This Is Me--2024 A to Z Theme

My A to Z Themes in the past have covered a range of topics and for 2024 the theme is a personal retrospective that I call "I Coulda Been" which is in reference to my job and career arc over my lifetime. I'll be looking at all sorts of occupations that I have done or could have done. Maybe you've done some of these too!

Monday, April 25, 2022

U Know This Post Will Be Short ( #AtoZChallenge )

      U know this post will be short because U know there aren't many artists with names that start with the letter U.  U know?

#AtoZChallenge 2022 Blogging from A to Z Challenge letter      I got nuttin' for U.  I have some U music on CD and cassette, but the only one I had on vinyl I kept.  It's this one...


Links to the music are included throughout the post if you want to hear the music.



The United States of America  (1968)  This is another group I read about in Lillian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia which was my go to for finding interesting music--for a while.  For one thing this group features a violinist and by now you must know about me and my interest in violin music.  Well I like it.  And the music is psychedelic, which is one of my favorite genres.  This album has so much of me written all over it that I sought it out.  As was often the case with more obscure music I found a full list price copy at the University of Tennessee bookstore.  This album was often part of the soundtrack for some of my wilder mental adventures and I won't say more than that about that.  I have since obtained a CD copy of this album, but still the vinyl has personal historical significance so I'll save it for my museum collection. 


          Have you bought albums based on just reading about them without hearing the music?   Do you find psychedelic music to be appealing to you or just too out there?  Which artists starting with the letter U can you name?  








27 comments:

  1. No Uriah Heep? They are about the only band I can think of from that era.

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    Replies
    1. Alex, Uriah Heep used to be a big favorite of mine. A friend of mine had their albums on 8-track and we'd spend hours cruising the mountains and countryside listen to them and other groups he had on cartridge. Since I listened so much in his car I never felt the need to buy any of their albums. Later I got a CD or two by them on CD. Saw them in concert in the seventies in Knoxville.

      Lee

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  2. U2?
    Not into rock much, or jazz. I like music I can follow, not sounds that the performer enjoys making.

    Beth
    https://bethlapinsatozblog.wordpress.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beth, rock I can follow easily, but not so much most rap. Since U2 came out during the time I was mainly buying cassettes, I never got any of their albums on vinyl. Have several by U2 on CD as well.

      Lee

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  3. I was also expecting to see U2. Never a favorite of mine, but a pretty obvious guess.

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    1. Jamie, U2 is a big name for U. If someday I do a series about my cassettes or CDs then you'd see a lot of U2.

      Lee

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  4. I never bothered to buy any U2, I do have a couple of Uriah Heep albums from the 70s.

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    Replies
    1. Craig, I loved Uriah Heep back in those days. Listened to them often.

      Lee

      Delete
  5. U2 comes to mind first, "Beautiful Day" is a great song for a Monday:-)

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    1. Diedre, I was very impressed by U2's concert at Red Rocks. I saw it on HBO I think back in the eighties and it really sold me on U2 although I already had a few of their albums on cassette.

      Lee

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  6. Replies
    1. L.Diane, I'm not seeing many other picks for U from the comments. And I'm not thinking of that many other than what's already been mentioned.

      Lee

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  7. Under "U" I only have U2 in my rock vinyl collection. I have said many times that U2 is perhaps the most overrated band in the world, and I stand by that... but I still liked enough of their stuff to buy a few albums. I have UB40 on CD, and I think "They Don't Know" is a fun, catchy pop hit by Tracey Ullman. I love the cover of that by Suzanna Hoffs and Matthew Sweet which I have on CD too. You should look that one up.

    Finally, I have a serigraph by Marcus Uzilevsky, who was in the New Christy Minstrels and performed as "Rusty Evans." Here he is
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcq9lC7RQgI&list=PLrgPJ1VLl13zce061fhq3G8x5Xz_JA2v0&index=2

    I have some opera singers that start with U also.

    Sixgun Mc...

    ReplyDelete
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    1. 6-Gun, thank you for offering up some new selections that haven't been mentioned yet. I'd forgotten UB40--I've got an album by them on cassette.

      I have the Hoffs/Sweet album. Love that album and I think Matthew Sweet doesn't some fantastic music. A lot of BOTB possibilities on his albums.

      Marcus is a new one to me. That's weird enough for my tastes.

      Lee

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  8. The first time I heard Django Reinhardt was when I bought one of his albums...

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    1. John, now with the internet it's easy to find out what artists sound like before purchasing anything. Back in the day I'd read about artists and albums and just have to rely on descriptions of the music. I rarely saw any of those record stores where you could go in a booth and listen--like you see in the movies sometimes.

      Lee

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  9. Am not at all aware of American music to share thoughts :) but i like a band in India by name Euphoria...not exactly starting with U though

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    1. Afshan, I've not heard of Euphoria but I like the name and phonetically it sounds like it starts with U.

      Lee

      Delete
  10. This is a wrong place but as i msgd, mailed and instagrammed ..I just felt I should post here to bring to your notice.

    Thanks a lot for visiting my blog, reading and commenting and thanks for featuring my post on a toz FB page! I would love to do a guest post , however if my T post deems fit pls feel free to publish whenever it is apt!


    Also i just wanna bring to your notice that am facing issues with a to z Fb page...till 3 days back i was able to post on threads there , like, reply..now everything is blocked to me. I can only see posts..i saw that u featured me there , when a friend replied. Some how my access is blocked there which is weird..i mailed about this to a to z team and also messaged on insta. I request to check my msgs and help me in resolving this if possible? One of my frnds also msgd on the fb page

    Thanks again for featuring on the FB page

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Afshan, like I believe I responded elsewhere I have no idea what to tell you about Facebook. A lot of things seem to be changing including Blogger. I don't know that anyone from A to Z can tamper with how people comment on FB.

      Lee

      Delete
    2. Thanks for response Lee. Sorry for disrupting the comment thread. Me and my friends also trouble shooted a lot..may be I should raise to FB support. For now I may have to do without posting on the group :(

      Delete
  11. I'm with Alex! Love Uriah Heep. ♥ And, psychedelic music is one of my favourite genres. Not a fan of U2. Those are are the only two "U" bands I could think of. Never heard of the U.S.A. band, but I followed your link to have a listen. Interesting sound! "Hard Coming Love" is reminiscent of Jefferson Airplane.

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    1. Debbie D, my early seventies were inundated with massive doses of Uriah Heep. I loved their music as well. I guess U.S.A. were like an East Coast version of San Francisco bands. More use of synthesizers and such.

      Lee

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  12. U know, I couldn't find one in my collection either.

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  13. Psychedelic music like any other music I can listen to if it is good Love, Jimi, The Doors, The Beatles, Pink Floyd... I guess it all depends who you include in the genre

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    1. Mike, there is some pretty bad psychedelic music as well as the albums that are so bad that they are almost good.

      Lee

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Go ahead and say something. Don't be afraid to speak your mind.
I normally try to respond to all comments in the comment section so please remember to check the "Email follow-up comments" box if you want to participate in the comment conversation.

For Battle of the Bands voting the "Anonymous" commenting option has been made available though this version is the least preferred. If voting using "anonymous" please include in your comment your name (first only is okay) and city you are voting from and the reason you chose the artist you did.

If you know me and want to comment but don't want to do it here, then you can send me an email @ jacksonlee51 at aol dot com.

Lee