America’s “Ventura Highway” Will Make You Long For The Open Road

Musikladen, 1975

Inspired by a flat tire on band member Dewey Bunnell’s family road trip, America’s ‘Ventura Highway’ was featured on their 1972 album Homecoming and next to smash hit ‘Horse With No Name,’ remains one of the band’s biggest hits to date. In 1975, America took ‘Ventura Highway’ to Germany for this phenomenal performance on Musikladen, and their unique brand of acoustic folk-rock comes across just as warm and friendly in a live setting as it does on the band’s album!

It’s rare for a band to deliver a live performance that equals or even surpasses their studio performance, but based on this performance, it’s pretty clear that it’s an art that America mastered.

Fun Fact: Dewey Bunnell was inspired by a sign literally reading, “Ventura” on the side of a highway when his family was stuck by the side of the road with a flat tire.

We’ve always been fans of America, but this performance is one that we definitely fell in love with. Singer Dewey Bunnell is a man with a story to tell, and his voice reflects that; it’s soft in the sort of way that makes you want to hunker down and really listen, and with a song like ‘Ventura Highway’ his voice has a way of making you want to go in search of Ventura highway, wherever it is (note: there is no actual Ventura highway).