America

Fahey commented on the original and reissue releases in an interview for The Wire, "I thought the material on the second disc wasn't quite up to snuff, but listening to it now, it doesn't sound too bad." The front and back cover art was created by Patrick Finnerty, the painting titles were respectively "The Turtle in the Millpond" and "The Destruction of Takoma Park, Maryland, 20012 ". The original working title for the album was "Ecology". In 1972, referring to "Mark 1:15", Fahey said "“Out of all the songs I ever wrote, I consider only two of them 'epic' or 'classic' or in the 'great' category and they are both on this record. It’s taken me more than five years to complete these". The CD reissue edits out roughly two minutes from this track due to the time constraints of a single CD pressing. "Mark 1:15" includes portions of "When the Springtime Comes Again," from Death Chants, Breakdowns & Military Waltzes. "Dvorak" is an arrangement of the third movement of Antonín Dvořák's Symphony No. 8. "Jesus is a Dying-Bed Maker" is based on the traditional gospel music song "In My Time of Dying. "Dalhart, Texas, 1967" was later revisited as "The Grand Finale" on John Fahey Visits Washington D.C.. America was reissued on a limited edition vinyl double album in 2009 on the San Francisco–based label 4 Men With Beards. It includes all tracks and a gatefold with a reproduction of the original album booklet. In reproducing the 1998 CD version, this release also included the truncated "Mark 1:15".