I need you america8/17/2023 ![]() (Click or zoom to enlarge the song list.) The song list has all 17 of their charting singles, including seven Top 10 hits, four more that made the Top 40, and some popular tracks like “Sandman” that got FM radio play. Their efforts have produced a nice bump in sales for their greatest hits albums.Īmerica: The Complete Greatest Hits is the best collection available. I recently read a glowing review of one of their concerts (by a professional critic), and saw a very positive interview and profile on the CBS TV show Sunday Morning. ![]() After all those years of on-and-off touring and less than successful studio and live albums, America (with Dewey Bunnell & Gerry Beckley) is popular again. “Magic” went up to #8 in 1982, and was the last big hit for America.įast forward 37 years to 2019. Dan Peek decided to leave the group to forge a solo career in the Christian Music genre.Īmerica’s last real commercial success came 5 years later with the release of “You Can Do Magic”, a song written and produced by ex-Argent guitarist Russ Ballard. The 1977 follow-up, Harbor, did worse (#21), and had no singles chart. Their 1976 album Hideaway did okay (#11), but didn’t produce any big hits. His brother, John, managed America.Īnd then things started going downward. The cover artwork is by actor/SNL cast member Phil Hartman. The album was #3 and a multi-platinum success. Also in 1975, America released their greatest hits album, History (they were naming all their albums so they started with an “H”). The album, Hearts, went to #4 in Billboard. Their hits continued in 1975 with two songs from Gerry Beckley…”Sister Golden Hair” (#1) and “Daisy Jane” (#20). The album was also successful…#3 in Billboard. Both singles hit the top of the Adult Contemporary chart. It was the only Top 10 single with Dan Peek as the songwriter and lead singer. George Martin added the right touches, and America returned to the Top 10 singles chart with “Tin Man” (#4) by Dewey Bunnell, and “Lonely People” (#5) by Dan Peek & his wife Catherine. So, America went to London in 1974 to have The Beatles’ producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick help them with their fourth album, Holiday. Unfortunately, the third album Hat Trick produced no hits in 1973. America won the “Best New Artist” Grammy at the 1973 awards ceremony. Homecoming featured the singles “Ventura Highway” (#8) by Dewey Bunnell, and “Don’t Cross The River” (#35) by Dan Peek. ![]() The second single from the album was “I Need You” (#9) by Gerry Beckley.Īmerica then came back to the United States to record their appropriately titled second album, Homecoming, in Los Angeles. America fit in perfectly with the music scene of CSN&Y and singer-songwriters, and the album went to #1 on the Billboard chart. Honestly, it sounds like Dewey is channeling Neil Young. It sounded amazingly similar to the song it replaced at the top…”Heart Of Gold”. The song is by Dewey Bunnell, and it went all the way to #1 on the Billboard singles chart in March of 1972. America has ringing acoustic guitars and beautiful harmonies, but the album didn’t take off until they added one more song to it…”A Horse With No Name”. In 1971, they recorded their self-titled first album at Trident studios in London. They called themselves America, so people wouldn’t think they were a British band trying to sound American. After high school, the trio of singers, songwriters, and guitarists formed a band. That’s pretty impressive for a band that had most of their hits from 1972 to 1976, and their last big hit in 1982.Īmericans Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley, and Dan Peek (l-r above) were in London because their fathers were stationed at an Air Force base there. It’s probably a combination of touring and a recent rash of interviews that’s returning them to popularity.Īfter their appearance on the CBS program Sunday Morning, I found America had the numbers 3 and 4 positions on the iTunes sales chart with their two greatest hits albums.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |