America is an American rock band that was formed in London in 1970 by Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek and Gerry Beckley. The trio met as sons of US Air Force personnel stationed in London, where they began performing live. Achieving significant popularity in the 1970s, the trio was famous for its close vocal harmonies and light acoustic folk rock sound. The band released a string of hit albums and singles, many of which found airplay on pop/soft rock stations. They were a staple of my listening when I was at teacher training college in the early 1970’s.
Their first album, America, (1971) was recorded in London and produced by Samwell and Dexter, who became the trio’s manager. Dexter also gave the band their first major gig in December 1970, at Implosion at the Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, as the opening act for The Who and the Chalk Farm Salvation Army Band and Choir for a Christmas charity event.
The album was a moderate success, although it sold well in the Netherlands, where Dexter had taken them as a training ground to practice their craft. Samwell and Dexter subsequently brought the trio to Morgan to record several additional songs. One of them was a Bunnell composition called “Desert Song”. The song had its public debut at the Harrogate Festival, to great audience response. After several performances and a TV show, it was retitled “A Horse With No Name”. The song became a major worldwide hit in early 1972. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. America’s debut album was released in the U.S. that same month with the hit song added and quickly went platinum The album resulted in a second major chart success with Beckley’s ” I Need You”, which peaked at number 9 on the US charts.
America’s second album, Homecoming, was released in November 1972. Awarded a gold disc in December 1972, the album’s million sales figure was confirmed by the RIAA in 1975. The group reached the top 10 again with Bunnell’s “Ventura Highway”. Based on their first two albums, the group won a Grammy Award for Best New Artist of 1972.
Their third offering, Hat Trick, was released in October 1973. Again self-produced, the album featured strings, harmonicas, an eight-minute title track, and tap dancing. Beckley, Bunnell and Peek were once again joined by Blaine on drums, while Osborn was replaced by their touring bassist, David Dickey. The album was not as successful as Homecoming, featuring only one modestly successful single, “Muskrat Love”. However the trio soon found themselves in the top 10 once again with the first single from Holiday, the Bunnell-penned “Tin Man”, which reached number four, featuring cryptic lyrics set to a Wizard of OZ theme.
George Martin worked with the trio for their next LP, Hearts, released in March 1975. America scored its second chart-topping success with Beckley’s “Sister Golden Hair” in mid-1975, a song that featured a memorable opening guitar riff admittedly inspired by George Harrison’s My Sweet Lord and frank relationship lyrics inspired by Jackson Browne. The follow-up single, Beckley’s ballad “Daisy Jane”, also scored among the top 20 shortly after. Peek’s reggae-influenced Woman Tonight was a third success (No. 44 in the US) from the album towards the end of the year.
