I love "Daisy Jane" so very much; what a great song with a killer hook. Very '70s. Yodlegoat mentioned "Sister Golden Hair" which is another fave. Never heard a full album but shall remedy that this rainy afternoon.
I read somewhere that Tom Waits once said, "'Horse With No Name' is boring; now, if they're written it as "Horse With No Legs", now that would've been interesting."
I have to say that this style of music - "sappy" some may call it, has a genuine appeal across a wide audience. It seems like its not what I would call "lowest common denominator" music, but it is really nice, listenable music. It doesnt seem too threatening, like its going to steal your soul (like rap, or death metal tends to do). Its kind of cool from a "California" perspective - a bit like the Beach boys, but from a different era. Seems like something that reminds me of a nice day at Disneyland (if you've ever experienced one of those) good memories of a kind of historic time in pop music.
I got nothin' :
...avoiding any implication that I have ever entertained a cognizant thought.
live samples:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwbCFGbAtFc
https://youtu.be/AEE5OZXJioE
https://soundcloud.com/yodelgoat/yod...om-a-live-show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUe3YhCjy6g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VOCJokzL_s
America were my "gateway" between bubblegum and more substantial music when I was around 11 or 12 back in the early/mid 70s.
Other than their many hits, they also usually had a few cool deep tracks on their albums like "Midnight", " People In the Valley", and "Willow Tree" to name but a few.
Seals and Crofts have some very good music. The "Summer Breeze" album is a classic. Jim Seals won a big Texas fiddler's contest when he was nine years old and against all the adults.
NP: Ventura Highway. .....on the jukebox. Doo doot doo doo, doo doot doo doo.
Case in point: You Can Do Magic. "doo doo doo doo doo DIT, doo, doo doo, doo DIT" or something like that.
I swear the reason you hear stuff like that in records is because the lyricist couldn't come up with enough words for another verse, so they just vamp on a vocal riff like that. Of course, they'll tell you that it's because they're paying homage to the great doo wop groups of the 50's, but I think the real reason is that not everyone shares Bob Zimmerman's ability for writing endless verses on whichever melody he's chosen for a given song.
Either that or someone(s) in the band can't remember all the words (literally, that's where the vocal riff in Land Of A Thousand Dances came from, the lead singer couldn't remember all the words, so he improvised that riff to pad out the song).
Reminds me of the story of Otis Reddings "Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)". Otis always sang what the horn part should be rather than chart it and on that song they decided to leave his guide vocal in.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
Just heard 'Tin Man' on a store Muzak system. Sounded really good, actually. Definitely a gossebumps moment.
I only have the first 4 albums, shame on me. All gold dust. I always find the line 'I almost forgot to ask, did you hear of my enlistment?' chilling.
Better than Badfinger doing The Beatles
Last edited by Galactic Bulldozer; 01-13-2017 at 09:39 AM.
For being a "Soft Rock" kind-of band, I enjoyed the fact that Dewy often used a Big Gibson Arch-top Jazz guitar (Kessel)
DB kessel.jpg
G.A.S -aholic
I could make a comp.of my fave America songs and never even use a track from History. There are a few tracks from that greatest hits package I could do without ever hearing again, like Muskrat Love - pure dreck.
Seriously? This on a site that knows every word of every lyric Jon Anderson wrote?!?
To me, America was one of many bands (including CSN to a degree) who attempted to pick up where the Beatles left off. Tight, solid band with several decent songs, basically CSN without the muscular instrumentation or politically charged lyrics. This is a blessing, as one can listen to America and not feel dated. I can do without Graham Nash's maundering about sponges or whatever...
Muskrat Love? WTF is this? I thought this was one of the most annoying songs EVER and it was done by The Captain and whoever the fuck it was. This fucking song would come the school bus radio and we would riot. "TURN THIS CRAP OFF!". But we were good kids and STFU when Miss Mary the Bus Driver would say "the radio is either ON or OFF. Which shall it be?". We suffered a lot under that AM radio but heard some great stuff too.
America has some good tunes. I like Tin Man, which is true when said "Oz never did give nothing to The Tin Man that he didn't already have".
Gerry Beckley has a new solo album coming out in September. These are the first two singles - sounds like some classic America to me:
This one was co-written with Bill Mumy:
The Bill Mumy from lost in space? I have his Christmas song.
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