Demos, home recordings & previously unissued songs from the first three America albums.
In 1967, Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley and Dan Peek met in high school. Sons of U.S. servicemen stationed in England, the three teenagers ultimately formed a band that was inspired by the British Invasion. Soon they began writing their own style that would soon achieve popularity worldwide. The group signed to Warner Bros. Records London in 1971 and needed a name… they chose America.
Omnivore Recordings, in association with the group’s living founding members Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley, is proud to announce the release of Highlights From Heritage: Home Recordings/Demos 1970–1973, the LP version of last year’s highly acclaimed release on CD. This collection is the first ever vinyl release of some of the group’s most beloved songs in their most embryonic and intimate form. You will hear the group’s earliest recordings recorded before America’s multi-platinum eponymously titled debut album from Chalk Hill Farm Studios, outside of London as well as previously unissued songs from Gerry Beckley’s Buzz Studios (his home in West Hollywood during the early ’70s).
Follow the muse, as the band demos previously unissued songs (“Sea Of Destiny,” “Man Of Pride”) and early versions of America deep cuts (“Riverside” and “Here”). Highlights From Heritage: Home Recordings/Demos 1970–1973 offers an up close and personal portrait of a band primed for stardom, creating classic songs that would still resonate almost 50 years later—on vinyl—as nature intended!
Riverside (Demo – Chalk Farm Studios, 1970)Here (Demo – Chalk Farm Studios, 1970)James Holladay (Demo – Chalk Farm Studios, 1970)How Long (Demo – Chalk Farm Studios, 1970)Sea Of Destiney (Demo – Chalk Farm Studios, 1970)
Mitchum Junction (Demo – Buzz Studios, 1972)Goodbye (Demo – Buzz Studios, 1972)Wind Wave (Demo – Buzz Studios, 1972)Man Of Pride (Demo – Buzz Studios, 1973)Rainbow Song (Demo – Buzz Studios, 1973)Monster (Demo – Buzz Studios, 1973)
