American Dewey Bunnell will perform in Louisville, Kentucky in April. Bunnell, 74, was the only original band member to perform at Massey Hall on June 25th.Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images
At Massey Hall, folk-rock icon America, or what’s left of it, used a sizzle reel to promote their pop culture beliefs. As the lights went down, the sold-out crowd watched a montage of the band’s songs that have been used in movies and television.
Showing clips of “A Horse with No Name,” which appeared in “Breaking Bad,” “Parks and Recreation,” and “American Hustle” (all 2010s hits), is a cool enough idea to establish the band’s relevance.
But wouldn’t digging up archival footage of Andy Williams and Johnny Mathis singing the 1972 American hit “I Need You” be counterproductive?
All this was unnecessary, anyway, on the level of preaching to the choir. Additionally, the 1975 compilation History: America’s Greatest Hits resurfaced at No. 191 on the Billboard 200 album chart earlier this month, proof enough that the band’s humming melodies, lush harmonies, and sepia-toned Southern California vibes have not been forgotten.
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When America took the stage Thursday, he received a sitting ovation. The original trio is now down to just one, 74-year-old Dewey Bunnell. Dan Peek left in 1977 after having a spiritual awakening and died in 2001. Jerry Beckley will retire from active duty in 2024.
The four-piece band on the current Happy Trails tour with Bunnell did a good job of recreating the overlapping harmonies, but the process sometimes drowned out Bunnell’s lilting voice. Drummer Ryland Steen provided lead vocals on “Don’t Cross the River,” written by Peake. Guitarist/keyboardist Andy Barr sang Beckley’s Sister Golden Hair, Daisy Jane, and I Need You.
In the early 1970s, as some of the audience reached adulthood, America quietly entered the crowded soft rock scene. The trio’s quiet, groovy music served as both an excuse for slow dancing and a soundtrack for puppy love. It was a time when hair, bell bottoms, and Boone’s Farm products flowed freely.
America easily fit in with Massey as he performed a jukebox of hits like “Tin Man” and “Lonely People.” Where do they fit among other genres? Think CSNY. However, “S” and “C” stand for “Seals” and “Crofts”.
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The founding members of the United States were male students of the American military based in England. The transatlantic trio eventually relocated to Los Angeles. Sandman’s performance at the Massey in 1971 was associated with counterculture images of Woodstock, race riots, and war protests, but the eponymous superpower band remained apolitical.
Seventies soft rock, especially the crisp Southern California style practiced by America, the Eagles, and Bread, was a reaction to the upheavals of the late 1960s. This half-baked price did more to medicate the cuts and scrapes than scratch the itch.
This music was also an invitation to the land of warmth, sunburn, and freedom. “Sunlit Ventura Highway, where the days are long and the nights are stronger than moonshine,” Bunnell sang in Toronto. “You’re going, I know.”
The short-lived era was all but over by 1976, when Don Henley exploded the myth with the Dark Eagles hits “Hotel California” and “Life in the Fast Lane.” But the promise of escape and tequila sunrise is still alive in America’s 2026 concert. The group covered “California Dreamin”’ (and Neil Young’s “Cinnamon Girl”), and closed with “A Horse with No Name,” about travel and loneliness.
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la
California dreams are made of these things.
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