America - America

What have we here, O my sisters and brothers, but an album that serves as living proof that if you release 88 albums every month, at least one of them will make the charts and thus merit the attention of your humble record review staff?

America, three real young men whose only concession to a combined 15 years of English residence is one wrinkled Rod Stewart-style velour jacket of the sort you don't need to go to England to get any more, are strictly for those who find Crosby & co. inaccessibly cerebral.

On the strength of an extremely (a) lame, and (b) unashamedly Neil Young-imitative hit single, "A Horse With No Name," they've quickly become as big with whatever's left of the inwardly cleancut segment of the teen audience as Black Sabbath have with the reds/revolution/Ripple crowd.

Having failed to qualify as a teenager in each of the last five years, I am probably grossly unqualified to comment on them in a fair and objective fashion. If you must know, though, I find: their vocal harmonies engagingly pretty, if samey, their individual lead singing manneredly sensitive/vulnerable and a little noxious, their tunes occasionally mildly pleasant, and few of their words as militantly nauseating as, "In the desert you can remember your name cos there's no one there for to give you no pain," although mawkish sentiments and banal, pimply hyperboles about therein.

Sometime before you read this review, America's album will have been recalled by Warners, their hit single, "A Horse With No Name," added to the tunes, and the album then returned to the stores. And, by the time you read this, it will be hard to get a copy. Sold out, probably, if the constant airplay of several cuts is any indication. Not bad for a first album.

The object of all this attention is a group formed by three Army brats living in England who manage to sound like either Neil Young or CSN&Y, depending on which cut you're listening to. America, as they're known collectively, has evidently stockpiled a lot of knowledge in their young lives (18, 19 and 20 years) to be as facile as they are with close harmonies, tight arrangements and clever lyrics. They must also have clocked a lot of listening time around the old stereo, 'cause when you finally get over being stunned at how much they sound like Young & Co., you realize there are lots of other influences there, too, lurking underneath that most obvious one. (Kind of like, "How many Indians can you find hidden in this picture?")

A third listening revealed that the clever lyrics are, for the most part, only that. Mick Jagger doesn't have to move over just yet. But, I'm sure that time will provide Messrs. Bunnell, Beckley and Peek with ample opportunity and wherewithal to be "profound." For the moment, they can relax on catchy rhymes and rhythms as in "Sandman" -- the one that's been stuck in my head since the first time I heard it:

One could hear a whole lot worse than that lyric from people who've been around a whole lot longer. America obviously has a lot going for it; and if they're this good now, what will the next album be like?

Released in January of 1972, America is the self-titled debut album from one of the most original and influential pop groups of the '70s. Yielding the No. 1 hit "A Horse With No Name," and its Top 10 follow-up, "I Need You," America highlights the exquisite harmonies and subtle acoustic shadings that would become an America trademark.

Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley and Dan Peek -- each an accomplished vocalist and guitar player -- first met in England in 1967 while stationed with their parents at a U.S. Air Force base. A mutual interest in modern music kept up the acquaintance as they apprenticed in a series of local rock and folk ensembles. In 1969, while attending London's Central High, they began seriously writing and performing together, eventually taking the name of a homeland they hardly knew.

America quickly gained a reputation for incisive, evocative songwriting and appealing performances built around their distinctive three-part harmonies. In 1972 they landed a recording contract and set to work on their debut album.

Produced by Ian Samwell with Jeff Dexter and America, (and engineered by Ken Scott, who would go on to work with David Bowie and others) America, the album, features a dozen original songs including the Dewey Bunnell-penned smash "A Horse With No Name." The tune, which reached No. 1 in the U.S. in March of 1972, highlights surreal stream-of-consciousness lyrics and a sparkling acoustic arrangement. Its follow-up, Gerry Beckley's "I Need You," is a mesmerizing ballad that further established America's credentials as a top-notch composing and performing unit. Other standout cuts include "Here," "Riverside" and the Dan Peek composition "Rainy Day."

Further reading on
Super Seventies RockSite!:

Album Review: Holiday

Album Review: Hearts

Album Review: History/
America's Greatest Hits

Album Review:
View From The Ground

Single Review:
"A Horse With No Name"

Single Review:
"Sister Golden Hair"

America Lyrics

America Videos

Although the band's three members came together in Great Britain at London's Central Park High School, they were known collectively as America ("getting our name off an Americana jukebox," they recalled later). Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley, and Dan Peek were the sons of American military men based in London. When the trio got together, little did its members know that they would take both the U.S. and the U.K. by storm.

After graduating from high school in 1969, Peek went back to the U.S. to attend college. After a six-month stint, he returned to London to find that his high school chums Bunnell and Beckley were writing their own songs. While doing a little studio work on the side, Beckley met the booking agent for the popular London nightspot known as the Roundhouse. "They booked us in there to play shows," says Bunnell. "It was just three of us, acoustic guitars, and we did 20 minutes. We ended up opening for some pretty big acts -- the Who, Pink Floyd and Elton John. Then we took it on the road for about six months."

The club tour worked. America soon garnered coverage in the British music weeklies and developed a small but fanatical following. "The fact that we were Americans in London helped us," says Bunnell. Jeff Dexter, the DJ who liked the band, hooked the trio up with Warner staff producer Ian Samwell, who was impressed enough to set up an audition for America with the president of the Warner Bros. London office. "We played acoustic guitars right in his office," he says. "We had these songs worked out to perfection, three-part harmonies, and we all had our guitar parts. We could play them in our sleep."

Several of the songs America played that day, including "Riverside" and "I Need You," ended up on America.

The trio recorded the majority of the album at Trident Studios in London. Ken Scott, who was also producing sessions for David Bowie, served as engineer. "We laid everthing down loosely," Bunnell says.

Once the album was completed, it was delivered to Warner Bros. Beckley's ballad "I Need You" was penciled in as the first single. But the Warner executives asked if the trio had any more songs. "They sent us down to Morgan Studios in London -- it was a live-in farm demo studio. Led Zeppelin had worked there, so there were some pretty heavy vibes." America went on to record four more songs. One was "A Horse with No Name."

America was originally released without that track, which first appeared as a single in England. When "A Horse with No Name" became a hit there, it was decided the song would be included on all future pressings of the album. Says Bunnell, "I Need You" [which became a top 10 hit] was much more in the pocket as a traditional ballad. 'A Horse with No Name' had the quirkiness that put us on the map."

After six weeks on the chart, America hit the apex of Billboard's Top LP's & Tapes chart, while "A Horse with No Name" topped the Hot 100. The album knocked out Harvest while the single displaced that album's No. 1 hit, "Heart of Gold." Both were recorded by Neil Young, one of America's major influences.