Ventura Highway

One of the more underrated outfits that formed part of the ubiquitous country-rock movement of the 1970s is also one of the most unlikely, hailing from the Greater London area, with its members comprising American military brats. Giving themselves the generic band name America, the unassuming-looking trio studiously worked their way through the London pub circuit, eventually recording their first album and scoring an improbable worldwide hit with the comically surreal 'A Horse With No Name'. More chart success followed with subsequent singles, with one of the more noteworthy ones being the bittersweet nostalgia trip 'Ventura Highway', an elliptical narrative of the protagonist's teenage years. Check out a laid-back, in-studio performance of the song, which aptly highlights Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek's adroit finger-picking acumen and idyllic harmony vocals.