The Best of America - Centenary Collection

Album Review

The trio America (vocalists/guitarists Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley, and Dan Peek) approximated the 1970s California pop-folk sound so well that when their first single "A Horse with No Name" appeared on the radio waves in the fall of 1972, many listeners assumed it was a song by Neil Young. Ironically, "Horse" knocked Young's own "Heart of Gold" out of the number one slot that year and jump-started America's career as a sort of lighter and less-filling version of "Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young." All three members of the group were competent and accessible songwriters, and their easy harmonies brought America several big hits throughout the '70s, including two produced by Beatles-producer George Martin, "Tin Man" and "Lonely People." Peek left at the end of the decade, leaving America as a duo, and they managed one more radio hit, "You Can Do Magic" in 1982. Most of these are included on this budget collection ("Lonely People" is inexplicably absent), along with "Ventura Highway" and "Sister Golden Hair," and key album tracks.