Editing America (band) (section)

===George Martin years (1974–1979)===
After the disappointing commercial performance of ''Hat Trick'', America chose to enlist an outside producer for their next album. They were able to secure the services of producer [[George Martin]] and recording engineer [[Geoff Emerick]], who played a major role in shaping the sound of [[the Beatles]]. Sessions took place at [[AIR Studios]] in London.

The resulting album, ''[[Holiday (America album)|Holiday]]'', was released in June 1974 (by this time the group had consciously begun naming their albums with titles starting with the letter ''H''). With Martin's guidance, the album's style was very different from America's first three efforts, as he enhanced America's acoustic sound with strings and brass.

During the summer/fall of 1974, bassist [[Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuels]] (formerly of [[Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young]] and [[Manassas (band)|Manassas]]) was called to fill in for Dickey, who had come to Europe but then flown home inadvertently. Samuels played some shows and also appeared live with the group on the German TV program ''[[Musikladen]]'' on November 13, 1974.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/2021/03/america-musikladen-bremen-germany-11-13.html | title=Albums That Should Exist: America - Musikladen, Bremen, Germany, 11-13-1974 | date=3 March 2021}}</ref>

The trio soon found themselves in the top 10 once again with the first single from ''Holiday'', the Bunnell-penned "[[Tin Man (America song)|Tin Man]]", which reached number four, featuring cryptic lyrics set to a ''[[The Wonderful Wizard of Oz|Wizard of Oz]]'' theme. "[[Lonely People]]" (written by Peek<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20111130184723/http://www.ascap.com/ace/search.cfm?requesttimeout=300&mode=results&searchstr=420182869&search_in=i&search_type=exact&search_det=tswpbv&results_pp=30&start=1 "Lonely People" compositional info], ASCAP. Retrieved 31 August 2011.</ref>) followed ''Tin Man'' into the top 10 in early 1975, becoming Dan Peek's only credited song to reach that high on Billboard, peaking at number five.<ref name="Billboard"/>

Martin worked with the trio again for their next LP, ''[[Hearts (America album)|Hearts]]'', recorded in [[Sausalito, California]], and released in March 1975. America scored its second chart-topping success with Beckley's "[[Sister Golden Hair]]" in mid-1975, a song that featured a memorable opening guitar riff admittedly inspired by [[George Harrison]]'s "[[My Sweet Lord]]" and frank relationship lyrics inspired by [[Jackson Browne]].<ref name="Revisited">Corbett, John (29 May 2004). [http://www.accessbackstage.com/america/hist03.htm America Revisited – Part 3], AccessBackstage.com.</ref> The follow-up single, Beckley's ballad "Daisy Jane", also scored among the top 20 shortly after.<ref name="Billboard"/> Peek's [[reggae]]-influenced ''Woman Tonight'' was a third success (No.&nbsp;44 in the US) from the album towards the end of the year.<ref name="Billboard"/>

Warner Bros. released a compilation of America's best-known tracks in December 1975, ''[[History: America's Greatest Hits]]'', which went platinum. Martin, who produced the album, also remixed the tracks culled from the group's first three albums.<ref name="Revisited"/>
[[File:America US music group 1976.JPG|thumb|America in 1976. From left: [[Gerry Beckley]], [[Dan Peek]], [[Dewey Bunnell]]]]
During early 1976, the group recorded its sixth studio album at [[Caribou Ranch]] near [[Nederland, Colorado]], inspiring the album's title, ''[[Hideaway (America album)|Hideaway]]'', which Martin produced. Released in April 1976, the album's two singles, "[[Today's the Day (America song)|Today's the Day]]" and "[[Amber Cascades]]", managed to reach Nos.&nbsp;23 and 75, respectively, on the ''Billboard'' pop chart.<ref name="Billboard">[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=america|chart=all}} America chart history], Billboard.com. Retrieved 30 August 2011.</ref> The two singles hit number one and 17, respectively, on the ''Billboard'' adult contemporary chart. Songs such as "Jet Boy Blue" and "Don't Let It Get You Down" were programmed on FM stations.

Martin's implementation of more complex instrumentation on America's albums proved somewhat overwhelming to the band on stage, often compelling them to switch from instrument to instrument during songs.<ref name="Revisited"/> For their 1976 tour, the group expanded their stage line-up to include Jim Calire on keyboards and sax and Tom Walsh on percussion, so they could more comfortably perform Martin's arrangements.<ref name="Revisited"/>

Martin and the trio went to Hawaii during late 1976 to work on the group's seventh studio album, which was recorded in a beach house on the island of [[Kauai]]. The album, ''[[Harbor (America album)|Harbor]]'', released in February 1977, continued the trend of decreasing sales for the group. It was their first album to fail to score either platinum or gold, and none of its three singles charted.

In May 1977 Dan Peek left the band. In his 2004 autobiography, ''An American Band'', Peek states that he was voted out after missing a tour rehearsal but Bunnell later denied this was the case, saying that the decision to leave had been Peek's, after he recently had [[born-again Christian|renewed]] his Christian faith following years of [[recreational drug use]] and had begun to seek a different artistic direction from Beckley or Bunnell. Nevertheless, Peek goes on to say in his book that he takes full blame for the group's fracturing.

Peek contracted with [[Pat Boone]]'s [[Lamb & Lion Records]] and issued his first solo album, ''[[All Things Are Possible (Dan Peek album)|All Things Are Possible]]'', in 1978. The album, produced by [[Chris Christian]], was successful and Peek became a pioneering artist in the emerging Christian popular music genre. The title track entered the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' pop charts]] in early 1979, peaking at No.&nbsp;78.<ref>[{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=dan peek|chart=all}} "All Things Are Possible" chart history], Billboard.com. Retrieved 31 August 2011.</ref>

Meanwhile, Beckley and Bunnell decided to continue as America, ending their contract with Warner Bros. with the release of their first concert LP, ''[[Live (America album)|Live]]'', during October 1977. Recorded at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, the performance featured a backing orchestra conducted by [[Elmer Bernstein]]. The concert was recorded shortly after Peek left the group. The album was only mildly successful on the popular charts; whereas all of their previous albums, even ''Harbor'', had at least made the top 30, ''Live'' just barely made it onto the album chart, peaking at No.&nbsp;129.<ref name="album charts">{{cite web|author=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/america-p3538/charts-awards |title=America &#124; Awards |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=26 August 2015}}</ref>