- Gerry Beckley
Gerald Linford "Gerry" Beckley (born
September 12 1952 inFort Worth, Texas ) is a founding member of therock band America.Beckley was born to an American father, and an English mother. He began playing the
piano at the age of three, and theguitar a few years later. By 1962, he was playing guitar inThe Vanguards — an instrumentalsurf music band inVirginia . He spent every summer inEngland and soon discovered 'British invasion ' music.In 1967 Beckley's father became the commander at the
U.S. Air Force base atWest Ruislip , nearLondon . Gerry attended London Central High School inBushey ,Hertfordshire , where he played in various school bands, and met his soon to be band members,Dewey Bunnell andDan Peek . Originally, they played on Friday nights at the local American teen club, mostly doing acoustic covers ofCrosby, Stills and Nash tunes. The original drummer was a fellow classmate, Dave Atwood. This formed the core of the band that was to become known as 'America' and which got a recording contract under the auspices of formerBeatles producerSir George Martin . No doubt some of the inspiration for the name of their band derived from the interesting fact that they were all Americans (Although Beckley and Bunnell said it was inspired from an "Americana" jukebox on the base where they lived when they were forming the band -from PRI, Bob Edwards Weekend interview of Beckley and Bunnell, March 17, 2007) living in England.When Gerry was younger, America toured with Jimi Hendrix.Beckley has worked with a wide variety of musicians on many projects. One of the most notable is the recording "
Like a Brother ", done withCarl Wilson ofThe Beach Boys (now deceased), andRobert Lamm of Chicago. Beckley-Lamm-Wilson released "Like a Brother" in 2001.America, (originally Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek), is one of the more popular bands from the 1970s. Their songs from that era continue in their appeal, especially "
A Horse With No Name ", their debut single which went to number one on theBillboard charts ; "Sister Golden Hair " (also #1 on Billboard in 1975); "Tin Man", "I Need You", "Ventura Highway", "You Can Do Magic" and "Daisy Jane", amongst others.Beckley continues to write and record music both as a solo artist and with other musicians well into the first decade of the 21st century. With Dewey Bunnell, Beckley continues touring worldwide as "America".
In May 2006, Gerry Beckley released another solo album "Horizontal Fall" which is a steady seller thanks in part to a loyal fan base and Beckley's uncanny ability to find the hook and the harmony; this denotes an amazing longevity for an artist who has had a lasting and significant influence on the music scene for 35 years.
In March 2007, Gerry appeared as a guest on the Australian musical quiz TV show Spicks and Specks on the ABC network.
On April 14 2007, Gerry appeared as a special guest at a
Ben Kweller show at theCorner Hotel in Melbourne, Australia. Gerry, Ben and the band performed "Sister Golden Hair " together.Discography
* Gerry Beckley "Van Go Gan" (1995)
* Gerry Beckley "Go Man Go" (2000)
* Beckley, Lamb, & Wilson "Like A Brother" (2000)
* Gerry Beckley "Horizontal Fall" (2006)External links
* [http://www.gerrybeckley.com Official site]
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