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Rating: Don't touch my America! If it's true that their inspiration and compositional flair began to fade quite early, to the point that most of their records might seem rather pointless, their career start was absolutely fresh and interesting. Essentially, I recommend getting their first two albums: the self-titled debut from 1971 and this "Homecoming" from the following year, while you can safely ignore the rest without missing much, just a few melodic gems here and there.
Spectacularly portrayed on the cover in front of one of those incredible orange sunsets typical of the Californian desert, the three guys (then practically in their twenties) happily manage to replicate the compositional quality and the performative freshness of their first album. The inspiration from the great Californian folk-rock groups, particularly Crosby Stills & Nash, is clear and total; it would eventually dilute over the years into a more stylistic and anonymous pop, but for now, the musical direction is undeniable: West Coast.
Their passion for Californian moods, philosophies, and music is acquired, not absorbed from within, considering Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley, and Dan Peek hail from England (Bunnell was even born there, and their previous debut album was recorded in London), being all children of NATO military personnel stationed in the old continent. Perhaps that's why their elegant and accessible music lacks the depth, intensity, courage, madness, psychedelia, social consciousness, and even the additional value from various narcotics that the great San Francisco and Los Angeles bands generously spread during the late '60s.
"Homecoming" ("Returning Home") is thus the inevitable title of an album conceived after initial successes allowed the three to leave their families and settle in their homeland, to continue directly from California creating a refined, intentional, and beloved sound envelope of pure American West, as was said of limited conceptual strength but pleasantly serving itself. There are no messages, worries, searches, or animosities, just a great inclination and desire to compose and perform brilliant little songs, in total democracy among themselves: they indeed assign three songs each in terms of composition and lead vocals, plus a cover for a total of ten pieces.
As happened the year before (with the famous "A Horse With No Name"), the highlight is a song by Bunnell, rightly placed at the beginning: "Ventura Highway" owes much of its success also to Beckley, the creator of the persistent and effective acoustic guitar riff constantly doubled and harmonized by Peek with another acoustic, throughout much of the song. It's an "embellishment" of Dewey's singing and rhythmic strumming of vital importance to give the piece charm, dynamics, harmonic richness, uniqueness.
Bunnell's beautiful voice (the most interesting of the three) nevertheless achieves its best performance in the electric and intense "Cornwall Blank", a song of a much broader scope than their usual, with time changes, lysergic electric guitar solos a'la Jefferson Airplane, a tense and expressive singing worthy of the most loaded and visionary David Crosby.
Beckley is the one most connected to the land of adoption, the just-abandoned Great Britain. The piano is his favorite instrument, the Beatles a reference point as much if not more than Californian country rock. Of the three piano ballads he offers, the most effective seems "To Each His Own", with its exquisite and irresistible melody.
Dan Peek, who would leave the group a few years later reducing America to a duo for the rest of their career, contributes with the excellent "Don't Cross The River", which impeccably rolls along with its electro-acoustic resonances, rich in harmonies with Byrds-like nuances. There's maximum suggestion also in the concluding "Saturn Nights", offering a successful contrast between the softly uncertain progress of his lead voice and the splendid arrival of beautiful choral parts.
The only cover on the album pertains to a great, now-late British folk singer, proving their umbilical connection still with the English music scene. "Head & Heart" by the late John Martyn is rendered not far from the original, maintaining its soft and confidential atmosphere, with a muddy electric piano bearing a curious, total similarity to McCartney's well-known "Come Together" by the Beatles.
Don't touch my America, or at least do so after you've (re)listened to "Homecoming" and its handcrafted easy listening that remains innocent, fresh and sunny.Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Ventura Highway (03:33)
Ventura Highway
America
(Burnell)
Chewing on a piece of grass
Walking down the road
Tell me, how long you gonna stay here Joe?
Some people say this town don't look
Good in snow
You don't care, I know
Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger
Than moonshine
You're gonna go I know
'Cause the free wind is blowin' through
Your hair
And the days surround your daylight
There
Seasons crying no despair
Alligator lizards in the air
Wishin' on a falling star
Waitin' for the early train
Sorry boy, but I've been hit by
Purple rain
Aw, come on Joe, you can always
Change your name
Thanks a lot son, just the same
Ventura Highway in the sunshine
Where the days are longer
The nights are stronger
Than moonshine
You're gonna go I know
'Cause the free wind is blowin' through
Your hair
And the days surround you daylight
There
Seasons crying no despair
Alligator lizards in the air
02 To Each His Own (03:15)
To each his own it's plain to see
To walk alone you have to be
It's all for you and all for me, you'll see
I'm gonna miss you, yes, I will
No matter who you are, I'll love you still
For my life is my conscience, the seeds I sow
I just wanted to let you know
Familiar faces that I've seen
Turnin' red and turnin' green
They just got caught with writing on their sleeve, I guess I'll leave
I'm gonna miss you, yes, I will
No matter who you are, I'll love you still
Will you cancel my papers and lock the door
Cause I ain't gonna be 'round no more
Will I make it through the summer
Breaking ties with the old and new
Losing one just gains another
There is nothing I can do
I'm gonna miss you, yes, I will
No matter who you are I'll love you still
For my life is my conscience, the seeds I sow
And I just wanted to let you know
I'm gonna miss you, yes, I will
No matter who you are, I'll love you still
Will you cancel my papers and lock the door
Cause I ain't gonna be 'round no more
I'm gonna miss you, yes, I will
No matter who you are I'll love you still
For my life is my conscience, the seeds I sow
And I just wanted to let you know
I'm gonna miss you ...
03 Don't Cross the River (02:31)
There's a little girl out lyin' on her own
She's got a broken heart
She's not the kind to take you down for long
She knows and plays it smart
(Ah--) And if she's comin' she's shown no more
She's heard no whistle blowin' from the door
She feels like leavin' and she don't know why
Without no bridges she's trapped, so I sigh
Don't cross the river if you can't swim the tide
Don't try denyin' livin' on the other side
All your life
You were on your own
If you want you can ride my train
And soon forget the reason that you're leaving
You'll lose yourself and then sometime
Maybe even save yourself some grievin'
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Don't cross the river if you can't swim the tide
Don't try denyin' livin' on the other side
Don't cross the river if you can't swim the tide
Don't try denyin' livin' on the other side
Don't cross the river if you can't swim the tide
Don't cross the river if you can't swim the tide
Don't cross the river if you can't swim the tide ...
05 Only in Your Heart (03:18)
Mary, have you seen better days?
And will you find different ways?
And does he really mean that much to your heart?
Carry, all of the weight you can, find another man
And lead him directly there to the source
You've got to chart his course
'Cause it is only in your heart
This thing that makes you want to
Start it all again
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Wake up from an elusive dream
You've got to change the scene
It's getting so hard to see to the end
Break down, all of the walls you can
You need a helping hand
I'm sure there's someone there just for you
He's trying to make it, too
'Cause it is only in your heart
This thing that makes you want to
Start it all again
(La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la)
Only in your heart
This thing that makes you want to
Start it all again
(La, la, la, la)
You can't disregard your friends
But life gets so hard when you reach the end
Mary, have you seen better days?
(Mary, have you seen better days?)
Mary, have you seen better days?
(Mary, have you seen better days?)
Mary, have you seen better days?
(Mary, have you seen better days?)
Mary, have you seen better days?
(Mary, have you seen better days?)
07 Cornwall Blank (04:19)
America - Cornwall Blank
========================
Written by Dewey Bunnell, ?972
I've been down to the water
I've been on top of the world
Somebody should come and see me
Somebody should give me the word
'Cause I don't know how many more
I don't know how many more
I don't know how many more to see
Sometimes the free thoughts clash
Sometimes I see through the grass
Sometime the light begins to dim
Somebody should come and be me
Somebody should come and free me
'Cause I don't know how many more (many more)
I don't know how many more (many more)
I don't know how many more to see
Oh darlin', darlin', I always wanna see you
Oh darlin', darlin', I always wanna see you
I cannot learn much more life
I cannot see much more
Somebody should stop the new sight
Somebody should close the door
'Cause I don't know how many more (many more)
I don't know how many more (many more)
I don't know how many more to see
Wrapped in a blanket, lyin' in the snow
Feelin' like the men felt a long time ago
Goin' to find me a home, goin' to build it with my hands
Can't you see there's food to be grown
Got to dig up, dig up the land
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