One Nation Underground (Pearls Before Swine album)

One Nation Underground
Studio album by Pearls Before Swine
Released	October 1967
Recorded	May 6-9, 1967, New York City
Genre	Psych folk, folk rock
Length	35:50
Label	ESP-Disk ESSP 1054
Producer	Richard L. Alderson[1]
Pearls Before Swine chronology
One Nation Underground (1967) Balaklava (1968)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]

One Nation Underground was the debut album by American psychedelic folk group Pearls Before Swine. It was released on the ESP-Disk label in October 1967.

It was recorded at Impact Sound in New York City, between May 6-9, 1967, by the Florida-based group, which at that point comprised main songwriter and singer Tom Rapp, Wayne Harley, Lane Lederer, and Roger Crissinger. Percussion was by session musician Warren Smith.

The album presents a mixture of styles - "psychedelic folk reminiscent of Donovan collides with Farfisa-driven punk and hard-to-categorize repetitive minimalism, all thrown together with the undisciplined, creative exuberance of youth".^[3]

"Another Time" is an acoustic song, the first that Rapp ever wrote, based on his experience in a car crash where he walked away unscathed, and, with "Morning Song", represents the most characteristic example of Rapp's later writing style. In contrast, "Drop Out!" and "Uncle John" are youthful protest songs. "(Oh Dear) Miss Morse" spells out in Morse code the word F-U-C-K, accompanied by banjo and organ.

The album became the most successful ESP release ever, estimated to have sold between 100,000 and 250,000 copies. Early vinyl copies came with a small poster of the Hell panel from Hieronymus Bosch's Garden Of Delights, a detail of which was used on the front of the album sleeve.

The album went through a number of cover variations. The original, first edition was brown monochrome with a white border along two sides of the cover. The second edition had a black and white cover with the group name in white along the top. The third edition was the white background and color section of the painting (see right).

The album has been reissued several times on CD.

Track listing

1. "Another Time" - 3:03 (Rapp)
2. "Playmate" - 2:19 (Saxie Dowell)
3. "Ballad To An Amber Lady" - 5:14 (Crissinger, Rapp)
4. "(Oh Dear) Miss Morse" - 1:54 (Rapp)
5. "Drop Out!" - 4:04 (Rapp)
6. "Morning Song" - 4:06 (Rapp)
7. "Regions Of May" - 3:27 (Rapp)
8. "Uncle John" - 2:54 (Rapp)
9. "I Shall Not Care" - 5:20 (Teasdale, Roman Tombs, Rapp)
10. "The Surrealist Waltz" - 3:29 (Lederer, Crissinger)

Musicians

Tom Rapp: Vocals, Guitar

Wayne Harley: Autoharp, Banjo, Mandoline, Vibraphone, Audio Oscillator, Harmony

Lane Lederer: Bass, Guitar, English Horn, Swinehorn, Sarangi, Celeste, Finger Cymbals, Vocals (on "Surrealist Waltz")

Roger Crissinger: Organ, Harpsichord, Clavioline

Warren Smith: Drums, Percussion

References

1. ^ answers.com Richard L. Alderson
2. ^ Allmusic review
3. ^ Tom Rapp by Mark Brend

External links

• Lyrics to One Nation Underground
• Crawdaddy article - 1967 Psych: Pearls Before Swine vs. The Beatles
• AMG review
• Official site for Tom Rapp and Pearls Before Swine
• Fan site on MySpace