America - Here & Now (2007)

This is an unedited rerun of an old post originally published here on February 27, 2007. It's a very good album by one of the best soft-rock bands of the 70s. If you're not acquainted with it yet here is another chance to to become familiar with this really fine set of tunes.

America, one of the most successful and famous soft rock bands of the 70s, is back with their sixteenth studio album, Here & Now. Original members Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell (who are two thirds of the original trio) stay true to their trademark sound while injecting new life into the music by working with some prominent names of the current alt-rock and modern rock communities.

America was one of the many bands who forgot their roots and fell prey to the synthesizer craze of the 80s, but older fans will easily and happily embrace Here & Now. The new CD has more in common with their mid-70s middle-of-the-road music than it does with their first two albums, the 1971 self-titled debut and its followup, Homecoming, released a year later. Those two LPs featured songs and arrangements that were heavily acoustic in their foundation yet went well beyond the light fare most soft rock albums offered. The trio's music became more pop oriented as the decade progressed but their fine singing and musicianship prevented their songs from becoming overly treacly (with the exception of "Muskrat Love.")

Here & Now was produced by lifelong America fans Adam Schlesinger of Fountains Of Wayne and James Iha, formerly of Smashing Pumpkins. They used their talents to make a CD that never strays too far from America's classic sound. Alt-country bad boy Ryan Adams plays on one track, as does Ben Kweller. They cover My Morning Jacket's "Golden" with head Jacket Jim James - another fan - assisting as a sideman. Ira Elliot and Matthew Caws of Nada Surf help out on a cover of their own "Always Love." One of America's contemporaries, Rusty Young of Poco, plays on two tracks. Young doesn't play on "Ride On," a song that sounds like vintage Poco, but Adams and Kweller do.

A live bonus disc makes this a double CD release. The second disc is a twelve song concert recorded in XM Radio's performance studios in October 2005. The show is almost a live greatest hits album but the concert also includes the forgotten country-rock gem "Don't Cross The River" and a harder rocking arrangement of "Sandman" that is different than the original from their debut album.

It seems, just as Burt Bachrach suddenly became cool when he teamed up with Elvis Costello, that America's critical stock has risen by working with the younger, cooler guys.

Comments

  1. William Kates9:39 AM, March 14, 2007

    It's almost like when Bruce resurrected Gary U.S. Bonds for a comeback album. I look forward to hearing this.

    P.S. I always thought their first album was an attempt to fill the void left at the time by CS&N breaking up.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

WHAT'S HOT TODAY!

Slower Than Slow: 16 RPM Records

Image
Have you ever heard of a long forgotten vinyl format, the 16 2/3 RPM record? They were half the speed of the 33 1/3 RPM albums that were the traditional standard for recorded music. Most record players in the 1950s and 1960s came with a speed setting to play these long forgotten discs that were considered novelties even during the years they were available. Because most, but not all, 16s had big holes and were 7" in diameter many of them were mistaken for 45 RPMs and at that size the speed allowed for up to 20 minutes of playing time per side. However, there was no true standard size and they were also manufactured to be 9, 10, or 12 inches in diameter, and these larger records played even longer. Just like the other speeds and formats 16s could be played one record at a time or stacked on a changer for continuous play. Radio stations often used the discs for pre-recorded radio shows containing interviews, dramas, and documentaries. More frequen...
Read more

The Band - Christmas Must Be Tonight (1977)

Image
In 2006 Hall and Oates released Home For Christmas , their one and only holiday album, an extremely good set of music that immediately became one of my favorite seasonal listens. I wrote then that I was stunned at how many overtly religious songs the famous duo put on the the disc considering the very politically correct climate of the new millennium. One of them was a cover version of a song that alluded me for almost thirty years, "Christmas Must Be Tonight." I liked the new, upbeat track sung by Daryl Hall and it made me go out and search for Robbie Robertson's never-to-be classic. Sung by Rick Danko, it appears on the great American band's last album, Islands (1977). It's a surprise that a group whose members were not known to have any specific or powerfully strong religious beliefs would release a song that tackled the subject of Jesus's birth as blatantly as our most loved Christmas carols. It's not about a reckless reinde...
Read more

The Chieftains With Jackson Browne - The Rebel Jesus (1991)

Image
"The Rebel Jesus" is a Christmas song composed by Jackson Browne and performed with The Chieftains, the eclectic, veteran Irish folk band on  The Bells of Dublin,  their 1991 holiday album. Browne wrote the song specifically for his guest appearance on this record. The singer-songwriter, who is deservedly in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, can be a bit preachy when he wants to be, and he is again here, but no one can dispute what the man is saying.  The last two verses are the key to the song. Browne points out that people often feel more generous at Christmas so they'll give to those who were less fortunate than themselves during the holidays. But, if anyone tries to dig deeper and root out the poverty that envelops the downtrodden they are often scorned like Jesus was. This message is coming from a man who is admittedly a "heathen and a pagan," but on this occasion he is "on the side of the rebel Jesus." At the same time Browne doesn't want to sp...
Read more

The Beatles - Christmas Messages (1963 - 1969)

Image
For seven straight years beginning in 1963 - even before they were famous in America - The Beatles recorded annual Christmas messages exclusively for their fan club members as a holiday thank you. They were issued on seven-inch, vinyl records that were very thin, very bendable, and easily damaged. These flexi-discs, as they were called, could not be stacked on record changers. Over the years the tracks have been bootlegged in countless ways, and until a few years ago the only legal release was sent to fan club members in 1970 on 33 RPM vinyl records after the boys from Liverpool went their separate ways. The LP cover shown here is from that album. Finally, in 2017, a limited edition box set  on colored vinyl was released and is now an expensive collector's item. Many Beatles fans managed to hear these records over the years, and with the Internet being what it is, there are several websites where anyone can easily listen to all of them.  Archive.org ...
Read more

Chicago: An Album By Album Analysis Of The Terry Kath Era (1969 - 1977)

Image
The original lineup of Chicago has always been one of my all time favorite bands. My affection for this great horn band is such that I want to discuss all of the albums they recorded before Terry Kath's unfortunate and accidental passing. Their debut album is now forty years old, and it's followup is not far behind, yet their music endures to this day. * * * * * Everyone Must Own * * * * Excellent * * * Good * * Fair * Poor * * * * * Chicago Transit Authority (1969) - Whether they were playing screaming psychedelic hard rock, jazz, blues, or love songs, everyone in the band proved they were worthy of the huge mass success that followed CTA 's release. The band's ability to play anything and play it well is the hallmark of their debut album. The stars are Robert Lamm, Terry Kath, and the horns, and even Peter Cetera demonstrates he can be a rock and roll animal when he wants to be. The standout tracks are Lamm's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It...
Read more