For those in the know, the Bloodrock song 'America, America' is the one and only vocal performance by the band's drummer (and occasional lyricist) Rick Cobb. It is also Bloodrock's only acoustic number. Despite being an intended oddity, a 'trifle' as Cobb calls it, the Capitol Records' art department inexplicably brought the super-short track to prominence by displaying the lyrics of the song, and nothing else, on the back of the LP cover containing it (Bloodrock 3).
The front cover of Bloodrock 3 displayed the band's name spelled out with an American flag font - a top stripe of blue with white stars, a stripe of white and a stripe of red ... blood dripping off the letters. As it turned out, the LP was released in April 1971 - the month the Lt. William Calley / My Lai massacre was the top headline throughout the US.
Capitol records, intentionally or not, placed an eye-popping pop art statement of subversion in every record shop throughout an nation racked by war doubts.
On the back of the record's cover, the poem printed is vague - yet politically charged:
I remember how good friends we used to be,
Now knowing, we were younger
and protected from your harm;
America, America,
You are so far away;
Your fossils are the children of today;
And though there's joy in emptiness,
I cannot say your absence fits
The joys of living.
Rick Cobb (in conversation, July 3 2003, December 6 2003 and May 28 2004) said:
We did toss the idea around to spell it Amerika but decided it was either too corny or controversial, or both. It seemed like such a trifle at the time but a lot of people really responded to it. And I was surprised when it made the back cover. The final few words about 'fossils' and all that silliness is different in print than the version sung, but it still comes out the same way: Nebulous! I had a penchant for saying things that sounded more profound than they really were.
Article comments
1 - denise
And they're Texans! Rock!
2 - Milton Walters
Hey Bro,
It's Milton formerly with LPG. Give me a shout.
-mw
3 - Bluewave
The reunion last March was amazing! Since then, though, many of the websites that were posting stuff about Bloodrock have disappeared, but there's one that's remained constant. Go to www.steviehill.com and you'll see that Stevie Hill's webmaster cares and is keeping us informed about the new DVD from the reunion in Ft.Worth, Texas, and about new solo stuff he's is doing! Stevie Hill was & is totally amazing on keyboards! May the good Lord bless him and keep him playing for many more years!