Flirting With 40, America’s Hits Still Shine In Concert

By John Voket

RIDGEFIELD — While the acoustic rock act America was a hit machine back in the 1970s, the group hasn’t cracked the charts with any great impact since the upbeat 1982 single “You Can Do Magic.” But that hasn’t stopped the band, still fronted by two of its three co-founders, Dewey Bunnell and Jerry Beckley, from working their magic in concert more than 100 times a year.

One of the band’s latest stops, at The Ridgefield Playhouse on October 15, was well received by a nearly capacity audience that welcomed Beckley and Bunnell (Dan Peek left the band officially in 1977 after renewing his Christian faith, and subsequently began pioneering a then new genre of Christian rock).

While the Ridgefield show encompassed nearly every single on the Sir George Martin produced History: America’s Greatest Hits album, the band also paid tribute to The Beatles legendary mentor by performing one of the highpoint numbers in the local set, “Eleanor Rigby.” Their cover of “California Dreamin’,” which Bunnell and Beckley recorded for an unmemorable film of the same name in 1979, was another interesting break from the band’s anticipated repertoire.

Much of the two-hour set leaned heavily on the lush harmonies that made America famous, along with the experienced backing of drummer Willie Leacox, who has been with the band for 37 years, and guitarist Michael Woods who is a 33-year veteran of the ensemble.

With only seven years to his credit, “newcomer” Richard Campbell also made an impression with some high harmonies and a couple of trademark licks including the bass hook in “Woman Tonight.”

The show kicked into gear appropriately with “Riverside,” the first track from the band’s self-titled debut album of 1971, and proceeded to get the whole audience on its feet following up with “Ventura Highway.”

The plaintive “Don’t Cross the River” was punched up a bit from its original treatment, giving the tune a more perky feeling with Bunnell’s lead vocals as bright and clear as ever.

Beckley shed his guitar and settled behind the keyboard, noodling around with a two-chord configuration that gave way to “Daisy Jane,” from Hearts. Then the band reverted back to its debut album for the less familiar “Three Roses,” and the syrupy sweet love song, “I Need You.”

With a few crowd pleasing singalongs under their belt, the band ventured a bit more deeply into their prolific catalog, first showcasing Beckley’s “From a Moving Train,” from the 1998 project Human Nature, and Bunnell’s “Hollywood,” which played out to a montage of classic movie footage projected on a rear screen.

The latter also gave America a chance to break from the three-minute formula of most of their radio-friendly singles, opening up a few minutes to just jam. It was only one of two times during the entire set when the band really had an opportunity to cut loose.

The other was during “Sandman,” again from America’s first effort. This take on the lyrically foreboding hit was accompanied by a series of images inter-cutting clips of Vietnam-era peace demonstrations with some gritty battle footage, and swooping helicopters intermingled with delicate hummingbirds.

It sounds a little over the top but the treatment worked well, eliciting extended applause and shouts of approval from the crowd.

Other highpoints included a single representative, “Ride On,” from America’s latest project, Here & Now, which was co-produced by Adam Schlesinger of the indie group Fountains of Wayne, and James Iha, formerly of The Smashing Pumpkins. The band also included its staples “Tin Man,” “Lonely People” with a spot-on harmonica break from Beckley,” an enthusiastic “Sister Golden Hair,” and the popular closer, “Horse With No Name.”

Despite the fact that America has primarily sustained itself on a catalog of material more than three decades old, this show was a far cry from a “nostalgia circuit” performance. It’s obvious that the comradery shared between the four core musicians, and the enjoyment they seemed to derive from even the most overplayed singles, helped keep every number trotted out in Ridgefield fresh and compelling.