| Michigan is to hold a primary vote tipped to make or break contenders for the Republican US presidential nomination.Why do US strikers walk in circles when they picket?America home page at VenturaHighway.America featuring Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell and hit songs Horse With No Name, Sister Golden Hair, Ventura Highway and more.Other spellings include Jerry Beckley, Dewey Bunel, Bunnel and Bunnel.This article is about the American rock band.For other uses, see America (disambiguation).American folk rock band, originally composed of members Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, and Dan Peek.Among the band's best known songs are "A Horse with No Name", "Sister Golden Hair" (both of which reached Number 1), "Ventura Highway", and "Tin Man".Although their music was frequently derided by critics, from a commercial standpoint the band's singles and albums were exceptionally successful.They were popular enough to attract the services of famed Beatles producer George Martin for a run of seven albums.Consistently touring for well over three decades, America still maintains a strong following and performs over 100 shows per year.Now, the band's first major label studio album in over twenty years.Billboard Album Chart
4.Peek left for the United States for an abortive attempt at college in 1969.Eventually the trio dubbed themselves America, honoring the name of the homeland they had hardly ever seen during their many travels around the world.America's Greatest Hits", state the band took their name while listening to an Americana juke box.Their first LP was recorded at Trident Studios in London and produced by Ian Samwell.Samwell was best known as Cliff Richard's lead guitarist and the writer of his 1958 breakthrough hit, "Move It".Jeff Dexter, Ian's roommate and a fixture in the London music scene, co produced the album and became the trio's manager.Although the trio initially envisioned recording the album along the lines of the Beatles' Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Samwell steered them toward perfecting their acoustic style instead.The album, simply titled America, was initially released in 1971 to only moderate success, although it took off in Holland where Dexter had taken them as a training ground to hone their stagecraft.Samwell and Dexter subsequently brought the trio to Morgan Studios to record several additional songs.The song became a major worldwide hit in early 1972.Flush with success from their initial offering, the trio decided to dump Samwell and Dexter, and relocate to Los Angeles, California, home to such popular contemporary acts as The Eagles and Linda Ronstadt.Peek began to play lead electric guitar on more tracks.America's second album, appropriately titled Homecoming, was released in November 1972.The group's output became increasingly ambitious.Their third offering, Hat Trick, was released in October 1973 after several months of recording at the Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles.Beckley, Bunnell, and Peek were once again joined by Blaine on drums, while Osborn was replaced by David Dickey on bass.Although the album's title hinted at the trio's commercial ambitions, the album was not as successful as Homecoming, featuring only one minor hit single, "Muskrat Love".After the disappointing commercial performance of Hat Trick, America opted to produce their next album with outside help.As America had developed a reputation for lengthy studio sessions, Martin agreed on the condition that the group record its next album in the UK.As it turned out, Beckley, Bunnell, and Peek were so intent on impressing Martin that they came to the studio with their tracks well rehearsed, and the album was cut within a few weeks in early 1974.By this time the group had consciously begun naming their albums with titles starting with the letter "H".Under Martin's guidance, the album's sound marked a sharp break from America's first three efforts, as he embellished the trademark America sound of acoustic guitars and vocals with an abundance of strings and brass.LP, Hearts, recorded in Sausalito, California and released in March 1975.December 1975, History: America's Greatest Hits, which itself soon went platinum.In early 1976, the group recorded its sixth studio album at Caribou Ranch near Nederland, CO, lending the album's title, Hideaway.Martin was again at the helm.Released in April 1976, the LP was not quite as successful as Holiday or Hearts, although it did spawn two hit singles."Today's the Day", a Top Forty hit written by Peek, was actually inspired by the tendency of his dog to run away.The album was recorded in a beach house on the island of Kauai.The album, entitled Harbor, ultimately continued the trend of declining fortunes for the group.Meanwhile, Beckley and Bunnell decided to soldier on as America.LP, Live, in October 1977.Recorded at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, the performance featured a backing orchestra conducted by Elmer Bernstein.The concert was recorded shortly after Peek left the group, making it America's first release as a duo.The album spent a brief sojourn on the pop charts.The Papas classic song, "California Dreamin'", part of the soundtrack for the movie "California Dreaming."America's first studio album without Peek, Silent Letter, was released in June 1979 on their new label, Capitol Records."Game" was unable to break into the pop charts, however, although two subsequent Beckley singles, "All My Life" and "All Around", did made inroads on the adult charts.Bunnell to sarcastically dub the album Silent Record.America continued to evolve as the 1980s began.They also reached out to key players from the West Coast music scene, such as the Eagles' Timothy B.Schmit, Leland Sklar and Steve Lukather, to help smooth their sound.America's next album, View From The Ground, released in July 1982, finally succeeded in bringing Beckley and Bunnell back to commercial success.But it was former Argent frontman Russ Ballard who made the biggest impact on the group's fortunes.Ballard produced and played most of the instruments on a song he crafted especially for the band, called "You Can Do Magic".For the most part Beckley and Bunnell were singers on an album that Ballard had crafted for them, although they did contribute some material of their own.Ballard's "Cast The Spirit", failed to chart.America's work was also featured on several soundtracks during this period.Beckley and Bunnell contributed several tracks to The Last Unicorn soundtrack in 1982.America also recorded "Love Comes Without Warning" for the 1984 Steve Martin comedy, The Lonely Guy.Once again produced by Chris Christian, the album's title track featured Beckley on backing vocals.Peek would issue two more solo albums over the next few years, including Electro Voice (1986) and Crossover (1987).Meanwhile, America opted for a decidedly different direction from its previous offerings for its twelfth studio album, Perspective, released in September 1984.Several different producers, including Richie Zito, Matthew McCauley, and Richard James Burgess, helped create an electronic pop sound that was very much in step with the '80s, but drastically at odds with America's acoustic trademark.Although neither track broke out on pop radio, both did achieve minor success on the adult contemporary charts.Their commercial momentum by now spent, Beckley and Bunnell ended their Capitol contract with In Concert, released in July 1985.In Concert became the first America album to miss the charts entirely.While America remained a hot ticket on the touring circuit, they were unable to land a recording contract in the years after they left the Capitol label.By the early 1990s, the rise of the compact disc led to the reissuing of many popular albums from the rock era, providing many popular acts like America with a revived niche in the record industry.In 1991, America was able to offer four brand new tracks as part of a collection issued by Rhino Records called Encore: More Greatest Hits, which was designed to complement the group's original 1975 retrospective.Mumy collaboration "Nothing's So Far Away (As Yesterday)" and Beckley's "On Target".America's resurgence caught the eye of Chip Davis of American Gramaphone Records, who signed the group to his label.In May 1994, America released its first new studio album in a decade with Hourglass.In contrast, "Greenhouse" featured a rough, rocking sound performed by the live band.In the end, despite garnering generally positive reviews, the album failed to catch on commercially.Beckley also revisited some early America material, including a remake of "I Need You"."Now Sue" was inspired by the track "Till The Sun Comes Up Again" (from the Homecoming album) when played backwards.Comedian Phil Hartman (who in his earlier career as a graphic artist had designed the "America" logo, as well as many other bands of the 70's) was featured as the uproarious voice of a televangelist preacher on "Playing God".Released by King Biscuit's record label, the concert was actually taken from a 1982 installment of the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio show.This success wound up leading to a new record deal with King Biscuit's subsidiary label, Oxygen Records.The track received considerable airplay and moderate success in adult contemporary formats.Reports claimed that the song was a major success in the pop charts in Spain.Although the album had a number of strong tracks, in the end it failed to garner the sales that Oxygen was expecting, and America was once again without a record deal.The next few years saw the group's catalog expand with a number of side projects, reissues of older albums on CD, and several major retrospective releases.The Complete Greatest Hits, which assembled all of the group's 17 charting Billboard singles for the first time.Billboard album charts in October 2001, The Complete Greatest Hits was America's first charting album since Perspective in 1984.Dan Peek resurfaced in 1999 with a new website and his first solo release in many years, Bodden Town.America had a somewhat unusual return to prominence in 2001 with the smash success of Janet Jackson's single "Someone to Call My Lover."Billboard pop charts, and introduced one of America's most recognizable melodies to a whole new generation.America fans were treated to new material in late 2002.In October, the group released its first Christmas album, Holiday Harmony.Produced by Andrew Gold, the album received positive reviews for its imaginative weaving of elements of classic America tunes into familiar holiday standards.One month later, in November 2002, America released a live album, The Grand Cayman Concert.Recorded the previous April in the Cayman Islands, the concert featured just Beckley and Bunnell on acoustic guitars, a throwback to the earliest days of their career.America as the year 2006 opened.However, a fateful connection would provide a sudden and unexpected change in fortune for the group.Beckley had been a fan of the 2003 Fountains of Wayne album Welcome Interstate Managers, and Schlesinger turned out to be a fan of America's work.The exchange of songs between the two led them to record a few tracks together.The recordings came to the attention of SonyBMG's new Burgundy Records label, which was impressed both by the quality of the material and by the possibility of pairing America with other indie artists.The label signed America to record a new album with Schlesinger and his musical partner, James Iha, formerly of The Smashing Pumpkins, at the production helm.Seasoned veterans Stephen Bishop and Rusty Young were also involved.In an effort to aim the album toward both younger and older audiences, the label decided to bundle the new album with a second disc comprising live performances of every track from History: America's Greatest Hits, previously recorded at XM Radio as part of XM's Then Again...January 16, 2007, America attracted a publicity buzz unseen since the early 1980s.Dan Peek and the band
Ever since Dan Peek left the group in May 1977, speculation has abounded as to whether he could or would return to the fold."Love Was Just Another Word."In November 1999, credible rumors began to spread that unreleased demo recordings from the early 1980s featuring Beckley and Bunnell collaborating with Peek would be released on CD sometime in early 2000.No such recordings have been released to date.Beckley told radio host Lew Irwin in 1982, but "it just doesn't seem in the cards.""Like they said and like I said, all things are possible," Peek told interviewer Steve Orchard in 1985.In 2000, Peek began posting a number of weekly "episodes" to his website relating to his experiences prior to and during his years in America.Peek raised a few eyebrows both for his candid discussion of his experiences with drugs and religion and for his observations of Beckley and Bunnell.Eventually, Peek compiled the material into a book entitled An American Band, which was released in late 2004.America stating that Dan Peek had reunited with Beckley and Bunnell for a tour in 1993 with the Beach Boys.Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.Contrary to popular belief, the choice of the name "America" had no political overtones, and the group has consistently avoided political or patriotic use of its name.In the Sopranos Season 3 episode, 'Another Toothpick', Robert Baccalieri Sr.Bunnell has remarked that the setting for "A Horse with No Name" was inspired by the area around Vandenberg Air Force Base, where he spent some time as a child.America was at one time called the "United States of America"
When initially released, "A Horse with No Name" was often mistaken for a Neil Young song, due to the similarity of Bunnell's vocals to Young's.America recorded Homecoming in the studio next to Stevie Wonder, who was then recording his classic album, Innervisions.The legendary rock photographer Henry Diltz is also a skilled banjo player, and was featured on the America tracks "Don't Cross The River" and "Submarine Ladies."When played backwards, the lyrics on "Moon Song" from Homecoming say, "All good men come to the aid of their country."Another track from Homecoming, "Till The Sun Comes Up Again," became a musical inspiration to Gerry Beckley when played backwards over twenty years later, leading to the song "Now Sue" on his solo album Van Go Gan.Jay Leno was the opening act for a number of America shows in the early 1970s."Lonely People" for his 1986 solo album, Electro Voice.He reworked the lyrics in a more overtly Christian vein, claiming that this better reflected the original inspriation for the song."Lonely People" was covered by the popular Christian band Jars of Clay in 2003.The cover artwork on the album History: America's Greatest Hits was the work of Phil Hartmann, who later became famous as a comedian on Saturday Night Live.His brother John was America's manager for many years.Despite the presence of other heavyweight acts like James Taylor and Rod Stewart on their roster, America was Warner Bros.Records' biggest selling act of the 1970s.In 1978, America performed a song live in concert called "Norman."Although contemporary interviews suggested the track would be recorded for an upcoming album, the song was never released by America.Jeff Larson recorded it for his 2002 album, Fragile Sunrise, with Beckley producing the track.The title of America's 1979 album, Silent Letter, refers to their previous tendency to name all their albums with names starting with "H".In 1994, the group returned to this practice with the release of Hourglass.Bunnell has claimed that America's label toyed with the idea of the group going country during the late 1970s, and that he and Beckley soundly rejected the idea.America and their label could not agree on which side of the Alibi LP should be considered Side One, so they came to a unique compromise.Bunnell recalled that he and Beckley simply stumbled upon it while looking through music photographer Henry Diltz's photo collection and decided to use it.South Africa and played several concerts in that country.However, America was not alone, as black artists such as Tina Turner and Curtis Mayfield did the same.The building behind Bunnell and Beckley on the cover of Perspective is 100 Wilshire in Santa Monica, California.The building, tallest in the city, was completed in 1971, and was originally known as Lawrence Welk Plaza.Hourglass is the last America album to use a contemporary photograph of Beckley and Bunnell's faces on the cover.Human Nature featured the duo on the cover, but with their faces covered by a cloud.Vince Gill, Faith Hill, Terri Clark, Trisha Yearwood, and Tim McGraw) recording under the name of "Project Hope" covered Beckley's "Hope" for a charity single in 1996.Many of them later performed the song live for that year's Academy of Country Music awards telecast.The album Human Nature takes its name from Beckley's home recording studio in addition to the fact it begins with the traditional letter "H".When Garth Brooks covered "Don't Cross The River" on his Scarecrow album, he apparently wasn't aware that it was an America song.Janet Jackson's 2001 hit "Someone to Call My Lover" was focused around the guitar riff from "Ventura Highway".America recorded a track for the Watership Down film soundtrack.It was titled "Watership Down" and was not used in the film, along with a few other songs recorded by different artists.In the '90's, the band appeared on the Howard Stern Radio Show, performing a parody of the song, rephrased to be about Stern show producer Gary "Baba booey" Dell'Abate.All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.See Copyrights for details.Intelligent Transportation Society of America
For more than 15 years, ITS America has been the foremost advocate for the development and deployment of intelligent transportation systems in the U.Sign in to get personalized recommendations.Minutes() * 60 + newCurrentTime.See all 45 customer reviews...Ships from and sold by Amazon.Amazon MP3 Downloads store.Songs from this album are available to purchase as MP3s.FSCommands are received by VBScript in IE.Drawing upon the softer side of the hippie folk scene with a more refined sound, America garnered a string of hits for themselves in the '70s.No Credit Card Required.Buy the sheet music for America at Sheet Music Plus.Add a iframe that allows us to ping the server when this element becomes visible
a9AdsViewNamespace.Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.No one has tagged this product for Amazon search yet.The easiest way to shoot video reviews.The album also reached number one on the charts.Was this review helpful to you?America was one of the premier soft rock bands of the 70s and listening to this album brings back memories of good times and great music.Joseph Townsend "the rake" (Hattiesburg, Ms.I've been collecting the original America albums recently.George Martin who would transform them into an extremely good pop music 1970's band.Horse with no name, I Need You and Sandman were well known to me and appreciated.Three Roses, never Found the Time, Donkey Jaw, etc.The only song I don't like is Pigeon Song, but 11 great songs out of 12 is pretty good for three military kids in England trying to get their foot in the door.Was this review helpful to you?See all 45 customer reviews...Despite alot of commercial success, America never got the respect.Published 3 months ago by W.What many people may not be aware of is that the three young men who comprised America were fresh out of high school when they recorded this album and shot straight to the top of...Published 5 months ago by R.In 1972, three Air Force brats, Dan Peek, Dewey Bunnell, and Gerry Beckley, released an album of acoustic guitar based songs with vocal harmonies, and titled it America, also...The best America album
This album is great!The acoustic guitar virtuosity is incredible.This was their first album, before George Martin glossed them up (i.Reprise period music is the bomb (america, van dyke parks grateful dead, beach boys, too many cool artists doing cool music on this label at the time!Outstanding one of the best soft rock albums ever!The fact that it includes 2 top 10 hits, makes it all the more accessible,...The number one single from it, "A Horse With No Name", has an important environmental message in the final verse, "Sandman" is very..."Horse With No Name" may have launched America to the top of the charts in the early 70's but each song on this timeless CD has a unique quality like no other in the America...Published 13 months ago by K.Be the first person to add an article about this item at Amapedia.Must Haves(No Particular Order): A list by Kim K.Music You Should Hear: Artists' PicksWant to know what Norah Jones, Sting, and Il Divo are listening to?Using your checking account at Amazon.Track your recent orders.View or change your orders in Your Account.Look to the right column to find helpful suggestions for your shopping session.Our Lowest Fares, Guaranteed. |
