Homecoming (America album)

Homecoming is the second studio album by America, released on November 15, 1972 through Warner Bros. Records. Acoustic guitar-based, with a more pronounced electric guitar and keyboard section than their first album, their second effort helped continue the band's success, and includes one of their best known hits, "Ventura Highway."

Homecoming
Studio album by America
Released	November 15, 1972
Recorded	1972
Studio	The Record Plant, Los Angeles[1]
Genre	Folk rock
Length	33:06
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	America
America chronology
America (1971) Homecoming (1972) Hat Trick (1973)
Singles from Homecoming
"Ventura Highway"/"Saturn Nights" Released: September 19, 1972 "Don't Cross the River"/"To Each His Own" Released: January 3, 1973 "Only in Your Heart"/"Moon Song" Released: April 14, 1973

Homecoming peaked at number 9 on Billboard's Pop Albums Chart and was certified platinum by the RIAA. It produced three hit singles: "Ventura Highway", which peaked at number 8 on the Billboard singles chart and number 3 on the adult contemporary chart; "Don't Cross the River", which hit number 35 on Billboard and 23 on the AC chart; and "Only in Your Heart" peaked at number 62 on Billboard's Pop singles chart. Several other songs received radio airplay on FM stations playing album tracks, including "To Each His Own", "California Revisited", and "Cornwall Blank".

For this album and the next six throughout the next five years, the group traditionally chose titles beginning with the letter "H" (the self-titled debut album became unofficially included in this distinction when fans started referring to it as the "Horse with No Name" album when that track was added to later pressings).

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]

In his AllMusic review music critic David Cleary called Homecoming "America's finest album" and despite citing sometimes banal lyrics, wrote that "each song here has something to recommend it. This top-flight album is a very rewarding listen."[2]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Ventura Highway"	Dewey Bunnell	3:32
2.	"To Each His Own"	Gerry Beckley	3:13
3.	"Don't Cross the River"	Dan Peek	2:30
4.	"Moon Song"	Bunnell	3:41
5.	"Only in Your Heart"	Beckley	3:16
6.	"Till the Sun Comes Up Again"	Beckley	2:12
7.	"Cornwall Blank"	Bunnell	4:19
8.	"Head and Heart"	John Martyn	3:49
9.	"California Revisited"	Peek	3:03
10.	"Saturn Nights"	Peek	3:31

Personnel

America

• Dan Peek – guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Gerry Beckley – guitar, keyboards, vocals, bass guitar on "Till the Sun Comes Up Again" and "Head and Heart"
• Dewey Bunnell – guitar, vocals, percussion on "Head & Heart"

with:

• Joe Osborn – bass guitar
• Hal Blaine – drums, percussion
• Gary Mallaber – drums and percussion on "Till the Sun Comes Up Again"

Technical

• Gary Burden – art direction, design
• Henry Diltz – photography, banjo on "Don't Cross the River"
• Bill Halverson – engineer
• Lee Herschberg – mastering
• Chuck Leary – engineering assistance
• Mike D. Stone of the Record Plant – engineering
• Yoshiro Nagato - liner notes

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Peak position
1972	US	9
	AUS	17
	UK	21

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1972	"Ventura Highway"	US[3]	8
		US AC	3
		AUS	28
		UK	43
1973	"Don't Cross the River"	US[4]	35
		US AC	23
		AUS	94
	"Only in Your Heart"	US[4]	62

References

1. http://www.accessbackstage.com/america/album/album30a.htm
2. Cleary, David. Homecoming > Review at AllMusic. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
3. "America : Allmusic : Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
4. Whitburn, Joel (2015). The Comparison Book Billboard/Cash Box/Record World 1954-1982. Sheridan Books. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-89820-213-7.