Horace Silver: The United States of Mind – Revisited

At what point did Blue Note Records jump the shark? Is there a single moment when Blue Note stopped being the world’s greatest purveyor of jazz and instead became an irrelevant producer of schlock?

Truth is, it was a long, slow slide. In the 1950s, Blue Note was the greatest source of hard bop. In the 1960s, it produced the best soul-jazz on earth. And then, one day in the 1970s – poof! It was all gone. Where did it end?

Some say the low point came in 1970 to 1972 with three Horace Silver albums known collectively as The United States of Mind.

Or so I had heard. I wanted to find out for myself.

Prepare for Disappointment

Let’s start with this premise: I love Horace Silver. I love every phase of Horace Silver’s long career.

I love the hard bop Silver of the early Jazz Messengers. I love the bluesy post-bop Silver of Song For My Father and The Cape Verdean Blues. I love the soul-jazz Silver of The Jody Grind and Serenade to a Soul Sister. I love the old-man Silver of The Hard Bop Grandpop.

And so I sought out The United States of Mind with great trepidation. I had heard and read horrible things. It was sappy, naïve, schlocky, anti-jazz.

Who said that? Almost everyone.

The United States of Mind consists of three albums: That Healin’ Feelin’ (1970), Total Response (1971) and All (1972). Allmusic panned the individual records. (Although, weirdly, the same website gives the compilation four stars. Go figure.) The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide gave That Healin’ Feelin’ a rare one star and urged readers “don’t bother.”  Richard Havers ignored it completely in his massive 2014 bio-book of Blue Note, Uncompromising Expression.

Knowing all that, I found the 2-CD set on Amazon and bought it. I wanted the full treatment – music, liner notes, the whole deal.

What It’s Not

It’s easier to say what The United States of Mind is not, than what it is.

It is not hard bop. There are 28 tracks and only the first, “That Healin’ Feelin,’” is instrumental bop. The albums aren’t soul-jazz, either, although many tunes are soul-ish. It’s definitely not fusion. It’s also, blessedly, not a record of beeps, boops, tape loops and non-musical sounds. It is not, thank God, John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Two Virgins.

State of Mind is mostly pop with tinges of soul-funk. Above all, it is vocal. And therein lies the problem.

The Turn-offs

What’s to dislike about The United States of Mind? Let me count the ways.

No. 1: Pop vocals. Yes, this is a very long themed record of pop-jazz-soul singing. Each song is three or four minutes long. Most are sung by siblings Andy and Salome Bey. Nothing wrong with pop vocals. There are plenty of terrific jazz-pop singers. Ella Fitzgerald is arguably a pop singer. It’s all in the choice of material. And some of the material here is slight.

No. 2: The lyrics. Yep, there be dreck here. United States of Mind is one long, icky diatribe by Silver about healthy eating, exercise, mind-body coordination, peace, love and blah-blah-blah. For example: “We should select natural foods / and see that we bring about / the proper sanitation / within and without.” Or this: “I’ve had a little talk with my stomach / and I’ve decided to treat him right / We’ve made a mutual agreement / and I think at last we’ve both seen the light.” Cringe, cringe, cringe.

No. 3: Electric piano. Yep, it’s the early 1970s. Yep, it’s the era of electric Miles, Chick and Herbie. Go with the flow. But still, Horace Silver shouldn’t sound so tinny and twee. Maybe if it were cutting edge fusion, but… no, it’s more like piano lounge keyboards. Yuck.

The One Big Turn-on

And yet… the music is happy and funky. Honest.

Here’s the great big hidden secret of The United States of Mind. Put aside everything else. Put aside your expectations, put aside the sappy lyrics and just hear the music. It’s catchy. It’s cool. It’s full of funk and beat and delicious melody.

Oh my God – The United States of Mind is one long upbeat pop album. Forget jazz. Pretend you’ve never heard Horace Silver before and make believe he never created some of the greatest jazz ever. Pretend he’s not a 5-star, grade-A piano player.

On its own terms, United States is actually – dare we say it – fun. Granted, you have to un-hear the lyrics. And you have to put yourself in the mindset of 1970-72, the era of immediate post-Beatles singer-songwriter pop.

Is it Sly and the Family Stone funky? Well, no. Is it Cat Stevens, James Taylor and Carole King touchy-feely? Not that good, actually. But is it the worst series of albums ever forced onto the ears of man? No no no. It’s just not at all what anyone expected from a soul-bop master.

In the end, United States of Mind is a victim of listener expectations. If you expect the best, as many listeners did in the 1970, you’ll be disappointed. But if you expect an abomination – as I did – you’ll be pleasantly surprised at its sunny, incessant tunefulness.

Low praise? Sure. No one will ever call United States of Mind a high note in Blue Note’s magnificent discography. But it’s not the horror show some believe, either. It’s pleasant and even fun, as long as you don’t take it too seriously.

Rating: 3 stars (out of 5)

Availability: Surprisingly hard to find – at least at any affordable price

Cost: Around $30 for 2 CDs, believe it or not

Charles Mingus: Mingus in Wonderland – 1959

In 1959, there were two Charles Minguses: the Mingus you knew and the Mingus you didn’t.

In May 1959, Mingus recorded his very best album ever: the incomparable Mingus Ah Um. And I mean incomparable in the literal sense. There is, literally, no other record quite like it. It’s a big band, but not a Big Band. It’s progressive, but approachable. It’s a tribute to the past that is also forward-looking. It is simply a tour de force.

That’s the Mingus you know.

A few months earlier, in the same year, using two of the same horns – John Handy on alto and Booker Ervin on tenor – Mingus recorded this live quintet gem, Mingus in Wonderland. If it’s not quite in the same league as Ah Um, it’s still pretty exciting.

(Yes, I know I’m cheating here. Mingus never recorded for Blue Note Records. He released Wonderland on United Artists, and it was later re-released by Blue Note. That’s good enough for me.)

Wonderland is a classic two-horn record, and it comes in two alternating flavors: hot and cool. Tracks 1 and 3 are burners; tracks 2 and 4 are ballads. Though it has only four songs, each is between 9 and 13 minutes, and three are Mingus originals.

First, the hot tunes. The opener, “Nostalgia in Times Square,” is a 12-minute blues that gives Handy and Ervin plenty of room to show off their chops. The track features a happy, catchy melody and goes back and forth between a medium smolder and a hot blaze. “No Private Income Blues” is even faster and more furious – a barn burner from the get-go. It takes a supercharged turn when the saxes trade fours, then twos, and at times it feels like the whole affair might fly off the tracks. This is bebop at its scalding hot best, though without much of the typical Mingus big band feel.

The ballads are pretty, but standard. “I Can’t Get Started” gets the long-bass-solo treatment and is pretty enough. But “Alice’s Wonderland,” a Mingus original, is more interesting, with the two horns playing in tandem, then separately. It is achingly beautiful.

This is Mingus in more traditional bop territory, in a small group, and it is super. Kudos to the bassman-composer-leader for trying something new. There are better, more unique Mingus records, but Mingus in Wonderland is consistently interesting and fun.

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Availability: Plentiful used, but out of print

Cost: Under $3 used