Gerald Linford Beckley (born September 12, 1952), better known as Gerry Beckley, is an American singer, songwriter, and musician, and a founding member of the band America.

Early life

Beckley was born to an American father and an English mother. He began playing the piano at the age of three and the guitar a few years later. By 1962, Beckley was playing guitar in The Vanguards, an instrumental

surf music Surf music (or surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental su ...

band in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. He spent every summer in England and soon discovered

British invasion The British Invasion was a cultural phenomenon of the mid-1960s, when rock and pop music acts from the United Kingdom and other aspects of British culture became popular in the United States and significant to the rising "counterculture" on ...

music.

Career

In 1967, Beckley's father became the commander at the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

base at West Ruislip, near London. Gerry attended London Central High School in Bushey Hall in north west

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where he played in various school bands and met his soon-to-be bandmates,

Dewey Bunnell Lee Merton "Dewey" Bunnell (born 19 January 1952) is a British-American musician, singer, guitarist, and songwriter, best known as a member of the folk rock band America. Biography Bunnell was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England, to an Americ ...

and Dan Peek. Originally, the group played on Friday nights at the local American teen club, mostly doing acoustic covers of

Crosby, Stills, and Nash Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) were a folk rock supergroup made up of American singer-songwriters David Crosby and Stephen Stills and English singer-songwriter Graham Nash. When joined by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young as a fourth member, ...

tunes. The original drummer was a classmate, Dave Atwood. Gerry Beckley singing at the 1979 Dr

America signed a recording contract with the British division of

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

and found success in 1972 with " A Horse with No Name." Beckley wrote and sang America's 1972 top-10 hit " I Need You" and its 1975 number-one hit "

Sister Golden Hair "Sister Golden Hair" is a song by the band America from their fifth album '' Hearts'' (1975), written by Gerry Beckley. It was their second single to reach number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, remaining in the top position for one week. ...

", as well as its top-20 followup "

Daisy Jane "Daisy Jane" is a song written by Gerry Beckley of the group America included on the 1975 America album '' Hearts''. Issued as that album's second single — following up the #1 hit " Sister Golden Hair" — "Daisy Jane" reached #20 on the ''B ...

". He also sang their '80s top-10 hit " You Can Do Magic". Beckley continues to write and record music both as a solo artist and with other musicians. With Bunnell, Beckley continues touring worldwide as "America".

Solo projects

In the 1990 John Waters film ''

Cry-Baby ''Cry-Baby'' is a 1990 American teen musical romantic comedy film written and directed by John Waters. It was the only film of Waters's over which studios were in a bidding war, coming off the heels of the successful '' Hairspray''. The film s ...

'', Beckley, Andrew Gold, and Timothy B. Schmit appeared as Baldwin and the Whiffles, performing "Mister Sandman", "The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane", and "Sh-Boom". Beckley has worked with a wide variety of musicians on many projects. In the mid-1970s, he collaborated with

David Cassidy David Bruce Cassidy (April 12, 1950 – November 21, 2017) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was best known for his role as Keith Partridge, the son of Shirley Partridge (played by his stepmother, Shirley Jones), in t ...

on Cassidy's critically acclaimed RCA albums, co-writing, singing, and co-producing. From 1992 to 1997 he collaborated with Carl Wilson of

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...

, and

Robert Lamm Robert William Lamm (born October 13, 1944) is an American keyboardist, guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a founding member of the rock band Chicago. He wrote many of the band's biggest hits, including " Questions 67 & 68", "Does ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, culminating with the 2000 release of '' Like a Brother'', Wilson's final recordings before his death in 1998. In May 2006, Beckley released another solo album, ''Horizontal Fall''. In March 2007, Beckley appeared as a guest on the Australian musical quiz TV show '' Spicks and Specks''. In April 2007, he appeared as a special guest at a Ben Kweller show in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia. Beckley, Kweller, and the band performed "Sister Golden Hair" together. Beckley debuted his 2016 Blue Elan Records solo album ''Carousel'' on September 7, 2016, with a live performance at the

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boule ...

in Hollywood, California. Beckley is also a member of Les Deux Love Orchestra.

Personal life

Beckley was married to Eleanor Beckley from 1978 to 1982 and then to Kathy Beckley. He has two sons, Matthew (Born July 16, 1983) and Joe (Born February 22, 1992). Matthew is also a musician; he has toured with Katy Perry and has worked with other artists, including

Ke$ha Kesha Rose Sebert (; born March 1, 1987), formerly stylized as Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. In 2005, at age 18, Kesha was signed to Kemosabe Records. Her first major success came in early 2009 after she was featured on America ...

and Britney Spears. Joe is an aspiring photographer in the Los Angeles area. Beckley, now married to an Australian, splits his time between homes in California and Australia.

Discography

Solo albums

* ''Van Go Gan'' (1995) * ''Go Man Go'' (2000) * ''Horizontal Fall'' (2006) * ''Happy Hour'' (2009) * ''Unfortunate Casino'' (2011) * ''Carousel'' (2016) * ''Five Mile Road'' (2019) (US Americana/Folk Album Sales Chart No. 23) * ''Discovering America'' (2020) - Recorded June 1970 at Morgan Studios * ''Keeping The Light On - The Best of Gerry Beckley'' (2021) - Compilation and new studio material * ''Aurora'' (2022)

Collaborations

* Baldwin and the Whiffles - ''

Soundtrack'' (1990) * Beckley, Lamm & Wilson - '' Like A Brother'' (2000)

Sessions (selection)

Mike Hugg Michael John Hugg (born 11 August 1940) is a British musician who achieved fame as a founding member of the 1960s group Manfred Mann. Biography Hugg was born in Gosport, Hampshire in 1940. His parents condoned his jazz drumming as long as he ...

- ''Somewhere'' (1972) *

Dan Fogelberg Daniel Grayling Fogelberg (August 13, 1951 – December 16, 2007) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and multi-instrumentalist. He is known for his 1970s and 1980s songs, including " Longer" (1979), " Same Old Lang Syne" (1980), and ...

- ''Souvenirs'' (1974) *

- '' Home Is Where the Heart Is'' and '' Getting It in the Street'' (Both released in 1976) * Ricci Martin - ''Beached'' (1977) *

Rick Danko Richard Clare Danko (December 29, 1943 – December 10, 1999) was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of the Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. During ...

- ''Rick Danko'' (1977) *

Dennis Wilson Dennis Carl Wilson (December 4, 1944 – December 28, 1983) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best remembered as their drummer and as the middle brother of bandmates Brian and Carl Wilson. ...

- ''Pacific Ocean Blue'' (1977) *

Dave Mason David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. Over the course of his career, Mason has played and recorded with many notable pop and rock mu ...

- ''Mariposa De Oro'' (1978) *

Jimmy Webb Jimmy Layne Webb (born August 15, 1946) is an American songwriter, composer, and singer. He has written numerous platinum-selling songs, including " Up, Up and Away", " By the Time I Get to Phoenix", " MacArthur Park", " Wichita Lineman", " Wo ...

- ''Angel Heart'' (1982) * Dan Peek - '' Doer of the Word'' (1984) * Various Artists - ''Cry Baby – Original Soundtrack'' (1990) *

Modern Folk Quartet The Modern Folk Quartet (or "MFQ") was an American folk music revival group that formed in the early 1960s. Originally emphasizing acoustic instruments and group harmonies, they performed extensively and recorded two albums. In 1965, as the Mode ...

- ''Highway 70'' (1995) * Various Artists - ''For the Love of Harry – Everybody Sings Nilsson'' (1995) *

- ''In My Head'' (1999) * Jeff Larson - ''Room for the Summer'' (2000) *

Jeffrey Foskett Jeffrey Foskett (February 17, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer best known as a touring and studio musician for Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys since the 1980s. Foskett was described as the Beach Boys' "vice principal" ...

- ''Twelve And Twelve'' (2000) * Les Deux Love Orchestra - ''Music From Les Deux Cafés'' (2001) * Jeff Larson - ''Fragile Sunrise'' (2002) * Low - ''Trust'' (2002) *

- ''Subtlety And Passion'' (2003) * Jeff Larson - ''Sepia'' (2004) * Low - ''Great Destroyer'' (2005) * Les Deux Love Orchestra - ''King Kong'' (2005) * Brian Wilson a.o. - ''One World Project'' (2005) *

Bill Mumy Charles William Mumy Jr. (; born February 1, 1954) is an American actor, writer, and musician and a figure in the science-fiction community/comic book fandom. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a child actor, which included television appeara ...

- ''With Big Ideas'' (2006) * Les Deux Love Orchestra - ''Ecstasy'' (2008) *

Al Jardine Alan Charles Jardine (born September 3, 1942) is an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He is best known as the band's rhythm guitarist and for occasionally singing lead vocals on singles such as " Help Me, Rh ...

- ''A Postcard From California'' (2009) * Jeff Larson - ''Heart of the Valley'' (2009) * Les Deux Love Orchestra - ''Planet Claire 3D Maxi-Single'' (2009) * Nick Vernier Band - '' Sessions'' (2010)

References

External links

Official site
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckley, Gerry Living people 1952 births People from Fort Worth, Texas Singer-songwriters from Texas American rock guitarists American people of English descent American soft rock musicians America (band) members American folk guitarists American male guitarists American rock keyboardists American pop rock singers Guitarists from Texas American expatriates in Australia 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American pianists American male pianists 21st-century American keyboardists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 20th-century American keyboardists American male singer-songwriters