TERRY HOKNES - MY FAVORITE SONGS OF ALL TIME !  hoknes@hotmail.com   

2181

TERRY HOKNES

CHANGING LANES

2001

2182

SARA EVANS

BORN TO FLY

2000

2183

PAUL McCARTNEY

MOMMA MISS AMERICA

1970

2184

SHANIA TWAIN

WHAT A WAY TO WANNA BE

2002

2185

SLADE

GUDBUY T'JANE

1973

2186

HENRY MANCINI

TOOTY TWIST

1962

2187

STRAWBS

CHARMER

1976

2188

SUPER DUPERS

GREEN HORNET

1966

2189

TIFFANY

FEELINGS OF FOREVER

1987

2190

URIAH HEEP

THE SPELL

1972

2191

ZAGER AND EVANS

MISTER TURNKEY

1970

2192

YES

EVERLY LITTLE THING

1969

2193

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

HOSANNA

1970

2194

URIAH HEEP

STEALIN'

1972

2195

TOMORROWS KEEPSAKE

EAT YOUR HOT DOG BOY

1969

2196

TEEGARDEN & VANWINKLE

GOD LOVE AND ROCK AND ROLL

1970

2197

ELTON JOHN

YOUR SONG

1971

2198

YES

ROUNDABOUT

1972

2199

DOOBIE BROTHERS

CHINA GROVE

1973

2200

AMERICA

HERE

1971
    TERRY HOKNES - CHANGING LANES (2001) Opus #534 - written in 1990 at age 19

As the new century began a new chapter in songwriting where the focus was more on recording polished songs but writing way less and very sporadic.    I had written 500 songs by the age of 19 and had hit 1000 songs by the age of 25.  But since then I can go over a year at a time without writing a song but really focusing in most cases on a more commercial type of polished song however I still venture into all possible genres.  I continue to play and sing every part on all my songs and recordings.

I hired Neil Meckelborg of Audio Art to record my songs in 2001.  We started out recording a full album at their location downtown behind the Bus depot but eventually worked on recordings at Neil's private studio.  In total we recorded 3 full albums of material of my songs and a full length album of songs I wrote with Marilyn Parney that I produced.  Neil and I also worked on a Trooper hit song karaoke CD in 2001.  I spent 18 months recording with Neil and over 40 songs and over $10,000.00 in studio bills I paid at that time to record the best quality audio ever on my songs.  Neil had used Sonar Cakewalk so I learned how to use it and have used that now for a decade in my own studio.
    SARA EVANS - BORN TO FLY (2000) hit #34 (#1 country)
Born to Fly" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by American country artist Sara Evans. The song was released in June 2000, and served as the lead-off single to her third studio album, Born to Fly. It became Evans' second Number One hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in January 2001.

"Born to Fly" is an up tempo country song, co-written by Sara Evans with Marcus Hummon and Darrell Scott, that is backed primarily with fiddles. The song's narrator is portrayed as a person wanting to expand their horizons and dreams of being somebody, who is tired of being stuck in the same place, and wants to get out. The song makes analogies to a bird spreading its wings and flying to its new destination.

The album version features a long instrumental outro for the song.

The music video shows Evans portraying Dorothy, the main character from The Wizard of Oz motion picture. The video features many of the same story elements as the movie, such as a tornado, a wicked witch, and a little black dog. The video earned the Country Music Association Video of the Year award in 2001, Evans' first (and only as of 2011).

The music video was ranked #34 on CMT's 100 Greatest Videos.

"Born to Fly" debuted at number 59 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of July 1, 2000.

Sara Lynn Evans (born February 5, 1971) is an American country singer and songwriter. For her entire career, she has been signed to RCA Records Nashville.
    PAUL McCARTNEY - MOMMA MISS AMERICA (1970)

Album:  McCartney (1970)

I probably had this album by 1983 at age 12.  I have owned a lot of copies of this album in every possible format.   I have been recording albums my entire life playing all the instruments as a one man project.

June 24th 1989 - my #5 favorite daily song for 3 days at age 18 celebrating Paul's 47th birthday

McCartney (1970) is the debut solo album by Paul McCartney. Apart from Linda McCartney's vocal contributions, McCartney performed (and recorded) the entire album solo. Featuring loosely arranged (and in some cases, unfinished) home recordings, McCartney further explored the "back-to-basics" style which had been intended for The Beatles' Let It Be. The album was reissued on 13 June 2011 as part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection.

McCartney shot to number 1 in the United States for three weeks, eventually going double platinum. This was despite the fact that it had neither an accompanying single released nor a video clip or tour to promote it, and that critical reaction was far from positive. In the United Kingdom, it was only denied the top spot by the best-selling album of 1970, Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water, which stayed at number 1 for 33 (non-consecutive) weeks. There, McCartney debuted straight at number 2, where it remained for three weeks.

The album was widely criticised for its "homespun" approach and "half-written" songs, the UK's rock bible Melody Maker declaring that "With this record, his debt to [Beatles producer] George Martin becomes increasingly clear"; the reviewer found "sheer banality" in all the tracks save for "Maybe I'm Amazed" Shortly after the album's release, George Harrison described the same song and "That Would Be Something" as "great", but the rest, he said, "just don't do anything for me".

 

 

    SHANIA TWAIN - WHAT A WAY TO WANNA BE (2002)

Album:  Up (2002)

I became a fan of Shania from the day she released her first country single in Canada in Summer 1993 when I was 22.    When she hit superstardom in 1995 I became a Shania fanatic for the next 10 years.  Eventually I had 10 T-shirts and a poster shrine in my office at Eastview and had 3 copies each of all her CD's.    I have seen her live in concert 5 times including:  Canadian Country Music Awards Calgary 1998 and all 4 shows she did in Saskatoon, SK at SaskPlace on June 4th 1998 (her 3rd live show ever!), March 29th 1999, June 9th 2004 and June 11th 2004 (I had front row seat).   She released her 4th CD Up on November 18th 2002 and I bought 62 copies at A&B Warehouse the day it came out as pre-sells that I sold on ebay.  Performing on the road with Marilyn we listened to the Up CD everyday on the road for 10 months. 

December 29th 2002 - my #3 favorite daily song for 73 days at age 31 including Christmas and my 32nd birthday while on the road with Marilyn now for 9 years and living in Dalmeny, SK and selling on ebay now for 4.5 years.

Up! is the fourth studio album released in 2002 by Canadian singer Shania Twain. Three versions of the album were released: a pop version (red disc), a country version (green disc), and an international version (blue disc) in the style of Indian music; all three discs contain exactly the same track listing and feature distinctly identifiable picture labels (for example, Shania sports a cowboy hat on the green country disc.) In the U.S., Up! debuted at #1 with sales of 874,000 copies. On September 23, 2004, the RIAA certified Up! at 11× Platinum, giving her the distinction of being the only female artist to have three consecutive Diamond albums released in the United States. As of 2011, Up! has sold 5.5 million copies in the U.S and 20 million copies worldwide.
    SLADE - GUDBUY T'JANE (1973)

I first heard Slade's early hits when I got the record compilation Slade's Greatest in 1984 at age 13 after they made a breakthrough at that time in North America.

Gudbuy T' Jane" is a hit single from glam rock band Slade released in 1972. It was written by lead singer Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea and appeared on their album Slayed?. The single peaked at #2 in the UK, losing the number one spot to Chuck Berry's single My Ding-A-Ling] It did however, peak at #1 in the New Musical Express charts. Slade's two previous singles had charted at #1 in the UK. The single lasted 13 weeks in the top 100. It stayed in the top 10 from the moment it was released for 8 weeks. The single was also the most successful of Slade's 1970's singles in the United States, peaking at #68. It wouldn't be until 1983 when Slade's single My Oh My would beat that position.

The single peaked at #1 on the NME singles chart.   The single was awarded a UK Silver Disc in early 1973.  The single peaked at #209 for 1972 on rateyourmusic.

In 1981, drummer Don Powell was asked in a fan club interview for his three favourite Slade songs. Powell stated "Far Far Away", "Standin' on the Corner" and "Gudbuy T'Jane" as his favourites
    HENRY MANCINI - TOOTY TWIST (1962)

Album:  Experiment In Terror (Soundtrack) (1962)

One of my all time favorite instrumental / soundtrack albums.  I knew this album for years before I actually watched the movie for the first time which is worth seeing.

Enrico Nicola "Henry" Mancini (April 16, 1924 – June 14, 1994) was an American composer, conductor and arranger, best remembered for his film and television scores. He won a record number of Grammy Awards, plus a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. His best-known works include the jazz-idiom theme to The Pink Panther film series ("The Pink Panther Theme") and the theme to the Peter Gunn television series. Mancini had a long collaboration with the film director Blake Edwards and won numerous Academy Awards for the songs in Edwards films including "Moon River" from Breakfast at Tiffany's, "Days of Wine and Roses" and for the score to Victor Victoria.

Experiment in Terror is a 1962 suspense-thriller released by Columbia Pictures. It was directed by Blake Edwards and written by Mildred Gordon and Gordon Gordon based on their 1961 novel Operation Terror. The film stars Glenn Ford, Lee Remick, Stefanie Powers and Ross Martin.

A psychotic killer, Garland "Red" Lynch, uses a campaign of terror to force San Francisco bank teller Kelly Sherwood to steal $100,000 from the bank for him. Despite his threat to kill her or her teenaged sister Toby if she goes to the police, Sherwood contacts the San Francisco office of the FBI, where agent John Ripley takes charge of the case.
    THE STRAWBS -  CHARMER (1976)

Album:  Deep Cuts (1976)

I became a fan of The Strawbs in December 1984 at age 13 after borrowing The Best Of Strawbs cassette tape from the JS Wood Library due to their connection to my favorite band at the time Yes which they both shared keyboardist Rick Wakeman.  The Strawbs would be one of the most important groups to me from 1984 to 1991 in my teenage years.    I bought this album used possibly around 1985 at age 14.

Strawbs (or The Strawbs) are an English rock band founded in 1964. Although the band started out as a bluegrass group they eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock, glam rock and progressive rock. They are best known for their hit Part of the Union, which reached number two in the UK charts in February 1973, and for touring with Supertramp in their Crime of the Century Tour, doing their Hero and Heroine Tour, which drew musical similarities and themes    
    THE SUPER DUPERS - THE GREEN HORNET (1966)

Album:  The Super Duper Record Of Super Heroes (1966)

I bought this album in about 1979 at a flea market at John Lake School when I was in about Grade 3.  This might be possibly the first record album I ever listened to and learned actual rock songs.  I have always loved this entire album.  I never knew what the album cover looked like as I never saw until 30 years later.   

May 10th 1989 - my #4 favorite daily song for 7 days at age 18 the year after graduating high school.

The Super Dupers produced by Leon Russell. The band is a group of unnamed studio musicians that cam up with campy theme songs for a bunch of familiar superheroes and popular themes.  Garage rock superhero original rock songs. 

Super Dupers, The‎– The Super Duper Record Of Super Heroes  

Label:  Design Records (2) – SDLP-257   Genre:  Funk / Soul, Rock    Style:  Garage Rock, Soul
A1   Batman & Robin  
A2   The Phantom  
A3   The Shadow  
A4   Flash Gordon  
B1   March Of Tarzan  
B2   Captain Marvel Jones  
B3   Mickey Mouse March  
B4   The Green Hornet
 
    TIFFANY - FEELINGS OF FOREVER (1987)

Album:  Tiffany (1987)

Valerie and I went to see Tiffany in concert in April 2011 in New York City and filmed part of the show.

Tiffany Renee Darwish (born October 2, 1971), known popularly as Tiffany, is an American singer and former teen icon. She is most notable for her 1987 remake of "I Think We're Alone Now", originally recorded by Tommy James and the Shondells in 1967. Released as the second single from her eponymous album, Tiffany, the song quickly became a teen anthem. Thanks to an original mall tour, "The Beautiful You: Celebrating The Good Life Shopping Mall Tour '87", Tiffany became a pop sensation; both the single and the album peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 charts, respectively. The singles, "Could've Been" and "I Saw Him Standing There", a feminine cover version of The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There", followed soon after, with the former also claiming the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100.
 

Tiffany is the eponymous debut album by American pop singer Tiffany, released in May 1987. Tiffany had begun working with manager/producer George Tobin several years earlier, with some of the tracks recorded as early as when she was 12 years old, in 1984.   As a novel means of promoting the album and artist, Tiffany was sent on a "shopping mall tour" which was called "The Beautiful You: Celebrating The Good Life Shopping Mall Tour '87". Tiffany's tour included performances in various malls across the United States, at first to small, indifferent audiences, but by the end to large crowds as her fame grew

 
    URIAH HEEP - THE SPELL (1972)

Album: Demons And Wizards (1972)

Uriah Heep is my all time favorite heavy metal group and I consider them to be the last of my all time favorite bands to be discovered from 1980-1990.  The lead singer of Uriah Heep since 1986 is Bernie Shaw who is from Saskatoon, SK who actually was in a band with my friend Doug Hergott.

Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and are regarded as one of the seminal hard rock acts of the early 1970s. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always been massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and (in the early years) David Byron's operatic vocals. Twelve of the band's albums have made it to the UK Albums Chart (Return to Fantasy reached No. 7 in 1975) while of the fifteen Billboard 200 Uriah Heep albums Demons and Wizards was the most successful (#23, 1972). In the late 1970s the band had massive success in Germany, where the "Lady in Black" single was a big hit
    ZAGER AND EVANS - MISTER TURNKEY (1970)

Album:  Zager And Evans (1970)

I discovered Zager and Evans through their major #1 song In The Year 2525.  They were one-hit wonders but I had an album by them which did not include that song.  So it turned out to be their 2nd album but wow I just loved it enough that I have boosted the album up my charts at least 3 different years.   This was the 4th of 4 #1 hits Zager And Evans have had on my daily #1 chart.

Zager & Evans was a Lincoln, Nebraska, rock-pop duo of the late 1960s and early 1970s named after its two members, Denny Zager and Rick Evans.  "In the Year 2525", with lyrics by Evans and music by Zager, warned of the dangers of technology, portraying a future in which the human race was destroyed by its own technological and medical innovations. The last stanza of the song suggests mankind undergoes a continuing cycle of birth, death and rebirth.

"In the Year 2525" hit number one on the Hot 100 in 1969. It claimed the #1 spot for six weeks. It also topped the charts in the UK. It was number one on July 20, 1969, in the United States, the date of the first manned moon landing, by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. It continued to top the charts while the Woodstock Festival was going on, forever cementing "2525" in the minds of a generation. It was nominated for a special Hugo Award that same year. It sold over four million copies by 1970 and was awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in July 1969.  RCA thought they were onto the "The Next Big Thing", but follow-up singles, such as "Mr. Turnkey" (a song about a rapist who nails his own wrist to the jail wall as punishment for his crime) went largely unnoticed by the public. "In the Year 2525" was their only Hot 100 entry.
    YES - EVERY LITTLE THING (1969)

Album: Yes (1969)

After dedicating all of 1980-1983 to The Beatles I discovered Yes in 1984 and that year at age 13 bought every single one of their albums due to their new fame with Owner Of A Lonely Heart but it was their 2nd new single Leave It that had my intrigued.  So I learned their first 15 years of material all in 1984 just as I was entering high school.  Yes would quickly become my 2nd favorite band of all time.   I saw Bill Bruford live in concert in 1992 and chatted with him for a moment.  My wife bought tickets to see Yes in 2009 in Toronto but the concert was cancelled due to Jon Anderson's vocal problems.  We flew to New York in 2011 to see Jon Anderson solo in concert.  Members of Yes are my favorite musicians ever including Rick Wakeman, Trevor Rabin, Steve Howe and Chris Squire.   My high school best friend Nels Krauss and I also bonded through our connection of Yes and playing music and we enjoyed jamming on Yes songs in the mid 1980's.  I published a monthly magazine on the history of music from 1988-1992 called Yesterday And Today named after this song and The Beatles album.

Yes is the 1969 eponymous debut album from British progressive rock band Yes, considered among the first progressive rock albums. The original Yes line-up of vocalist Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Peter Banks, keyboardist Tony Kaye, and drummer Bill Bruford remained intact for the album's recording.

Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs often with complex instrumental and vocal arrangements, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets. Seventeen musicians have been a part of the band's line-up, which currently comprises singer Jon Davison, bassist Chris Squire, guitarist Steve Howe, drummer Alan White, and keyboardist Geoff Downes. Yes have sold 13.5 million certified units in the United States
    JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR original cast - HOSANNA (1970)

Album: Jesus Christ Superstar (1970)

I bought this album used in 1985 at age 14 in Grade 9 at Nudon Book Store on Louise/8th Street.  I also got the movie version of the musical on Beta tape official release that year.   I bought the CD on the road with Marilyn while I was in Yellowknife playing at the Golden Range and the record shop was in the mall across the street in November 1993 at age 22.  I barely saw any sunlight the 3 weeks we were there as I woke up in the afternoons when the sun was already going down.

Jesus Christ Superstar is a 1970 rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. The album musical is a musical dramatisation of the last week of the life of Jesus Christ, beginning with his entry into Jerusalem and ending with the Crucifixion. It was originally banned by the BBC on grounds of being "sacrilegious."

The album's story is based in large part on the Synoptic Gospels and Fulton J. Sheen's Life of Christ, which compares and calibrates all four Gospels. However, greater emphasis is placed on the interpersonal relationships of the major characters, in particular, Jesus, Judas and Mary Magdalene, relationships that are not described in depth in the Gospels.

The album reached #1 on the Billboard chart in 1971 and served as a launching pad for numerous stage productions on Broadway and in the West End. The original 1970 boxed-set issue of this 2-record set was packaged in the U.S. with a special thin brown cardboard outer box which contained the 2 vinyl records and a 28-page libretto. It is also the sixth most successful album of all time in Norway, peaking at #3 and staying on the charts for 87 weeks.

 
    URIAH HEEP - STEALIN' (1972)

Album: The Magicians Birthday (1972)

Uriah Heep is my all time favorite heavy metal group and I consider them to be the last of my all time favorite bands to be discovered from 1980-1990.  The lead singer of Uriah Heep since 1986 is Bernie Shaw who is from Saskatoon, SK who actually was in a band with my friend Doug Hergott.

Uriah Heep are an English rock band formed in London in 1969 and are regarded as one of the seminal hard rock acts of the early 1970s. Uriah Heep's progressive/art rock/heavy metal fusion's distinctive features have always been massive keyboards sound, strong vocal harmonies and (in the early years) David Byron's operatic vocals. Twelve of the band's albums have made it to the UK Albums Chart (Return to Fantasy reached No. 7 in 1975) while of the fifteen Billboard 200 Uriah Heep albums Demons and Wizards was the most successful (#23, 1972). In the late 1970s the band had massive success in Germany, where the "Lady in Black" single was a big hit

 
    TOMORROW'S KEEPSAKE - EAT YOUR HOT DOG BOY (1969)

Album: Strictly Canadian (1969) compilation various artists

Unique various artists compilation of unknown groups from across Canada in the 1960's.  My grandparents had this in their home and I started listening to it in 1984 at age 13 on Taylor Street.  This album features all the popular genres of the era.   I made this video for the obscure song for youtube.

This band I believe was from Regina, SK, Canada.

July 20th 1989 - my #10 favorite daily song for 5 days.

 

 
    TEEGARDEN & VANWINKLE - GOD LOVE AND ROCK AND ROLL (1970)
Teegarden & Van Winkle were an American musical duo, composed of Skip Knape (electric organ, organ pedal bass, vocals), and David Teegarden (drums, vocals). Formed in Tulsa, they took their folksy rock to Detroit.

Their single "God, Love and Rock & Roll" peaked at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970. At times they worked with Bob Seger, appearing live at gigs and even producing an album together with Seger and guitarist Michael Bruce (Smokin' O.P.'s, 1972). Smokin' O.P.'s was re-released in 2005. 

In 1972-3, while David toured with Bob Seger, Skip put his own full band together consisting of horns & female vocals. Skip continued to kick bass pedals with his new larger band. Sheila Chambers a/k/a Shea Chambers, Shaun Murphy a/k/a Stoney Reese were vocalists singing together and separately, in Skip's band, as well as a pre-RCA Victor recording artist Dan Schafer on guitar and vocals with Jim Langois on drums, Dave Heater on sax & Jack Muncie on trumpet.

In the early 90s, former Doors guitarist Robbie Krieger formed a trio called the 'Robby Krieger Organization' featuring Skip on electric organ,organ pedal bass and Dale Alexander on drums & backing vocals.  The Teegarden & Van Winkle duo reunited for another album, Radioactive, in 1997.
    ELTON JOHN - YOUR SONG (1971) hit #10
Your Song" is a ballad composed and performed by English musician Elton John with lyrics by his longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin. It appeared on John's self-titled second album in 1970.

The song was released in the United States in October 1970 as the B-side to "Take Me to the Pilot". Both received airplay, but "Your Song" was preferred by disc jockeys and replaced "Take Me to the Pilot" as the A-side, eventually making the top ten on both the UK and US charts.

In 2004 the song was placed at number 136 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

"Your Song" is a soft blend of two different styles: folk and jazz: "I hope you don't mind / I hope you don't mind / That I've put down in words / How wonderful life is while you're in the world." The instrumental focus is on John's Leon Russell-influenced piano work, along with acoustic guitar, Paul Buckmaster's string accompaniment, and a shuffling rhythm section.

"Your Song" was praised by critics upon its release and in subsequent years. Bill Janovitz from Allmusic described it as a "near-perfect song". In a 1975 interview with Rolling Stone, John Lennon recalled, "I remember hearing Elton John's 'Your Song,' heard it in America—it was one of Elton's first big hits—and remember thinking, 'Great, that's the first new thing that's happened since we (The Beatles) happened.' It was a step forward. There was something about his vocal that was an improvement on all of the English vocals until then. I was pleased with it." John Mendelsohn from Rolling Stone called the song a "pretty McCartney-esque ballad".
    YES - ROUNDABOUT (1972) hit #13
Roundabout" is the opening track for the 1971 album Fragile by British progressive rock band Yes. The song was written by singer Jon Anderson and guitarist Steve Howe. In January 1972, an edited version of the song was released as a single with "Long Distance Runaround" on the B-side. "Roundabout" has become one of the best-known songs by Yes. Live versions of the song are found on the albums Yessongs (1973), Classic Yes (1981), Keys to Ascension (1996), House of Yes: Live from House of Blues (2000), and Live at Montreux 2003 (2007). The Yessongs version was released as a single in 1974. An acoustic arrangement of "Roundabout" was recorded for The Ultimate Yes: 35th Anniversary Collection, released in 2003.

With its #13 peak on the Billboard Hot 100, "Roundabout" ranks as the second highest charting US single for Yes, after their 1983 #1 hit "Owner of a Lonely Heart". The single version was edited down to 3:27 for American pop radio airplay, although many stations played the full version of the song. "Roundabout" peaked at #23 on the Dutch Top 40.

Anderson has said the lyrics to the song were inspired by a long tour van ride from northern Scotland to north England, which featured many traffic-clogged roundabouts along with mountain and lake scenery.

On the commentary track for the DVD release of School of Rock (2003), actor Jack Black states that the solo is his personal favourite keyboard solo. "Roundabout" was also used in the 1999 film Outside Providence as it is heard through a sequence of two scenes.

"Roundabout" is a playable track in the music game Rock Band 3, where it is the hardest song for Keys, Pro Guitar, and Band.   "Roundabout" was used as the first song in Episode 20, Season 2 of the TV Series Fringe.
    THE DOOBIE BROTHERS - CHINA GROVE (1973) hit #15
China Grove" is a song from The Doobie Brothers' 1973 album The Captain and Me. It was written by original lead singer Tom Johnston, before he fell ill in 1975 and was replaced by Michael McDonald. The song is based on a real town in Texas with the same name. The connection is obvious given its real-life proximity to San Antonio, which is referenced in the lyrics. However, the rest of the song is largely a fictional account portraying China Grove as Texas' version of Chinatown. Notable is the mention of samurai, who in fact are Japanese, not Chinese.

The track was originally titled "Parliament" after the band's tradition of naming demos after whatever brand of cigarette Tom Johnston was smoking at the time. According to Johnston, "...I really owe Billy Payne for the words because he played this wacky (bridge) that started the thinking process with this wacky sheriff, samurai swords, and all that."

The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band. The band has sold over 40 million albums worldwide throughout its career. The group was inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004
    AMERICA - HERE (1971)

Album:  America (1971)

December 15th 1987 - my #4 favorite daily song for 2 days at age 16 in Grade 12.

America is the eponymous debut album released by America in 1971. The album was initially released without "A Horse With No Name," which had not yet been recorded. When "Horse" became a worldwide hit in early 1972, the album was re-released with that track.

The album went to number 1 on the Billboard album chart in the US and stayed there for 5 weeks. It produced two hit singles, "A Horse With No Name" spent three weeks at number 1 on the Billboard singles chart in 1972 (it peaked at number 3 on the Adult Contemporary chart), and "I Need You" hit number 9 on the Billboard singles chart and number 7 on the Adult Contemporary chart Several other songs received radio airplay on FM stations playing album tracks, including "Sandman" (long rumored in the US Navy to be about the VQ-2 air squadron formerly based in Rota, Spain) and "Three Roses". The album was certified platinum by the RIAA for sales in excess of 1 million units in the US.

America is an English-American folk rock band, that originally consisted of Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek. The three members were barely out of their teens, when they became a musical sensation during 1972, scoring No. 1 hits and winning a Grammy for best new musical artist. Their recording success stretched throughout the 1970s; some of the band's best known songs are "A Horse with No Name", "Sister Golden Hair" (both of which reached No. 1), "Ventura Highway", "Tin Man", "Daisy Jane", and "Lonely People". George Martin produced seven of their albums.