Ventura Highway - America (1972) 2/18/22

Today's "Great Song of 1972" is autobiographical. Sort of.

When Dewey Bunnell of the group America was a child, his father was in the Air Force. Like most military families, they moved around a lot.

At one point, dad was stationed in Bliloxi, Mississippi, where Dewey had a run-in with a grumpy old man named Joe.

At another point, the family lived in Iowa, where the winters were cold, the nights were long, and young Dewey wished they could move to California.

By 1963, his wish had come true: his dad was transferred to Brandenburg Air Force Base. One day, the family was traveling down California's scenic Pacific Coast Highway when they had a flat tire.

As dad was changing the flat, Dewey and his brother stood by the roadside and noticed a highway sign for the nearby town of Ventura.

In their boredom, they began gazing at clouds, and Dewey's brother spotted a cloud he said looked like an "alligator lizard in the air."

You see where this is going, right? :-)

By the time America recorded their second album, 1972's "Homecoming," Dewey had taken those autobiographical bits and pieces, and with some instrumental licks from bandmates Gerry Beckley and Dan Peek, turned them into a :Great Song! "Ventura Highway" was the first single from the album, and an immediate hit--reaching #3 on the Adult Contemporary Chart, and #8 on the Hot 100.

Some people think the lyrics are a bit odd...(America was known for odd lyrics)...but once you know "the rest of the story," they all make perfect sense. At least to Dewey Bunnell. :-)

Fun Fact: In the song, Dewey uses the term: "Purple Rain" several years before Prince made it his own!

"Ventura Highway" by America: a "Great Song of 1972!"