorporated avant-garde and other influences into their music.