The pair discuss their love of acoustic guitars, working with Beatles producer George Martin, and the band’s 50th anniversary box set, Half Century.

Multi-platinum selling group America is celebrating their 50th anniversary with the ultimate eight-disc box set, aptly titled Half Century. Produced for release and compiled by Jeff Larson, the CDs contain rare archival studio recordings consisting of alternate mixes, demos and rehearsals, including several previously unreleased tracks dating from 1970 to 2000.

Along with the remastered 1973 Bremen in-studio performance and two CDs of radio interviews providing audio overview of the band’s career, there’s a DVD of Super 8 home movies (1972-1975) that gives fans a behind the scenes look at the legendary band’s early years.

Guitar World recently spoke with founding members Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell about the new release and more.

What goes through your mind when you think about this 50th anniversary milestone?

Dewey Bunnell: “It’s mind-blowing, to be honest. Those first 20 years seemed to go on forever but these last thirty have really blown by. We’ve been very active the whole time; writing songs, recording, and touring. It’s like what they say about your babies: enjoy them while you can because they’ll grow up before you know it. It’s true.”

Gerry Beckley: “It really is an immense amount of time and we’re as amazed as everyone else. We’re still very happy to do what we’re doing. It’s not quite as easy as it was when we were younger in terms of travel, but the shows have become even more rewarding.”

How did you decide what to include on the 50th Anniversary Box Set?

Beckley: “We definitely have to give a nod to our archivist, Jeff Larson, who for years has been in touch with all of the stuff in between the cracks. There was a lot more than just the yearly album we would make. It’s a lot to keep track of and he’s done a fantastic job.”

Bunnell: “Gerry and I were very lucky to have held on to a lot of our early material and Jeff had the flexibility of finding out what went well together. We did it together but Jeff did all of the heavy lifting.”

What can you tell me about the newly released track, Remembering?

Beckley: “I tend to do multiple recording of things and that particular track was on one of my solo projects [2011’s Unfortunate Casino]. I’d done an earlier version with beautiful backgrounds from our dear friend, Jeff Foskett, and we put Dewey’s vocal on it. It framed the subject of dealing with time and made a nice addition to the box.”

Read the rest of my
Interview with Gerry Beckley & Dewey Bunell by Clicking Here.