ON THIS DATE (43 YEARS AGO) January 12, 1972 - America: A Horse With No Name b/w Everyone I Meet Is From California (Warner Bros. WB 7555) 45 single is released in the US. A Horse with No Name is a song written by Dewey Bunnell, and originally recorded by America. It was the bands first and most successful single, released in early 1972, topping the charts in several countries. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Americas self-titled debut album was released initially in Europe with only moderate success and without the song A Horse with No Name. Trying to find a song that would be popular in both the United States and Europe, A Horse with No Name was originally called Desert Song and was written while the band was staying at the home studio of Arthur Brown, in Puddletown, Dorset. The first two demos were recorded there, by Jeff Dexter and Dennis Elliott, and was intended to capture the feel of the hot, dry desert that had been depicted at the studio from a Salvador Dalí painting, and the strange horse that had ridden out of an M.C. Escher picture. Writer Dewey Bunnell also says he remembered his childhood travels through the Arizona and New Mexico desert when his family lived at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Despite the song being banned by some U.S. radio stations (including one in Kansas City, Missouri) because of supposed drug references, the song ascended to number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and the album quickly reached platinum status. The songs resemblance to some of Neil Youngs work aroused some controversy. I know that virtually everyone, on first hearing, assumed it was Neil, Bunnell says. I never fully shied away from the fact that I was inspired by him. I think its in the structure of the song as much as in the tone of his voice. It did hurt a little, because we got some pretty bad backlash. Ive always attributed it more to people protecting their own heroes more than attacking me. By coincidence, it was A Horse with No Name that replaced Youngs Heart of Gold at the #1 spot on the U.S. pop chart. The song has also been ridiculed for its banal, oddly phrased lyrics, including The heat was hot; There were plants, and birds, and rocks, and things; and Cause there aint no one for to give you no pain. Penn Jillette asked the band about their lyric, there were plants, and birds, and rocks, and things after a show in Atlantic City, where America opened for Penn & Teller. According to Jillette, their explanation for the lyric was that they were intoxicated with cannabis while writing it. In a 2012 interview, Beckley disputed Jillettes story, saying, I dont think Dew was stoned. America (The Band)
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 03:30:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015