Formed in 1970 in London, England by Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek and Gerry Beckly, the trio met as sons of US Air Force personnel stationed in London where they began performing live, as America. Having achieved fame in the 70s, the trio was known for their close vocal harmonies and light acoustic folk rock sound.
In 1971 they released their self titled debut album, which included “A Horse With No Name” and “I Need You”. Their second album “Homecoming” included “Ventura Highway “. In 1975, America released “History America’s Greatest Hits”, which went certified multi-platinum in the US and Australia. After Peek left the band in 1977,they returned to the top 10 in 1982 with “You Can Do Magic”. The band was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2006 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2012.With a wide array of great songs, America played last Saturday night in the Seaside Beach Concert Series at the New Jersey shore. Opening with a brilliant acoustic rendition of “Tin Man”, the evening’ second song ” You Can Do Magic” was a uplifting, breezy version of this great song. With a brilliant young backing band, America was in synch all evening. America’s founder’s Beckly and Brunnell were very creative in bringing in new young blood to tour with them. With Richard Campbell on bass, Ryland Steen on drums and vocals and Steve Fekete on lead guitar and keyboards, the band gave us Folk, Rock and at times a Metal sound and all of it was impressive!In “Driving” and ” Survival”, the band dug deep for a hard driving sound. An almost progressive “Greenhouse ” and ” Sandman” were highlights of the evening. The “Popish” “California Dreaming”, “Lonely People” and ” Sister Golden Hair” were all flawless in tempo and arrangements.While I was disappointed with the uninspired version of “Ventura Highway”, the evenings closing song “A Horse With No Name” was the perfect end to what was an incredible musical experience.
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