Byron MacGregor & the Detroit Symphony Orchestra - The Americans
The Americans - Byron MacGregor & the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
In 1973, to many it appeared that America was on the ropes: Given the quagmire of Vietnam, an energy crisis brought on by an OPEC embargo, and the shrinking prestige of the Nixon administration, decried abroad and hammered by protesters and peace advocates at home, things looked ripe for change. But leave it to a Canadian to come to the rescue of the American status quo. Canadian commentator Gordon Sinclair released a pungent audio essay on why America, in her darkest hour, needed a world to rally behind her. So popular was this commentary that CKLW host Byron MacGregor picked it up, read it out, backed by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. In the United States, it outperformed Sinclair's recording, reaching No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart the week of Feb. 9, 1974. It was recorded at Westbound Studios in Detroit, released on Westbound Records, the same studio that brought you Funkadelic.