Top 10 America Songs

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Our Top 10 America songs list looks at a band that, in many ways, defined the term soft rock. In no way is that a negative because the band wrote and recorded some of the most loved songs of the early 1970’s. When critics and fans discuss which bands demonstrated the most incredible harmonies, groups like The Beach Boys, The Four Seasons, Crosby Stills, Nash, and Young are often the most brought up. However, the band America not only displayed some of the most incredible harmonic vocal performances on record, but the voices of Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek, and Gerry Beckley were also unique in resonance and frequency. Their vocals have always had incredible warmth, tenderness, and originality. It’s almost cinematic in one sense. No one has ever sounded like America. Their songs were brilliant, their production pristine, especially in the recording of the guitars, but those vocals made everyone fall in love with the band many years ago.

With many of our top 10 lists, we try to promote some of the lesser-known songs that did not get the credit deserved. However, with America, their singles were so brilliant that we did not want to leave any out. So there are no surprises here if you’re an America fan. Nonetheless, if you’re not familiar with this fantastic band, one run through this list will have you collecting their music instantly.

# 10 – Can’t Fall Asleep To A Lullabye

We start out our top 10 America songs list in a way that we said we were not going to do, list an unfamiliar song. However, the rare inclusion of ex-Journey vocalist Steve Perry on this track made this one an easy decision to include on this list. The misspelled titled song “Can’t Fall Asleep To A Lullabye” was released in 1984. What some find incredibly interesting about this song is that Bill Mumy who played the iconic character Will on the 1960’s television series Lost In Space is a co-writer on this song. Mumy actually wrote more than just one song with America and had a huge MTV video hit called “Fish Heads” in the early 1980’s.

# 9 – You Can Do Magic

America’s “You Can Do Magic” is the only song on this list besides “Can’t Fall Asleep To A Lullaby” that was not released in the 1970s. The song was released in 1982 on the album View From The Ground. It was written by the great musical composer Russ Ballard. At the time, America was no longer a trio, as Dan Peek had left the band in the late 1970s.

# 8 – I Need You

From this point on, its all classic America songs. The song “I Need You,” was released on the band’s debut album America in 1971. The song was released as the second single from the album after the smash hit “A Horse With No Name.”

# 7 – Today’s The Day

The single “Today’s The Day,” was the last big hit America had in the 1970’s. Most of the band’s big commercial singles were released between 1971 and 1975. “Today’s The Day,” was released on the Hideaway album. After Hideaway, America released Harbor in 1977 which would be the final album that Dan Peek would release with the band.

# 6 – Daisy Jane

Everyone had their favorite America song, but “Daisy Jane,” was one of those special America songs that every fan loved. The song was released on the band’s Hearts album. The record was released in 1975 and became on of the bands most commercially successful albums.

# 5 – Ventura Highway

Every one of our top five America songs has spectacular guitar introductions. The combination of the guitar intros that gave way to those wondrous voices made listening to AM and FM radio a joyous experience when America songs filled the airwaves in the early 1970s. The song “Ventura Highway“ was released on the Homecoming album in 1972.

# 4 – Lonely People

America’s “Lonely People” was released in 1974 on the Holiday album. It was written by Dan Peek and his wife, Catherine. In interviews, Dan Peek described the song as a response to The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby.” The song was the second single released from the album. “Lonely People” reached the number five position on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1974.

# 3 – Tin Man

The magical song “Tim Man,” with its lyrical ode to The Wizard of Oz, was the lead single from America’s Holiday album in 1974. It was a huge hit for the band, reaching the number four spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary charts.

# 2 – A Horse With No Name

America’s song “A Horse With No Name” was the band’s first single release of their career. The song was so brilliantly written and performed that it easily hit the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100. The band only reached the number one spot one more time in their career. Many great bands and famous rock bands have released albums for forty to fifty years and have never had a number one single. Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jethro Tull, and even James Brown, to name just a few never had a number one single. America did it on their first ever single release.

# 1 – Sister Golden Hair

The beauty of this song is so completely overwhelming. Ask any America fan what their favorite America song is, and nine times out of ten they will say “Sister Golden Hair.” America’s “Sister Golden Hair” was the band’s second number-one song of their career. The band hit number one with the song in 1975. They did it in a year in which Elton John had three number-one singles, and bands and artists like The Doobie Brothers, David Bowie, The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, and Paul McCartney all hit the number-one spot with singles. What a great time for music!