The Band America Calls This Song a “Turning Point” in Their Historic Career

By 1982, America had already had plenty of hits, including “A Horse With No Name”, “Sister Golden Hair”, and more. But in the early 80s, America had gone several years without a hit single. In fact, their last moderate hit came in 1976, with “Amber Cascades”, although it did not do nearly as well as some of their previous singles.

It’s possible that “Amber Cascades” would have been America’s last big hit if not for a monumental shift in the band. In 1977, America went from three band members to two. Founded by Dewey Bunnell, Gerry Beckley, and Dan Peek, Peek left in 1977, making America a duo. Up until Peek left, America preferred to write their own music. But after several years of not having much success, Bunnell and Beckley began to allow outside songs. It was a fortuitous decision for America, with “You Can Do Magic”, written by Russ Ballard, becoming one of their biggest hits.

“You Can Do Magic” is the first single from View From The Ground, America’s tenth studio album. The singalong chorus says, “You can do magic / You can have anything that you desire / Magic, and you know / You’re the one who can put out the fire.”

Why America Decided To Record “You Can Do Magic”

Bunnell and Beckley were familiar with Ballard and the hits he had written for other bands. Taking an outside song was a big change for the two band members. Fortunately, they took a risk with “You Can Do Magic”, one that ultimately paid off very well for them.

“Russ had written ‘Winning’ for Santana, and he was now quite successful as a sort of songwriter for hire,” Beckley tells Songfacts. “So we heard it and thought, ‘That’s really good.’”

Beckley goes on to say that the “Do-Do-Do-Dit-Dos” reminded him of Crosby, Stills & Nash, who did something similar in their “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” hit.

“We certainly didn’t have any claim to that kind of a vocal thing. But that was put in there to appeal to us,” Beckley says.

Perhaps surprisingly, America did very little to alter Ballard’s version of “You Can Do Magic”.

“I think we made a couple of chord changes, but basically took it as he wrote it,” Beckley says. “And it was very successful—it fit right into our body of work. It was a huge hit and a turning point for us, because it was a hit for Dewey and I, after Danny departed. It was our first hit as a duo.”

America had a few more hits after “You Can Do Magic”, including “The Border”. That song was written by Ballard and Bunnell.

Photo by Ron Eisenberg/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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