On the first part of the journey
I was looking at all the life
There were plants and birds and rocks and things
There was sand and hills and rings
The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz
And the sky with no clouds
The heat was hot and the ground was dry
But the air was full of sound
I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain
La, la ...
After two days in the desert sun
My skin began to turn red
After three days in the desert fun
I was looking at a river bed
And the story it told of a river that flowed
Made me sad to think it was dead
You see I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain
La, la ...
After nine days I let the horse run free
'Cause the desert had turned to sea
There were plants and birds and rocks and things
there was sand and hills and rings
The ocean is a desert with it's life underground
And a perfect disguise above
Under the cities lies a heart made of ground
But the humans will give no love
You see I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain
La, la ...
America is an English-American folk rock musical band, composed originally of members Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, and Dan Peek. The three members were barely past their teenage years when they became a musical sensation during 1972, with their main popularity during the early to mid 1970s and early 1980s. Some of the band's best known songs are "A Horse with No Name", "Sister Golden Hair" (both of which reached #1), "Ventura Highway", "Tin Man", and "Lonely People".
Although their music was derided frequently by critics, the band's singles and albums were very successful commercially. They were popular enough to attract the services of famed Beatles producer George Martin for a series of seven albums. The band survived Peek quitting near its apex long enough to see Beckley and Bunnell return the act to the top 10 as a duo with "You Can Do Magic" in 1982. Touring for almost four decades, America maintains fans and performs over 100 shows per year. On January 16, 2007, America released Here & Now, the band's first major label studio album in over twenty years.
Original members
* Gerry Beckley (born September 12, 1952 in Fort Worth, Texas) 1970-present: Lead and backing vocals, keyboards, guitars, bass, harmonica, lap steel guitars
* Dewey Bunnell (born January 19, 1952 in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England) 1970-present: Lead and backing vocals, guitars
* Dan Peek (born November 1, 1950 in Panama City, Florida) 1970-1977: Lead and backing vocals, guitars, bass
Early success (1970–1973)
Sons of American fathers and British mothers, their fathers being military personnel stationed at the United States Air Force installation at RAF West Ruislip, London, all three attended London Central High School, at Bushey Hall, about 16 miles Northwest of London, in the mid-1960s where they met while playing in two different bands.
Peek left for the United States for an abortive attempt at college during 1969. Soon after his return to the UK the following year, the three met and began to collaborate on making music. Starting out with borrowed acoustic guitars, they developed a style which incorporated three-part vocal harmony with the style of contemporary folk-rock acts like Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
Eventually the trio dubbed themselves America, honoring the name of the homeland they had hardly ever seen during their travels around the world. The liner notes to the 1975 compilation album History - America's Greatest Hits, state the band took their name while listening to an Americana juke box. They played their first gigs in the London area, including some highlights at The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm where Pink Floyd had played at the beginning of its career. Through Ian Samwell and Jeff Dexter's efforts they were eventually contracted to Kinney Records (UK) in March 1971 by Ian Ralfini, then MD.
America's debut album, America, was first released in 1971 without "A Horse with No Name". After the album was re-issued with the song, it scored #1 on the album charts in the US for 5 weeks.
Their first long-playing (LP) album 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 involved himself with the music business, co-produced the album and became the trio's manager. Dexter also gave them their 1st major gig, December 20, 1970, at "Implosion" at the The Roundhouse Chalk Farm as the opening act to The Who, Elton John, Patto and The Chalk Farm Salvation Army Band & Choir for a Christmas charity event. Although the trio planned initially to record the album in a similar manner as The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Samwell convinced them to perfect their acoustic style instead.
The album, simply titled America, was released during 1971 to only moderate success, although it sold well in the Netherlands where Dexter had taken them as a training ground to practice their stagecraft. Samwell and Dexter subsequently brought the trio to Morgan Studios to record several additional songs. One of them was a piece written by Bunnell called "Desert Song", which Dexter previously demoed during studio rehearsals in Puddletown, Dorset at the home of Arthur 'God of Hellfire' Brown. The song had its public debut at The Harrogate Festival, four days later, to great audience response. After several performances and a TV show, it was re-titled "A Horse with No Name". The song became a major worldwide hit in early 1972. America's debut album was re-released with the hit song newly added and quickly went platinum. The album resulted in a second major chart success with Beckley's "I Need You", which peaked at #9 on the U.S. charts.
After their initial success, the trio decided to dismiss Samwell and Dexter and relocate to Los Angeles, California. Plans to record a new album were delayed somewhat both by the relocation and an injury to Peek's arm. Deciding not to replace Samwell, the group opted to produce the album by themselves. The trio began their move away from a mainly acoustic style to a more rock-music-oriented style with the help of Hal Blaine on drums and Joe Osborn on bass. Peek began to play lead electric guitar on more tracks.
America's second album, Homecoming, was released in November 1972. The group reached the top 10 again with "Ventura Highway". Following singles, including Peek's Don't Cross the River and Beckley's "Only In Your Heart", were somewhat less successful, but not enough to deny the group a Grammy Award for Best New Artist of 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. 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 David Dickey on bass. The album was not as successful as Homecoming, featuring only one minor successful single, "Muskrat Love". Penned by Texas folk singer Willis Alan Ramsey, Captain & Tennille would take the song to the top 10 in late 1976.
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
George Martin years (1974–1979)
After the disappointing commercial performance of Hat Trick, America opted to produce their next album with professional help. They were able to secure the services of George Martin, who played a major role in shaping the sound of the Beatles.
The resulting album, Holiday, was released in June 1974. (By this time the group had consciously begun naming their albums with titles starting with the letter "H".) With Martin's guidance, the album's style was very different from America's first three efforts, as he embellished America's sound of acoustic guitars and vocals with an abundance of strings and brass.
1974’s Holiday was the first America album produced by legendary Beatles producer, Sir George Martin
The trio soon found themselves in the Top Ten once again with the first single from Holiday, the Bunnell-penned "Tin Man", which reached #4, featuring cryptic lyrics set to a Wizard of Oz theme. "Lonely People" followed "Tin Man" into scoring Top Ten during early 1975, reaching #5.
Martin worked with the trio again for their next LP, Hearts, recorded in Sausalito, California and released in March 1975. America scored its second chart topping success with Beckley's "Sister Golden Hair" in mid-1975, a song which featured a memorable guitar riff admittedly inspired by George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord." The follow-up single, Beckley's ballad "Daisy Jane", also scored among the Top Twenty later during 1975. Peek's reggae-influenced "Woman Tonight" was a third success from the album.
Warner Bros. released a compilation of America's best-known tracks in December 1975, History: America's Greatest Hits, which scored platinum. Martin, who produced the album, got the opportunity to remix tracks selected from the group's first three albums.
During early 1976, the group recorded its sixth studio album at Caribou Ranch near Nederland, Colorado, lending the album's title, Hideaway. Martin directed again. Released during April 1976, it resulted in two successful singles.
Martin and the trio went to Hawaii during late 1976 to work on the group's seventh studio album. The album was recorded in a beach house on the island of Kauai. The album, Harbor, continued the trend of decreasing sales for the group. It was their first album which failed to score either platinum or gold, and it didn't have a successful single.
Shortly after Harbor was released in February 1977, Dan Peek left the band. Peek recently had renewed his Christian faith after years of recreational drug use and had begun to seek a different artistic direction from Beckley or Bunnell. Peek contracted with Pat Boone's Lamb & Lion Records, and issued his first solo album, All Things Are Possible, in 1978. The album, produced by Chris Christian, was successful, and Peek became a pioneering artist in the emerging Christian popular music genre. The title track even entered the Billboard pop charts during the autumn of 1979, peaking at #79.
Meanwhile, Beckley and Bunnell decided to continue as America, ending their contract with Warner Bros. with the release of their first concert LP, Live, during 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. The album scored briefly on the popular charts.