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"An American Band, The America Story"
The book starts at the beginning, a rags to riches story of 3 Air Force Brats who eventually met in London, England at the height of the "American Invasion" of music. Courted by every Record Label in town, the band chose to sign with Warner Bros. Records and the rest as they say is History.
With the release of their acoustic and vocal harmony masterpiece, "A Horse With No Name", the band was catapulted to the top of the music charts worldwide. Their self-titled debut album containing the forementioned single reached the #1 spot on Music Charts around the world.
The book is an insider's look at the opulent and sometimes sleazy world of Rock and Roll during the Golden Years of the 70's. Dan's depiction of meeting the A-List Celebrities of the day, including Rod Stewart, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, CSNY, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne as well as Movie Stars Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty among others is a compelling read.
With feedback such as "Couldn't put it down till I was finished" and "Now reading it for the 3rd time" are typical of the comments the book has engendered.
Legendary Managers David Geffen and Elliot Roberts helped guide them and the soon enlisted the talents of Sir George Martin, known for his work with the Beatles. Sir George produced 5 of the 7 albums the group recorded for Warner Brothers and was instrumental in keeping them at the top of the charts, album after album.
The book also chronicles the painful breakup of the band as Dan Peek left to pursue a solo career which resulted in a groundbreaking CCM album, "All Things Are Possible" which garnered a Grammy nomination.
With the release of their acoustic and vocal harmony masterpiece, "A Horse With No Name", the band was catapulted to the top of the music charts worldwide. Their self-titled debut album containing the forementioned single reached the #1 spot on Music Charts around the world.
The book is an insider's look at the opulent and sometimes sleazy world of Rock and Roll during the Golden Years of the 70's. Dan's depiction of meeting the A-List Celebrities of the day, including Rod Stewart, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, CSNY, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne as well as Movie Stars Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty among others is a compelling read.
With feedback such as "Couldn't put it down till I was finished" and "Now reading it for the 3rd time" are typical of the comments the book has engendered.
Legendary Managers David Geffen and Elliot Roberts helped guide them and the soon enlisted the talents of Sir George Martin, known for his work with the Beatles. Sir George produced 5 of the 7 albums the group recorded for Warner Brothers and was instrumental in keeping them at the top of the charts, album after album.
The book also chronicles the painful breakup of the band as Dan Peek left to pursue a solo career which resulted in a groundbreaking CCM album, "All Things Are Possible" which garnered a Grammy nomination.
266 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 15, 2005
14 people are currently reading
45 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 4, 2021
The book gives great insight on what the rock and roll life was like with quick stardom and money comes temptation. Dan Peek of the group tells good stories and gives the reader access to the 70’s era of classic rock. I found it interesting on what drove the writing of several hits, not just by America, but by other bands like the Eagles. Then how Dan Peek found his purpose and faith and gave it all up.
January 27, 2025
Compelling. Peek’s reflections are at times bizarre but honest and so vivid. Great read.
February 4, 2023
Great Read
An interesting and well written book. Full of imagery and so English it hurts. Dan must've really soaked up England while he lived here, his phrasing and terminology are as English as you can get. I'm sad he felt so disconnected for so many years, that must've been difficult.
All in all its a vivid recollection of Dan Peek's journey. I get the impression Gerry Buckley is not his favourite person and probably never was. He clearly has more in common with Dewey. He balances criticising the others by putting forward his own failings, it doesn't come across as a piece of self obsession and is well rounded.
Certainly a most enjoyable read. I wonder if Dan ever was truly happy, I sense a troubled spirit that would've continued being troubled until his death despite his new found Christianity.
Speaking as a child who was perpetually sick too, I get Dan. I understand his troubled life was connected with childhood trauma. It's tough to get through to being "normal" when you don't know what normal is!
Read it. It's great!
An interesting and well written book. Full of imagery and so English it hurts. Dan must've really soaked up England while he lived here, his phrasing and terminology are as English as you can get. I'm sad he felt so disconnected for so many years, that must've been difficult.
All in all its a vivid recollection of Dan Peek's journey. I get the impression Gerry Buckley is not his favourite person and probably never was. He clearly has more in common with Dewey. He balances criticising the others by putting forward his own failings, it doesn't come across as a piece of self obsession and is well rounded.
Certainly a most enjoyable read. I wonder if Dan ever was truly happy, I sense a troubled spirit that would've continued being troubled until his death despite his new found Christianity.
Speaking as a child who was perpetually sick too, I get Dan. I understand his troubled life was connected with childhood trauma. It's tough to get through to being "normal" when you don't know what normal is!
Read it. It's great!
December 3, 2018
A Good Read
Being a fan of "America" since their first hit single and album, back in the 70's. I was pleased to find this book while browsing "Kindle". It is an interesting and engaging memoir detailing their emergence in the UK to become one of this most iconic bands of that decade. Despite their wonderful catalogue of music, the narrative also depicts the troubles endured through success, personal ambitions, fame, and fortune., which is a common theme of other biographies I have read of people achieving status in the music and entertainment business. Success can be a difficult achievement to manage.
I am grateful to have had the opportunity to read this book.
Finally I must profess that I was sad to hear of Dan's passing in 2011.
Being a fan of "America" since their first hit single and album, back in the 70's. I was pleased to find this book while browsing "Kindle". It is an interesting and engaging memoir detailing their emergence in the UK to become one of this most iconic bands of that decade. Despite their wonderful catalogue of music, the narrative also depicts the troubles endured through success, personal ambitions, fame, and fortune., which is a common theme of other biographies I have read of people achieving status in the music and entertainment business. Success can be a difficult achievement to manage.
I am grateful to have had the opportunity to read this book.
Finally I must profess that I was sad to hear of Dan's passing in 2011.
September 30, 2025
If you are a big fan of this guy, you will probably love this book. He obviously wrote it himself. It comes across as heartfelt but disorganized and not very personal.
He mentions meeting a woman ( 15 year old girl) and falling in love with her but never says why. He gives no details about her. He mentions moving to the other side of the world to pursue her but tells nothing of what he did once he got there. How did he pursue her? He doesn’t mention the agony of being unable to see her, the joy of secret phone calls, the dreams and promises. Nothing. An entire chapter about moving to another country to pursue this girl and we still hear nothing about her. Just that her parents tried to prevent them meeting. Then after a year he moves away. He mentions a break up, but it’s all vague. Why did he love her? How many times did they meet? What did they talk about? Did they fight a lot? A couple years later she visits LA. How did he hear about it? Did she call him? Had they been keeping in touch? After that meeting, he proposed. Seriously? Proposed to someone you apparently hadn’t seen in years and had only met in person a couple times? He continues to mention her from time to time but always in a vague and impersonal way. She apparently co-wrote songs with him but he barely mentions it except in passing.
The rest of the book is equally vague.
This story really should have been given to a professional writer, as there is so much there worth hearing about. As it is, it’s a confusing mess. Chapter after chapter I’m constantly wondering what year it is that he’s speaking about. It’s very disjointed.
In the end he gives his life back to Christ but doesn’t talk about anything that happened afterwards. He actually goes back to talking about the party days. It’s very rambling.
The biggest disappointment is his complete lack of any kind of description behind the famous songs that he wrote.
He mentions meeting a woman ( 15 year old girl) and falling in love with her but never says why. He gives no details about her. He mentions moving to the other side of the world to pursue her but tells nothing of what he did once he got there. How did he pursue her? He doesn’t mention the agony of being unable to see her, the joy of secret phone calls, the dreams and promises. Nothing. An entire chapter about moving to another country to pursue this girl and we still hear nothing about her. Just that her parents tried to prevent them meeting. Then after a year he moves away. He mentions a break up, but it’s all vague. Why did he love her? How many times did they meet? What did they talk about? Did they fight a lot? A couple years later she visits LA. How did he hear about it? Did she call him? Had they been keeping in touch? After that meeting, he proposed. Seriously? Proposed to someone you apparently hadn’t seen in years and had only met in person a couple times? He continues to mention her from time to time but always in a vague and impersonal way. She apparently co-wrote songs with him but he barely mentions it except in passing.
The rest of the book is equally vague.
This story really should have been given to a professional writer, as there is so much there worth hearing about. As it is, it’s a confusing mess. Chapter after chapter I’m constantly wondering what year it is that he’s speaking about. It’s very disjointed.
In the end he gives his life back to Christ but doesn’t talk about anything that happened afterwards. He actually goes back to talking about the party days. It’s very rambling.
The biggest disappointment is his complete lack of any kind of description behind the famous songs that he wrote.
April 6, 2020
Thumbs up
Good read. I enjoyed Dan Peeks memoir and have a better idea what happened to a band that I grew up with. Their debut album and a few of their subsequent singles were part of the soundtrack to my adolescence.
Good read. I enjoyed Dan Peeks memoir and have a better idea what happened to a band that I grew up with. Their debut album and a few of their subsequent singles were part of the soundtrack to my adolescence.
July 13, 2024
Poorly written, but very interesting.
It seemed like the author was just rambling, pouring his memories into a tape recorder to be transcribed by someone else into this book. But if you love the band, America, you can plow through the poor writing and enjoy the band’s story.
It seemed like the author was just rambling, pouring his memories into a tape recorder to be transcribed by someone else into this book. But if you love the band, America, you can plow through the poor writing and enjoy the band’s story.
June 16, 2020
Easy read, but a little disconnected toward the end
December 21, 2025
Felt real.
Just saw them in concert, just one member still performing, but loved it.
Just saw them in concert, just one member still performing, but loved it.
July 30, 2022
Skip this book.
America was the band I grew up. Hearing the early hits as a kid of the 70’s. The three musketeers broke up by the time of the 1980’s. I remember You Can Do Magic with Beckley and Bunnell as a teen of the 80’s. I’ve loved all of their music past and present.
Mr. Peek’s biography of the band deals with the price of fame, drugs, interpersonal relationships in the band, his marriage and faith.
A lot of the book was the airing of dirty laundry between himself and Gerry, his drug use, wife, and new found faith.You can read better articles about the band on the internet. The book was a personal view that was very biased. It also needed a better editor to give the author some guidelines. What he made public was personal in the dynamics of the band. I think by the time the band became a duo and this book came out, the chances of a reunion were zero.
Luckily for fans we still have America still touring.
We also have Mr. Peek’s music and talent from those formative years as well. I prefer to remember him that way.
America was the band I grew up. Hearing the early hits as a kid of the 70’s. The three musketeers broke up by the time of the 1980’s. I remember You Can Do Magic with Beckley and Bunnell as a teen of the 80’s. I’ve loved all of their music past and present.
Mr. Peek’s biography of the band deals with the price of fame, drugs, interpersonal relationships in the band, his marriage and faith.
A lot of the book was the airing of dirty laundry between himself and Gerry, his drug use, wife, and new found faith.You can read better articles about the band on the internet. The book was a personal view that was very biased. It also needed a better editor to give the author some guidelines. What he made public was personal in the dynamics of the band. I think by the time the band became a duo and this book came out, the chances of a reunion were zero.
Luckily for fans we still have America still touring.
We also have Mr. Peek’s music and talent from those formative years as well. I prefer to remember him that way.
August 18, 2014
I really enjoyed this book, both as a longtime fan of America and as autobiography. As a good one does, you get a very interesting picture of Dan. You can tell he is fun, energetic, loveable, and probably a big pain in the butt. He write in short sentences with many grammatical errors, yet you can tell he is worldly smart in many ways. A fun, eye opening book. Perhaps the most interesting thing about it is the insight into not only the band members but others such as David Geffen, Cat Stevens, Joe Walsh, Joni Mitchell, the Beatles, Rod Stewart, and others.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews