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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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 band in Virginia. He spent every summer in England and soon discovered British invasion music.

Career

In 1967, Beckley's father became the commander at the United States Air Force base at

West Ruislip West Ruislip is a station on Ickenham High Road on the borders of Ickenham and western Ruislip in the London Borough of Hillingdon in Greater London, formerly in Middlesex. It is served by London Underground (LU) and National Rail trains on ind ...

, near London. Gerry attended

London Central High School London Central Elementary High School (LCEHS), formerly London Central High School, was a United States Department of Defense Dependents School (DoDDS) in the Isles District of DoDDS Europe for pupils in kindergarten through grade 12. It operated ...

in Bushey Hall in north west London, where he played in various school bands and met his soon-to-be bandmates, Dewey Bunnell and

Dan Peek Daniel Milton Peek () was an American musician best known as a member of the folk rock band America from 1970 to 1977, together with Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell. He has been called a "pioneer in contemporary Christian music". Early life ...

. Originally, the group played on Friday nights at the local American teen club, mostly doing acoustic covers of Crosby, Stills, and Nash 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 and found success in 1972 with "

A Horse with No Name "A Horse with No Name" is a song by the folk rock band America, written by Dewey Bunnell. It was the band's first and most successful single, released in late 1971 in Europe and early 1972 in the United States, that topped the charts in Canada, ...

." Beckley wrote and sang America's 1972 top-10 hit "

I Need You I Need You or I Need U may refer to: Films * ''I Need You'' (film), a 1944 German film Music Albums * ''I Need You'' (album), by LeAnn Rimes, 2001 * ''I Need You'' (Bestie EP) (reissue of ''Hot Baby'') or the title song, 2014 * ''I Need Y ...

" and its 1975 number-one hit " Sister Golden Hair", as well as its top-20 followup " Daisy Jane". 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'', 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 on Cassidy's critically acclaimed RCA albums, co-writing, singing, and co-producing. From 1992 to 1997 he collaborated with

Carl Wilson Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician, singer, and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates Brian and Dennis, and the group's ''de ...

of The Beach Boys, and Robert Lamm of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, 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 Benjamin Lev Kweller (born June 16, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. A former member of Radish, Kweller has released six solo albums and appeared on several collaborations. Early life Ben Kweller was born in Sa ...

show in Melbourne, 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 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 Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...

and has worked with other artists, including Ke$ha and

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...

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

Sessions (selection)

* Mike Hugg - ''Somewhere'' (1972) * Dan Fogelberg - ''Souvenirs'' (1974) * David Cassidy - '' Home Is Where the Heart Is'' and ''

Getting It in the Street ''Getting It in the Street'' is the third and final release by David Cassidy on RCA Records. This would also be the last album David released in the United States until 1990 (with the release of ''David Cassidy'') and his last all new album unti ...

'' (Both released in 1976) * Ricci Martin - ''Beached'' (1977) * Rick Danko - ''Rick Danko'' (1977) * Dennis Wilson - ''Pacific Ocean Blue'' (1977) * Dave Mason - ''Mariposa De Oro'' (1978) * Jimmy Webb - ''Angel Heart'' (1982) *

- ''

Doer of the Word ''Doer of the Word'' is the second solo album by former America member Dan Peek. It was released in 1984, five years after the release of his first album, '' All Things Are Possible'', and produced by Chris Christian. Several songs from the albu ...

'' (1984) * Various Artists - ''Cry Baby – Original Soundtrack'' (1990) * Modern Folk Quartet - ''Highway 70'' (1995) * Various Artists - ''For the Love of Harry – Everybody Sings Nilsson'' (1995) * Robert Lamm - ''In My Head'' (1999) * Jeff Larson - ''Room for the Summer'' (2000) * Jeffrey Foskett - ''Twelve And Twelve'' (2000) * Les Deux Love Orchestra - ''Music From Les Deux Cafés'' (2001) * Jeff Larson - ''Fragile Sunrise'' (2002) * Low - ''Trust'' (2002) * Robert Lamm - ''Subtlety And Passion'' (2003) * Jeff Larson - ''Sepia'' (2004) * Low - ''Great Destroyer'' (2005) * Les Deux Love Orchestra - ''King Kong'' (2005) *

Brian Wilson Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys. Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition, extraordinary musical aptitude, and m ...

a.o. - ''One World Project'' (2005) * Bill Mumy - ''With Big Ideas'' (2006) * Les Deux Love Orchestra - ''Ecstasy'' (2008) * Al Jardine - ''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 Nick Vernier Band is an alias (and anagram) for productions by Dutch musician and record producer Eric Van Den Brink. Although a 'one man band' in essence, featured collaborators include Blondie Chaplin, Probyn Gregory, Gerry Beckley (with Je ...

- ''

Sessions Sessions may refer to: * Sessions (surname), a surname * Sessions (clothing company), an American apparel company * Sessions Clock Company, an American clock manufacturer in the early 20th century Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The 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