Jefferson City, Missouri, USA • 1968-1971
 
Exactly one year deep into Nixon-era USA, Common Ground cut this beast in January of 1970. The young men from Jefferson City, Missouri made the short drive to Columbia to lay down the tunes, and the record was pressed in late May. In the meantime, they had submitted a tape of their work to Billboard Magazine’s nationwide band contest, “Search For The New Sound”. Hundreds of radio stations participated in support of the contest regionally. The band made the top 50 out of over 1,500 artist entries, and “Who Is Free” blasted out of car stereos on local airwaves briefly before disappearing for decades. Supposedly, Bob Dylan was one of the contest judges—who really knows—but I’d like to imagine that he cast his vote for Common Ground because of the protest vibe and frustration emanating from this track.