America celebrates its half-centennial this year with a trio of compilations that follow the iconic Grammy-winning band to the top of the pop charts, across musical eras, and deep into the hearts of innumerable fans. The multi-platinum-selling group–led by founding members Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell and known for their memorable and dynamic live performances–have also announced a series of live dates celebrating the anniversary and are on tour now.
50th ANNIVERSARY: THE COLLECTION will be available from Rhino on July 12 as a 3CD ($29.98), 2LP ($39.98) and digitally. A single CD ($14.98) version is also available on the same day. For a limited time, Rhino.com will offer exclusive signed copies of the 3CD version.
Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek began in 1970 as a young, wide-eyed trio that parlayed the runaway success of their #1 single “A Horse With No Name” into a string of hits in partnership with legendary producer George Martin.
Fans embraced the group for simply being themselves: three gifted singer-songwriters with a love of soaring melodies, close harmonies, and honest expression. In the collection’s liner notes, Bunnell says: “There wasn’t any contrivance in what we did.” Beckley adds: “We didn’t start out with some grand plan – it just turned into a soundtrack for so many people’s lives. That’s something that I treat with great respect.”
The three-disc version of 50th ANNIVERSARY: THE COLLECTION brings the core of America’s recorded legacy together with choice rarities like an early studio recording of “Ventura Highway,” a live performance of “Riverside,” and an unreleased demo for the #1 hit “Sister Golden Hair.” All of the band’s Top 10 singles are included here: “Horse With No Name,” “Ventura Highway,” “Tin Man,” “Lonely People” and more.
All seven albums that America recorded in the ’70s with Warner Bros. Records are represented in the set with tracks from America (1971), Homecoming (1972), Hat Trick (1973), Holiday (1974), Hearts (1975), Hideaway (1976), and Harbor (1977). The set also includes “You Can Do Magic,” a Top 10 hit from the album View From The Ground released by Capitol Records in 1982.
Two other versions of America’s anniversary collection will also be available on July 12. The single-disc version has 16 tracks that focus mainly on the band’s biggest radio hits. The double-LP and CD versions dive deeper into the band’s catalog with a total of 25 tracks. All versions are available for pre-sale now.
AMERICA has influenced generations of musicians with their distinctive brand of acoustic-driven, harmony-rich rock, mixed with pop smarts, in soul-searching classic songs that reflected the times they were living in.
The band’s huge radio success throughout the ’70s and early ’80s at times overshadowed the lyrical depth of their songs such as the questing “Horse With No Name” (with its environmental message at the end); the frank romantic politics of “Sister Golden Hair”; the war paranoia of “Sandman” (written in part from conversations with returning airmen from Vietnam); and the cautionary life advice of “Don’t Cross The River.”
As further testament to the band’s staying power and influence, AMERICA’s recordings have been licensed for a multitude of placements in films (including American Hustle, The Nice Guys, The Last Unicorn and Girl Most Likely), television shows (among them The Sopranos, Friends, Breaking Bad and Saturday Night Live) and video games (including Grand Theft Auto). See their soundtrack credits on IMDB here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2085638/.
50TH ANNIVERSARY: THE COLLECTION
CD Track Listing:
Disc One
- “A Horse With No Name”
- “I Need You”
- “Sandman”
- “Here”
- “Rainy Day”
- “Three Roses”
- “Riverside” (Live On BBC) *
- “Children” (Live On BBC) *
- “Everyone I Meet Is From California”
- “Ventura Highway”
- “To Each His Own”
- “Don’t Cross The River”
- “Only In Your Heart”
- “Cornwall Blank”
- “Till The Sun Comes Up Again”
- “Head And Heart”
Disc Two - “Hat Trick”
- “Muskrat Love”
- “Green Monkey”
- “Submarine Ladies”
- “Molten Love”
- “It’s Life”
- “Rainbow Song”
- “She’s Gonna Let You Down”
- “Tin Man”
- “Another Try”
- “Lonely People”
- “Hollywood”
- “Baby It’s Up To You”
- “Old Man Took”
- “Mad Dog” (Demo) *
Disc Three
- “Midnight”
- “Sister Golden Hair”
- “Daisy Jane”
- “Woman Tonight”
- “Old Virginia”
- “Company”
- “Today’s The Day”
- “Amber Cascades”
- “Watership Down”
- “Letter”
- “God Of The Sun”
- “Political Poachers”
- “Sarah”
- “Are You There”
- “You Can Do Magic”
- “Sergeant Darkness” (Demo) *
- “Ventura Highway” (Early Take 4)
- “Sister Golden Hair” (Demo) *
- “A Horse With No Name” (Live)
50TH ANNIVERSARY: THE HITS
CD Track Listing:
- “A Horse With No Name”
- “I Need You”
- “Sandman”
- “Don’t Cross The River”
- “Ventura Highway”
- “Only In Your Heart”
- “Muskrat Love”
- “Tin Man”
- “Lonely People”
- “Daisy Jane”
- “Woman Tonight”
- “Sister Golden Hair”
- “Amber Cascades”
- “God Of The Sun”
- “You Can Do Magic”
50th ANNIVERSARY: THE COLLECTION
LP Track Listing:
Side One - “A Horse With No Name”
- “I Need You”
- “Sandman”
- “Three Roses”
- “Everyone I Meet Is From California”
- “Don’t Cross The River”
Side Two - “Ventura Highway”
- “To Each His Own”
- “Only In Your Heart”
- “Muskrat Love”
- “Green Monkey”
- “Rainbow Song”
Side Three - “Tin Man”
- “Another Try”
- “Lonely People”
- “Hollywood”
- “Daisy Jane”
- “Woman Tonight”
- “Sister Golden Hair”
Side Four - “Company”
- “Today’s The Day”
- “Amber Cascades”
- “God Of The Sun”
- “Political Poachers”
- “You Can Do Magic”
- Previously Unreleased
For more information, go to:
www.venturahighway.com
