America - 'Warner Bros Years 1971-1977'

(left to right) Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley, and Dan Peek

America was formed in London, in 1970, by American military brats Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek and Gerry Beckley, whose fathers were US Air Force personnel stationed in the U.K.

Fun Fact: originally, the term "BRAT" was an acronym that stands for British Regiment Attached Traveler, and it was assigned to families who were able to travel abroad with a soldier.  Eventually, it just referred to military children.  The term stuck, and was adopted in many places around the world, including in the U.S.

The first time I heard America was in a loud crowded hazy bar (no, really), and thought "A Horse with No Name" was either a new Neil Young or CSN&Y song.  Let's face it, they wore the CSN&Y influence on their sleeves.

America are pretty much regarded as "Soft Rock", which in many ways is an oxymoron, as "Rock" implies rebellion, while "soft" suggests safety.  That said, you could always play America for your parents, older relatives or in "polite company", and they might comment "This is nice music".

America 'Warner Bros Years 1971-1977' is a box set of the first seven complete studio albums, 'America' (1971), 'Homecoming' (1972), 'Hat Trick' (1973), 'Holiday' (1974), 'Hearts' (1975), 'Hideaway' (1976), Harbor (1977), and the live disc, 'America Live' (1977).  All the albums were remastered in 2014.

Generally speaking, their first few albums are more folksy, then George Martin (from the Mop-Tops) came in to the fold as producer and their sound became more complex.

The early to mid 1970s was the heyday of "Soft Rock", which many back then people referred to as "mellow music".  America was at the commercial forefront of this movement, releasing a string of singles that generated radio play for years, and years to come. 

Today in most American cities, on the FM radio dial, there's usually a "Soft Rock" station (here in Manhattan, we have "Lite FM"), where you'll regularly hear their mega hits, "Tin Man," "Lonely People," "Sister Golden Hair", "You Can Do Magic" and the aforementioned "A Horse with No Name", which many people claim is about "kicking" a heroin habit.  Mega hits aside, listening to the albums, there is really no filler, with the album tracks being well written and performed.

For the freeload, what's your favorite America song?