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While it’s been a few years since America has been on the charts, they made headlines in the pop press this summer when Michael Jackson’s album “Xscape” was released. The posthumous recording featured a reworking of the band’s classic hit “A Horse with No Name.”
“We heard about it several years ago,” says America’s Dewey Bunnell, who composed “Horse.” “It was surprising. We thought of it as a novelty and forgot about it. His untimely death brought it back to the fore. I’m actually a co-writer with Jackson (on “Xscape”). When we revisited the lyrics after his death, it seemed that much more poignant.”
Jackson’s “A Place with No Name” was not the first time America’s music was sampled by his family. Janet Jackson’s 2001 hit “Someone to Call My Lover” sampled another of their classics, “Ventura Highway.”
“Apparently, Janet’s producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are big fans,” Bunnell explains. “It’s odd that we got associated.”
Missing the warmth of the Californian desert, on a gray, rain-soaked English day in 1971, an 18-year-old Bunnell composed the song that would make them famous. A year later, “A Horse with No Name” propelled America to the top of the single and album charts, and that chart success led to their win in 1972 as Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards, beating out contemporaries like the Eagles and Loggins & Messina.
“It’s still the gift that keeps giving,” he says about the memorable song. “We’ve put together a pretty good catalogue of songs over the years, but that first song goes on forever. We did our first tour of the U.S., and it went to number one.”
America’s three original members, Bunnell, Gerry Beckley and Dan Peek, all met in England, where their fathers served in the U.S. Air Force. The trio began playing together in high school, and one day, so the story goes, while sitting in a cafe wondering what they should call themselves, the trio spotted an Americana jukebox.
As America, the trio began playing gigs in the London area. Their tight harmonies and acoustic guitar interplay, which were compared with Crosby, Stills and Nash, soon drew audiences to their sunny, melodic sound on both sides of the Atlantic.
“We were sort of post-Woodstock hippie kids in England, and we joined our generation,” says Bunnell. “And timing is everything. We were very fortunate to be part of the singer/songwriter era. (Publicist) Derek Taylor was a friend, and he said we were the best band he had heard since the Byrds, who he had worked with, and of course, he was aligned with the Beatles.”
Bunnell recalls that they were all thrilled to be in London at the time of a cultural renaissance.
“It was the swinging ’60s, the summer of love, the first Bath Festival with Led Zeppelin. In those early years, we opened a couple of shows for Pink Floyd, sitting on three stools with acoustic guitars, while Floyd was promoting ‘Atom Heart Mother’ with an orchestra and choir. And we opened for the Who and Elton John.”
With each successive album, America scored hit after hit. Their second recording, “Homecoming,” featured “Ventura Highway” and “Don’t Cross the River.” Then came “Hat Trick” and the single “Muskrat Love,” followed by the band’s George Martin-produced tracks “Tin Man,” “Lonely People,” and the number one hit, “Sister Golden Hair.”
So how did they get the Beatles’ legendary producer on board?
“We realized we needed to get a producer, and George happened to be in L.A. for the Oscars for Paul (McCartney) for ‘Live and Let Die,’ ” he explains. “We hit it off right away. We got the British sense of humor. We did a total of seven albums with George.”
In more recent times, America attracted the attention of a number of hip, contemporary musicians who joined forces to help the band create one of their best albums since their ’70s heyday. Former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha and Fountains of Wayne mastermind Adam Schlesinger signed on to produce “Here & Now,” released in 2007. The roster of indie rock artists contributing included Ryan Adams, Ben Kweller, My Morning Jacket’s Jim James and Nada Surf’s Matthew Caws.
AllMusic praised: “On repeated listens, ‘Here & Now’ gains stature and it not only feels like a successful comeback, but the record that America fans of all ages have been waiting decades to hear.”
In 2011, they released another wonderful album, “Back Pages,” where Bunnell and Beckley covered some of their favorite songs including Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock,” Neil Young’s “On The Way Home,” Simon & Garfunkel’s “America,” and Bob Dylan’s “My Back Pages.”
“These guys are just getting better, as they sing with the confidence that only age can bring,” noted an American Songwriter review.
Reflecting on their continuing popularity and the enduring affection for their songs, Bunnell suggests, “They were simple enough to begin with and people could relate to the melodies and the lyrics. And there’s an honesty in the songs that’s appealing. Our live show has been our bread and butter for decades. It’s a real gift to look out there and see people enjoying themselves. We’re making people happy.”
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The 13th annual Richard Ho’opi’i Leo Kie Kie Falsetto competition will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Andaz Maui at Wailea as part of the 2014 Festival of Aloha. Hosted by the falsetto master, the competition showcases Maui’s finest amateur male falsetto performers.
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Known for performing and singing in the Oscar-winning movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” and winning a Grammy for his work on the soundtrack of the Ray Charles biopic, “Ray,” Chris Thomas King will make his Maui debut performing at Charley’s Restaurant & Saloon on Wednesday.
Accomplished across a spectrum of styles from acoustic Delta blues to electric Chicago blues and even country, King was recognized as a prodigy as a child. His debut album, “The Beginning,” was in a traditional blues vein, but he soon found himself on a mission to prevent the blues from becoming a museum piece, becoming the first bluesman to successfully fuse hip-hop and other genres to create a new style for the 21st century.
A string of well-received records, including “Cry of the Prophets,” “Red Mud” and “Me, My Guitar and the Blues,” followed his debut. But the exceptionally talented musician didn’t gain widespread appeal until appearing in the Coen brother’s film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” King played Tommy Johnson, a thinly veiled version of famed blues guitarist Robert Johnson.
The soundtrack earned King his first Grammy as a contributor to the Album of the Year, and led to a role as blues guitarist Lowell Fulson in the Oscar-winning “Ray.”
King’s musical journey continued with such genre-bending albums as “Dirty South Hip-Hop Blues,” which blended Delta blues, New Orleans hip-hop grooves, electronica and Euro-dance styles, and “Rise,” written in response to Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed his New Orleans’ home.
“He’s never sounded more at home than on this sadly beautiful album, which mourns and celebrates New Orleans culture,” praised the Boston Phoenix. “He dwells on the greater tragedies of the storm and its aftermath, creating a complex cycle that’s buoyed by weeping electric guitar melodies and his gentlest, most soulful singing.”
Reviewing one of his performances, the Chicago Blues Guide raved: “The multi-talented artist performed acoustic Delta blues, electric Chicago blues, blues-rock, R&B, country, a touch of hip-hop and even a Middle Eastern-flavored number. King made his Gibson cry and sing, bending notes and wringing emotion.”
* Chris Thomas King will perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday at Charley’s. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Tickets are available at Request Music, Westside Vibes, the Wine Corner and Charley’s. Advance purchase includes a free Buffalo Records sampler CD.
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Led Zep fans rejoice, the fifth annual tribute to the British rockers, “Zeptember V,” will take place from 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday at Mulligans on the Blue in Wailea. Many of our finest will play their Zep favorites. Tickets are $25, available at Mulligans, 808 Deli, Requests, Alice in Hulaland, The Scuba Shack, and Still Smokin’ in Kihei, Lahaina and Kahului.
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Heading to Keokea on Saturday you can catch musicians like Lily Meola with Tom Conway, Eric Gilliom and Mojomana playing at the St. John’s Kula Festival. The fundraiser will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $1, and free for children younger than 10.