America - The Complete Warner Bros. Records Collection: 1971-1977 (2013) [Official Digital Download 24bit/192kHz]

Originally comprised of Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, and Dan Peek, America was one of the most successful groups of the 1970s. The band blended elements of folk and rock with distinctive three part harmonies. Their best known hits include "A Horse with No Name", "Sister Golden Hair", "Ventura Highway", "Tin Man", "Daisy Jane", and "Lonely People". The band won a 1972 Grammy for Best New Artist following the release of their second album, "Homecoming", and was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. This definitive Hi-Res collection includes the following albums: "America", "Homecoming", "Hat Trick", "Holiday", "Hearts", "Hideaway", and "Harbor".

America's debut album is a folk-pop classic, a stellar collection of memorable songs that would prove influential on such acts as the Eagles and Dan Fogelberg. Crosby, Stills & Nash are the group's obvious stylistic touchstone here, especially in the vocal harmonies used (compare the thick chordal singing of "Sandman" and "Children" to CS&N's "You Don't Have to Cry" and "Guinevere") and the prominent use of active strummed acoustic guitar arrangements (contrast "Riverside" to CS&N's "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes"). America's intricate interplay of acoustic guitar textures is more ambitious than that of their influences, however. Performance quality is usually good, though on occasion sloppily executed or out of tune (especially on the openings to "Donkey Jaw" and "I Never Found the Time"). Lengthy instrumental introductions ("Donkey Jaw"), middle improvisatory interludes ("Here"), and closings ("Clarice") are frequently encountered. Most of these selections boast highly unusual and inventive chord progressions that work well without drawing undue attention to themselves. Lyrics are sometimes trite ("I need you/Like the flower needs the rain") or obscure ("He flies the sky/Like an eagle in the eye/Of a hurricane that's abandoned"), but the music more than makes up for any verse problems; only the odd "Pigeon Song" seems an unsalvageable misstep. Sound quality here has a covered, intimate feel that lends a ghostly aura to this release. Chart hits from this album include the spectrally loping "A Horse with No Name," the squarishly tuneful "I Need You," and the nervously dour "Sandman." Other highlights include the buoyantly charming "Three Roses," the yearningly lovely "Rainy Day," and the quietly ringing "Clarice." In spite of its flaws, this platter is very highly recommended.

Tracklist:

01 - Riverside
02 - Sandman
03 - Three Roses
04 - Children
05 - A Horse With No Name
06 - Here
07 - I Need You
08 - Rainy Day
09 - Never Found The Time
10 - Clarice
11 - Donkey Jaw
12 - Pigeon Song

Homecoming, America's finest album, refines and focuses the folk-pop approach found on their debut release. The songs here are tighter and more forthright, with fewer extended solo instrumental sections than before. The sound quality is clear and bright; the colorful arrangements, while still acoustic guitar-based, feature more electric guitar and keyboards. The performance quality is more assured, among the most urgently committed the group would ever put on vinyl. Verses are still sometimes banal and clunky ("You can't disregard your friends/But life gets so hard when you reach the end") or cryptic ("Sorry, boy, but I've been hit by purple rain"), but a number of the song subjects here exhibit a yearning sense of wanderlust and love of the outdoors that proves to be highly evocative and compelling (particularly on "Moon Song," "Ventura Highway," "California Revisited," and "Cornwall Blank"). Chordal progressions are sophisticated and contain many subtle surprises. A few new style wrinkles can be seen in the country-influenced "Don't Cross the River," the drivingly gutsy "California Revisited" (perhaps the hardest-rocking song the group would ever produce), and the hushed yet mildly funky "Head & Heart." Chart hits from this release include "Ventura Highway," "Only in Your Heart," and "Don't Cross the River," but each song here has something to recommend it. This top-flight album is a very rewarding listen.

Tracklist:

01 - Ventura Highway
02 - To Each His Own
03 - Don't Cross The River
04 - Moon Song
05 - Only In Your Heart
06 - Till The Sun Comes Up Again
07 - Cornwall Blank
08 - Head And Heart
09 - California Revisited
10 - Saturn Nights

America's Hat Trick has the distinction of being the album that contained the first song that the band sang that wasn't theirs. Written by Willis Ramsey, the syrupy "Muskrat Love" only went as high as number 67 on the singles chart for America, but the Captain & Tennille managed to take it all the way to number four only three years later. The rest of Hat Trick failed to garner any hits and is a slight disappointment after the success of their self-titled debut in 1972, which harbored the band's first number one hit in "A Horse With No Name," and after Homecoming, their satisfying follow-up. Hat Trick peaked at number 28 on the album charts, faltering mainly because the songs lacked the cordial folk-rock melodies and mindful songwriting that prevailed on the earlier releases. "She's Gonna Let You Down" and "Rainbow Song" are the album's best cuts, but banal offerings such as "Green Monkey," "Willow Tree Lullaby," and "Molten Love" have Bunnell and Peek straying off course, sounding stale and musically feeble. The unsuccessful repercussions that evolved from Hat Trick both commercially and otherwise were not overlooked by the band, and they rebounded with 1974's Holiday, an album which yielded hits in "Tin Man" and "Lonely People," which both made Billboard's Top Five.

Tracklist:

01 - Muskrat Love
02 - Wind Wave
03 - She's Gonna Let You Down
04 - Rainbow Song
05 - Submarine Ladies
06 - It's Life
07 - Hat Trick
08 - Molten Love
09 - Green Monkey
10 - Willow Tree Lullaby
11 - Goodbye

America fully recovered from Hat Trick's dismal results with 1974's Holiday, with producer George Martin's influence rubbing off on both of the album's Top Five singles. With "Tin Man"'s wonderfully polished soft pop ease and the wispiness of "Lonely People," the band was able to recapture the same formula that put early hits like "A Horse with No Name," "I Need You," and "Ventura Highway" in the Top Ten. The difference with "Holiday" is that their light and breezy melodies and attractive folk-rock sound filtered through more than just the two hit tracks on the album. "Another Try," "Old Man Took," "In the Country," and even the cliché-sounding "Baby It's Up to You" contain a sturdy enough mixture of guitar and harmony to rise them above inessential filler, at least as far as America's material is concerned. Cuts like "Mad Dog" and "Hollywood" suffer somewhat from trite lyrics and a seemingly hurried compositional formula, but this album as a whole ascertained that the group was definitely showing their true potential once more. The album that followed Holiday, 1975's Hearts, showed even stronger improvement, taking the overly catchy "Sister Golden Hair" to number one and scoring a Top 20 hit with the Sunday morning frailty of "Daisy Jane".

Tracklist:

01 - Miniature (Instrumental)
02 - Tin Man
03 - Another Try
04 - Lonely People
05 - Glad To See You
06 - Mad Dog
07 - Hollywood
08 - Baby It's Up To You
09 - You
10 - Old Man Took
11 - What Does It Matter
12 - In The Country

Hearts is the fifth original studio album by American folk rock trio America, released by Warner Bros. Records in 1975. The album was produced by legendary Beatles producer George Martin. This album was a big hit in the US, reaching number 4 on the Billboard album chart and being certified GOLD by the RIAA. It produced three hit singles: "Sister Golden Hair" went to number 1 on the Billboard singles chart and number 5 on the Adult Contemporary chart; and "Daisy Jane" which peaked at 20 on the Billboard singles chart and number 4 on the Adult Contemporary chart; and the funky "Woman Tonight" which reached 44 on the Billboard singles chart and 41 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Several other songs received radio airplay on FM stations playing album tracks including "Old Virginia", "Bell Tree" and "Midnight".

Tracklist:

01 - Daisy Jane
02 - Half A Man
03 - Midnight
04 - Bell Tree
05 - Old Virginia
06 - People In The Valley
07 - Company
08 - Woman Tonight
09 - The Story Of A Teenager
10 - Sister Golden Hair
11 - Tomorrow
12 - Seasons

Hideaway is the sixth original studio album by American folk rock trio America, released by Warner Bros. Records in April 1976. The album was produced by legendary Beatles producer George Martin. This album was a hit in the US, peaking at number 11 on the Billboard album chart and being certified Gold by the RIAA. It produced two hit singles: "Today's the Day", which reached 23 on the Billboard singles chart and went all the way to number 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for two weeks; and "Amber Cascades", which peaked at 75 on the Billboard singles chart and hit number 17 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Several other songs received airplay on FM stations playing album tracks, including "Jet Boy Blue", "Watership Down", "Don't Let It Get You Down" and "Lovely Night".

Tracklist:

01 - Lovely Night
02 - Amber Cascades
03 - Don't Let It Get You Down
04 - Can't You See
05 - Watership Down (Alternate Mix)
06 - She's Beside You
07 - Hideaway, Part I
08 - She's A Liar
09 - Letter
10 - Today's The Day
11 - Jet Boy Blue
12 - Who Loves You
13 - Hideaway, Part II

Harbor is the seventh original studio album by American folk rock trio America, released by Warner Bros. Records in February 1977. It was the last to feature Dan Peek, who embarked on a solo Christian career shortly after the album's release. The album was produced by George Martin. This album was a hit in the US, reaching number 21 on the Billboard album chart. Three singles ("God of the Sun", "Don't Cry Baby" and the disco song "Slow Down") were released from the album but all failed to chart, although "God of the Sun" and "She's Gone" did get some airplay.

Tracklist:

01 - God Of The Sun
02 - Slow Down
03 - Don't Cry Baby
04 - Now She's Gone
05 - Political Poachers
06 - Sarah
07 - Sergeant Darkness
08 - Are You There
09 - These Brown Eyes
10 - Monster
11 - Hurricane
12 - Down To The Water


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