A Horse with No Name
| "A Horse with No Name" | |||||||||
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| Single by America | |||||||||
| from the album America | |||||||||
| B-side | "Everyone I Meet Is from California" (Dan Peek) (US); "Sandman" (Dewey Bunnell) (AUS, UK) | ||||||||
| Released | 1971 (Europe) January 31, 1972 (US) |
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| Format | Vinyl record | ||||||||
| Recorded | 1971, Morgan Studios | ||||||||
| Genre | Soft rock | ||||||||
| Length | 4:08 | ||||||||
| Label | Warner Brothers | ||||||||
| Writer(s) | Dewey Bunnell | ||||||||
| Producer(s) | Ian Samwell | ||||||||
| America singles chronology | |||||||||
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"A Horse with No Name" is a song written by Dewey Bunnell, and originally recorded by the band America. It was the band's first and most successful single, released in late 1971 in Europe and early 1972 in the US, and topping the charts in several countries. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
America's self-titled debut album was released initially in Europe, without "A Horse with No Name," and achieved only moderate success. Originally called "Desert Song", "Horse" was written while the band was staying at the home studio of Arthur Brown (a different person from the British singer), in Puddletown, Dorset. The first two demos were recorded there, by Jeff Dexter and Dennis Elliott, and were intended to capture the feel of the hot, dry desert that had been depicted at the studio from a Salvador Dalí painting, and the strange horse that had ridden out of an M.C. Escher picture. Writer Dewey Bunnell also says he remembered his childhood travels through the Arizona and New Mexico desert when his family lived at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Trying to find a song that would be popular in both the United States and Europe, Warner Bros. was reticent about releasing Beckley's "I Need You" ballad as the first single from America. The label asked the band if they had any other material, then arranged for them to record four more songs at Morgan Studios, Willesden in London. "A Horse with No Name" was released as the featured song on a three-track single in the UK, Ireland, France, Italy and the Netherlands in late 1971. On the release "A Horse with No Name" shared the A-side with "Everyone I Meet Is from California"; "Sandman" featured on the B-side. However, its early-1972 two-track US release did not include "Sandman", with "Everyone I Meet Is from California" appearing on the B-side.
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