–CO-FOUNDING MEMBER OF LEGENDARY ROCK BAND AMERICA–
ANNOUNCES SOLO ALBUM
‘CAROUSEL’
SET FOR RELEASE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
VIA BLUE ÉLAN RECORDS
GERRY BECKLEY–co-founding member of the legendary Grammy Award-winning rock band America–will release a solo album CAROUSELFriday, September 9 via the Los Angeles-based indie label Blue Élan Records. Recorded at his Los Angeles studio Human Nature, the shimmering 12-track album plays to all of BECKLEY‘s strengths; the singer, songwriter and musician played most instruments on the album.
“With a solo project I’m really a committee of one,” says BECKLEY. “There’s only myself to please. Having said that, it’s not always easy. Each project is a snapshot in time. The material on Carousel came from a wide scope of inspiration.”
CAROUSEL contains original standouts such as the deeply personal “Lifeline,” “No Way I’m Gonna Lose You” (co-written with Dan Wilson who won an award for his work with Adele) and “Tokyo,” of which BECKLEY says: “The song actually came to me while I was waiting to board a flight home from Japan. I seem to remember I lost track of time and almost missed the flight.” There are also three covers on which BECKLEY puts his distinctive spin: Spirit’s “Nature’s Way,” Gerry Rafferty’s “To Each and Everyone” and Gerry and The Pacemakers’ “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying.”
“I’ve fortunately never been short on inspiration for my original material but I do love to record a cover every so often,” says BECKLEY. “These three are of course from my long list of fave songs. I’ve been singing ‘Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying’ virtually since it came out in the 60’s for example. The Gerry Rafferty song is from his first solo album Can I Have My Money Back?–I love the entire album. It was recorded between the breakup of The Humblebums, his first duo, and his later Steelers Wheel stuff.”
Meanwhile, America will be touring throughout the summer and fall. Click here for more information on tour dates and where to purchase tickets.
TRACK LISTING FOR CAROUSEL:
1 “Tokyo”
2 “Nature’s Way”
3 “Minutes Count”
4 “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying”
5 “Lifeline”
6 “Widows Weeds”
7 “No Way I’m Gonna Lose You”
8 “Once A Distant Heart”
9 “To Each And Everyone”
10 “Fly”
11 “Serious”
12 “Carousel”
ABOUT GERRY BECKLEY:
Gerry Beckley is a co-founding member of the rock band America who recently released the albums Lost & Found (2015) and Back Pages (2011) which hit #1 on the Amazon chart. Born in Fort Worth, Texas on September 12, 1952 to an American father and an English mother. He began playing the piano at age 3 and the guitar a few years later. By 1962 he was playing guitar in The Vanguards an instrumental surf music band in Virginia. He spent every summer in England and soon discovered British invasion music. In 1967 Beckley’s father became the commander at the U.S. Air Force Base at West Ruislip, near London. Gerry attended Central High School in Hartfordshire where he played in various school bands and met his soon to be band members, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek. Gerry has worked with a wide variety of musicians on many projects. One of the most notable is the recording Like a Brother done with Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys and Robert Lamm of Chicago. Beckley-Lamm-Wilson released Like a Brother in 2001.
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