November 1975: America Releases Greatest Hits Album HISTORY

It was on November 3, 1975, when the band America reached a point in their career when they'd amassed enough popular songs to merit a greatest hits collection. In 2020, the band recognized the album's 45th anniversary, which happened to fall on Election Day in America.

"Not only is today a historic day for the United States, but also a historic day for America!" the group shared on Facebook. "Today, we celebrate the 45th birthday of our first greatest hits record, History, which was released November 3rd, 1975. Released just five years into our career, the album became one of our most successful releases, twelve hits packed into one album."

Indeed, as History features a pair of #1 Hot 100 singles--"Sister Golden Hair" and "A Horse with No Name"--as well as top 10 hits including "Tin Man," "Lonely People," and "Ventura Highway."

The band marveled at the vast expense of time between those halcyon days and the 21st century within the statement: "It’s remarkable to realize it has been 45 years since the release of History. I recall at the time thinking how unreal it was to realize we had enough 'hits' to release a legitimate Greatest Hits package, including two #1 singles and 9 other charted singles," Dewey Bunnell shared. "We’re very grateful to our fans, Warner Bros. Records, and all the radio stations who have played our songs over the years! It’s all history now!”

It's no surprise that History was a hit, a popular gift over the 1975 holiday season as the LP peaked at #3 on the Billboard 200 for the week of December 20, 1975. The #1 album in America that week: Chicago IX: Chicago's Greatest Hits.

FUN FACT: Per the band: "Many may not know this, but the album art was drawn up by the late great Phil Hartman. The cover references images from the band’s albums that these songs came from, as well as pieces of their own history."