“Ventura Highway” by America

"Ventura Highway" rolled off Homecoming, America's second album, in 1972, and it sounds just like its title: windows down, sun high, the coast road unspooling ahead. Dewey Bunnell wrote it and sings it, and the picture at its heart goes back to 1963, when his family's car blew a tire on the way down the coast from Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc. While his father fixed it, Bunnell and his brother stood watching the cloud shapes drift past and spotted a road sign for Ventura. He has also tied it to cold childhood winters in Omaha, daydreaming about California and more or less telling himself to get moving.

Bunnell, Gerry Beckley and Dan Peek braid their guitars and harmonies, with Hal Blaine on drums and Joe Osborn on bass. It reached 8 on the Hot 100, and Bunnell rates it the most lasting of all his songs.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.