Album of the Day

Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek met as teenagers in London, where their fathers were stationed with the military. Though one of them was English, the trio christened themselves America, and their sound owes much to the soft rock then becoming popular on the U.S west coast. The band's self-titled debut for Warner Bros., produced by Ian Samwell and Jeff Dexter, features rich harmonies and inventive acoustic guitar work on a fine set of originals including “Sandman” “Three Roses” and “I Need You.” The collection was originally released this month in 1971, but after the group's “Horse With No Name” topped the U.S. singles chart, that track was added to AMERICA, which itself rose to No. 1 and went Platinum.