MY CAREER IN FIVE SONGS
IN THE MID 1 970s, it was darn near impossible to turn on the radio — AM or FM — without running smack dab into a song by the band America. The trio of Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek first hit it big in the U.K. (all three were sons of U.S. Air Force officers stationed in Great Britain) with their 1971 folk-rock smash “A Horse With No Name” before finding success stateside. In short order, their lush, introspective, vocal harmonydriven sound was a staple on playlists across the globe, alongside songs by James Taylor and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
“We came along at a fabulous time in the music business,” Beckley says. “We got to write the songs we wanted and work with legendary producers, like George Martin, and we sold millions of albums and singles. I look back on that period now and it feels like a dream, like, ‘Wow! Did we really do all that?’”
On the other hand, Beckley insists that the group’s good fortunes would have been impossible had they not adhered to a serious work ethic. “Those years in the ’70s were exhausting,” he says. “The minute we started selling records, that’s when the pressure began. We were traveling all
