I Like to Be in A-meh-ree-ca!
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Although fog and low clouds swirled here and there over Monterey Bay tonight, they didn't really intrude on the 4th of July celebration. I was in the crowd on hand at the Presidio, and enjoyed a decent rendition of the traditional Independence Day fireworks display. No marching band music or cheesy rock soundtrack. Just booms and bangs from the sky above and oohs and ahhs from the crowd below. But in my head, I could hear a specific version of composer Leonard Bernstein's "America" from the musical "West Side Story"- the outrageous 1968 instrumental interpretation of the song by the British prog-rock band The Nice.
As much as I love my country and consider it to be (in theory) the greatest nation on the planet, I do realize that it's far from perfect. So I've always enjoyed the original version of "America" with Stephen Sondheim's sarcastic back-and-forth lyrics about the virtues and shortcomings of the immigrant life in the U.S., as sung by the Puerto Rican kids in the Broadway show. Still, it's the unhinged, industrial-strength take by The Nice that was echoing through the old cranium as I watched the 4th of July light blossoms bloom in the night.
The Nice was a late '60s ensemble built around the flamboyant keyboard gymnastics of Keith Emerson. Signed to Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label, The Nice recorded and released four provocative albums between 1967 and 1970 (plus a post-break-up 1971 collection), mixing rock, jazz and classical strains with a mordant wit that undercut what might have otherwise been painfully pretentious. (The pretension came later with Emerson's excesses as a member of the '70s art-rock supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer.)
"America," which was released as a single in the U.K. and was added to the American version of The Nice's second album Ars Longa Vita Brevis, stands as a high-water mark in the band's discography. It rips! (It's even a little Goth in its willfully creepy whips-and-screams intro.)
And since this is America (where we have freedom of choice), you can choose to listen to the audio stream of the track, or watch this rare 1968 video of The Nice - keyboardist Emerson, bassist/vocalist Lee Jackson, drummer Brian Davison, and guitarist David O'List - performing "America":
Locating MOG account...
Comments (18)
Yeah, This is nice (nyuk,nyuk). Amon Duul did a version too, spacier but funkier.
Complete with Karnevil 9 processed pipe organ styled beginning... a very rare video classic indeed... as could only be located by the Knife... :) Cheers!
Great video! Reminds me of how the lyrics in the original stage version were changed for the 1961 film. What was originally a humorous contrast between praise for Puerto Rico and poking fun at life on the island morphed into a criticism of America and racism.
deadmandeadman: I try not to think of prog-rock as a guilty pleasure - and do occasionally revisit The Nice and Yes. Amon Duul? O.K. But I draw the line at Rush and Uriah Heep.
vannatta: I was as surprised as anyone to see a clip of the band with Davy O'List, who left the band shortly thereafter (although he went on to provide astonishing guitar work on Bryan Ferry's explosive cover of "The In Crowd"). Considering the post, the video simply had to be embedded.
Jon O: Glad you enjoyed it. And a little dissent is good for the American spirit, if you ask me...
The only America I listen to on July 4th is by Neil Diamond. I have my parents to thank for this
Rawkkiddoh: C'mon, man. It's not like your mom is Sweet Caroline...or is she???
maybe that, or the fact that growing up my parents got every single diamond album that came out. They also made my brother and myself go to two of their concerts..........talk about bad parenting
Hmmm. On the other hand, I always liked "Cherry, Cherry"...
So, I really shouldn't be listening to this and enjoying it, as our theatre is currently in rehearsal for WSS, but I do and I'll likely turn a few cats onto this post as a more palateable take given we'll hear it a thousand times before it's all over. Any avantgarde takes on Somewhere? Gonna have to dig...
Glad all fingers are intact on your end and the fireworks were wonderful.
Thanks for sharing this.
Like the track - but don't understand how it is any more or less pretentious than ELP's take of "Fanfare for the Common Man."
I understand that some of progressive rock is distasteful to some people but never understood what people found pretentious about it. I don't think of the members of Rush or Kansas being pompous in any way. Why don't people just say, "I just really don't like their music, it's not what rock music means to me." Can you see the irony in reviewing a rock band as "pretentious"?
I'm sorry about being contentious but the whole pretentious tag has always bothered me.
Happy belated Independence Day!
TBoom: To my ears, this - and much of The Nice's output ("Rondo," "You Belong to Me," etc.) - is rollicking and wild, while ELP's extrapolations of classical music - like their take on "Fanfare for the Common Man" - are ponderous and - yep! - pretentious. Speaking of my ears, Rush is just shrill and pseudo-intellectual overkill to them (Thanks, Geddy!), while Kansas is a barn full of bogus pomp with lyrics at the level of a junior-high poetry competition. Of course, your mileage may vary. ;-)
BTW, re; prog-rock - I've always enjoyed Yes and the Mahavishnu Orchestra - and The Nice. It's all about degrees, man. Degrees.
Whether I agree with your views or not, I much prefer a review like this last comment over simple, pretentious statements about pretentiousness. Thanks for the response.
TBoom: No prob. And for the record, the post was not a review, was never meant to be a review, and was wholly intended as a holiday-themed signpost to a band that I like through the acknowledgment of one track. That said, the use of the word "pretentious" was an accurate (if terse) way to tag something as self-important, such as the music and milieu of ELP - which, by the way, is a guilty pleasure of mine on rare occasions. Simplicity can be a virtue.
And wassonii, there have been quite a few jazz takes on "Somewhere," but the closest we get to something MOGstream is probably Tom Waits' beautifully raw rendering. (Yep, fingers and toes intact.)
Hi Mike,
I love the original from "West Side Story". It's funny really, because it's treated as an iconic celebratory song, and yet the original lyrics are very cynical. I have an Uncle who was heavily into The Nice and ELP, and in my teens he was intent on indoctrinating me as a prog rocker. The law of diminishing returns in my case. I could take a couple of songs, but a whole album (like "5 Bridges")....erm....?...aaaaaarrrrrrgggghhh
Ben: The entire third album by The Nice, simply titled Nice and featuring one studio side and a live side recorded at the Fillmore East, is loads of fun. But right now, I'm more interested in listening to the debut collection by Seattle's Fleet Foxes. Priorities!
"I Like to Be in A-meh-ree-ca!" - so would I 'cause I think non-Americans are having trouble playing the Mog player. Yours is not working for me! NOT Nice. I did take up your freedom of choice offer and check out the vid, tho. A swinging workout to be sure but I miss the colour and panache of the original. Why can't modern Puerto Rican street gangs dance, sing, and dress like those guys could, eh? ;)
Can't figure it, Flux. No tech problems at my end. In fact, since the last site update, the player's been working better than ever for me. Again, that's why I like to double-scoop at my posts: audio and video streams. As for a real update of the musical, I don't know how the public would respond to "West Side Stabbing." (Torn from today's headlines, blah, blah, blah...)