''USA'' is a live album by the English band

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

, released in 1975. It was recorded at the Casino, Asbury Park, New Jersey, on 28 June 1974, except “21st Century Schizoid Man”, which was recorded at the Palace Theatre,

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, United States, on 30 June 1974. Violin and electric piano overdubs by

Eddie Jobson Edwin "Eddie" Jobson (born 28 April 1955) is an English musician noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K. and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zap ...

were recorded at Olympic Studios, London in 1975. Live recording was performed by George Chkiantz and David Hewitt using the Record Plant Remote Truck. “Asbury Park” and “Easy Money” were edited to about half their original lengths for the LP release. The unedited versions were released digitally on dgmlive.com in 2005, along with the rest of the show in original running order. The album opens with a brief excerpt of "The Heavenly Music Corporation" from ''

(No Pussyfooting) ''(No Pussyfooting)'' is the debut studio album by the British duo Fripp & Eno, released in 1973. ''(No Pussyfooting)'' was the first of three major collaborations between the musicians, growing out of Brian Eno's early tape delay looping expe ...

'', an album

Robert Fripp Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946) is a British musician, songwriter, record producer, and author, best known as the guitarist, founder and longest-lasting member of the progressive rock band King Crimson. He has worked extensively as a session ...

recorded with musician and producer Brian Eno. While it was not listed as a separate track on the original album, it is present on all releases. Jobson plays violin on “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (Part II)” and “21st Century Schizoid Man”, and Fender electric piano on “Lament” to improve the poor sound quality of the original parts played by David Cross. Original vinyl releases contain audio content in both the lead-in grooves to both sides of the album, and in side two's run-out groove. In the latter case, the audience's applause following "21st Century Schizoid Man" continues through side two's final locked groove, causing the applause to continue on manual turntables as long as the phonograph needle remains on the record. There have been four releases of the album: # Original vinyl release in 1975. Includes tracks 1 - 7 (although track 1 & 2 are combined) with Eddie Jobson's overdubs. # 30th Anniversary Remaster released 2002. Added tracks 8 & 9 to original release, credited track 1. # 2005 mix of original multi-track tapes by Ronan Chris Murphy at DGM. Released as download from dgmlive.com in 2005 and on CD as disc two of The Collectable King Crimson Vol. 1 in 2006. This edition is now the full Asbury Park concert, without overdubs, and in the proper running order. Includes all tracks, with the uncut versions of "Asbury Park" and "Easy Money"; "21st Century Schizoid Man" is moved to be the last track and is now the version from Asbury Park rather than Providence, Rhode Island. Does not include Eddie Jobson's overdubs. # 2013 mix by original multi-track tapes by Robert Fripp, Tony Arnold and David Singleton at the Courthouse, Cranborne, Dorset. Same track order and versions as release #3. Splits improv at end of track 6 into its own track. This mix is available on The Road to Red and the 40th Anniversary edition of USA.

Track listing

Personnel

;King Crimson *

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, Mellotron *

John Wetton John Kenneth Wetton (12 June 1949 – 31 January 2017) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. Known for his dexterous bass playing and booming baritone voice, Wetton first gained fame in the early 1970s. Wetton was the singer and p ...

–

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, director, and writer known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show'' (1995–1998), and his role as Tobias Fünke in the Fox/Netflix si ...

–

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

, Mellotron, electric piano (except on 2,3,7 of original release) *

Bill Bruford William Scott Bruford (born 17 May 1949) is an English former drummer and percussionist who first gained prominence as a founding member of the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving Yes in 1972, Bruford spent the rest of the 1970s recording ...

– drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

;Additional musician *

– violin (2 & 7), electric piano (3)

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Usa 1975 live albums King Crimson live albums Atlantic Records live albums Island Records live albums