Gerry Beckley has been producing quality melody-filled music for over 50 years, largely with iconic band America. Songs such as ‘Horse with no Name ‘, ‘Sister Golden Hair’, and ‘You can Do Magic’ and many others have become classics and radio staples.
While still touring, the band has sadly not recorded since 2007’s rather splendid ‘Here and Now’, and it has been left in Gerry’s talented hands to keep fans happy with new material. That he has done with some aplomb with 7 solo albums under his belt. Last year’s collection, ‘Keeping the Light On’, sought to capture the best of that work.
In the new album, ‘Aurora’, Gerry takes the opportunity to move forward, whilst also paying homage to his heroes and influences, which he wears on his sleeve. The three Bs are often cited by the artist as having a big influence on his, (and America’s) sound. The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and The Bee Gees.
But it is so much more than that. It is a lovingly crafted album, that bears repeated plays. Recorded during the pandemic, Gerry plays most of the instruments himself. Perhaps because of the timing, the songs are both reflective of the past and forward-looking at fresh challenges
‘Friends are Hard to Find’ suggests that the quality of true friendship, is something to revere, having spent 2 years isolating from each other:
If I should stumble, if I should fall,
If I should find my back, against the wall,
There is no doubt about, who I would call
Because friends are hard to find
The title track, ‘Aurora’, is a sweeping and engaging love song that manages to stay on the right side of sentimentality, and is a gentle introduction to an album whose strength lies in great melodies and a changing soundscape.
Gerry and bandmate Dewey Bunnell have one of the longest partnerships in music, and fans of the band will be delighted to hear the two working together on ‘Ticket to The Past’, their first studio collaboration in 15 years. The contrast of the voices works its old magic on a standout track. Unfortunately, this looks like the closest we will get to a new America album, at least for the time being.
Gerry has always had a way with a melody, and under his own name, he has allowed himself to play with the music, more so than on a band record. It’s a work that has allowed him to reflect on issues past and present and present a positive outlook on the future.
Ballads have always been a given on his albums, and ‘I Fall Down’ the title track, ‘Aurora’, and in particular ‘Tears’ are worthy additions to a growing catalogue of great tunes with an emotional weight and resonance to them.
It takes a special artist to make such meticulously crafted songs, that sound so simple, yet compelling.
Gerry Beckley will always be seen as an essential part of America, a group who were one of the pioneers of soft rock, yet solo album after solo album, he has created his own little library of outstanding music under his own name.
This album follows his rather fine ‘Five Mile Road’, one of my favourite albums of 2019, and really deserves to get Gerry the recognition he merits, as a stellar singer-songwriter in his own right.