Fifty years later, America is still as big | Entertainment

When your group is called America, the bar is already high enough. It is therefore not surprising that after 50 years the American group has not only exceeded expectations via a seemingly endless chain of gold and platinum albums and radio-successful hits (Horse with No Name, Lonely People, Ventura Highway, Tin Man and Sister Golden Hair, among many), but also managed to become a true musical institution in the process.

The duo Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley met when the two were the sons of US Air Force personnel living in England in the late 1960s. (A third member, Dan Peek left the group in 1977 and died prematurely in 2011.) After touring the local music scene, they were later discovered by English producer Ian Samwell, who took a liking to their triumph singing harmonies and a soft rock sound similar to Crosby Stills and Nash and other prominent residents in the vicinity of Laurel Canyon in California.

Samwell produced the trios' debut album, which in turn led to a series of soft rock standards that made regulars for American radio throughout the 1970s and beyond.

Now celebrating their half century, America continues to tour and the founders always reach new heights of popularity. Even as Beckley and Bunnell approach their 70th birthday, their show schedule shows no signs of slowing down.

We basically do long weekends, said Bunnell, speaking by phone from his California home. We take three time slots for long Christmas breaks, spring break, fall or whatever. Gerry spends much of his time in Australia, so it's a long way to go for a weekend. But most of the time, they were mainly on the road. People come back after the show and say: Nice to see you again here! and I just say: What? When were we here? Everything becomes blurred. But we were fortunate to have the career we have had with its longevity and our ability to get all the work. Many artists cannot say that.

Naturally, it would be easy after all these years to simply telephone and browse their directory on a mandatory basis. However, Bunnell said that he and Beckley still retain the enthusiasm they shared from the start.

I love to go on stage and do our thing, he said. I always get butterflies. I am a little nervous that my voice will be given one day. But the crowd response gives us wonderful comments and makes you feel like you're really making someone's night.

Ironically, the Americas are more popular than ever at this point. According to Bunnell, their choice of locations now includes fairs, festivals, casinos, cruise ships and performing arts centers as well as the usual theaters and concert halls.

Weve always had this ability to reserve themselves in different musical situations, said Bunnell. This opens up a lot of options. It's fun and enjoyable. People think that after all these years, we have to be ready. Yeah, they were very comfortable and were very thankful that we made a very good living. But we weren't ready to lift our feet. We have a great group and team, and they have to work. Personally, I like regular concerts.

He also likes to play the songs, he added.

I think it's the fact that we wrote them down and we want to present them in their best light, he thought. These are the little flashes of inspiration that gave them life at first. You remember singing a line or making a choice of certain licks. So now you're trying to do these songs justice.

Most of our audience is older and they want to relive those memories. I think this also applies to us. Everything changes and we have changed too, but this show has had to keep evolving, even if it involves something as simple as the order of the songs in our set lists. You can spoil a show by just putting the wrong song in the wrong place.

Fortunately then, the relationship between the two men at the helm is as stable and secure as ever. When other groups split due to friction between the main players, this was not the case with regard to Beckley and Bunnell.

It's a lot asked, replied Bunnell, when asked about their dynamics. There is often so much dissension that occurs when you bring creative people together. I have speculated a lot about this. Maybe our bond is based on the fact that we were childhood friends and we were both children of the Air Force and we moved a lot. You just develop this thing when you get to a new place and you find a new friend, especially when you live in a foreign country like we were in England. We thought we had to hang on to each other because it was going to be a bumpy race.