Dan Peek -All Things Are Possible
Dan Peek Testimony
America – Lonely People
Dan Peek
| Dan Peek | |
|---|---|
|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Daniel Milton Peek |
| Born | November 1, 1950 Panama City, Florida |
| Died | July 24, 2011 (aged 60) Farmington, Missouri |
| Genres | Folk rock, soft rock, country rock, contemporary Christian |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, harmonica |
| Years active | 1969-2011 |
| Labels | Warner Bros., Lamb & Lion |
| Associated acts | America |
| Website | danpeek.com |
Daniel Milton “Dan” Peek (November 1, 1950 – July 24, 2011)[1] was a musician best known as a member of the folk rock band America from 1970 to 1977, together with Gerry Beckleyand Dewey Bunnell. He was also a “pioneer in contemporary Christian music“.[2][3]
Contents
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Biography[edit]
Peek was born in Panama City, Florida[1] on November 1, 1950 while his father was in the U.S. Air Force.
When Peek was a young boy, he suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and had to be hospitalized for weeks 100 miles (160 km) away from the family home; his parents could only visit occasionally. Peek remembered this experience when, about a year before he died, he decided to dispose of five of his vintage guitars. Because the Ronald McDonald Houses exist to provide housing for families of hospitalized children close to hospitals around the United States and the world, Peek donated these five guitars to the San Diego house, which were subsequently sold to a collector, resulting in a $50,000 donation.[4]
Peek moved to England in 1963 with his family when his father was assigned to a base in London, meeting Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley at London Central High School.[3]
Beginning in 1963, Peek was educated at London Central Elementary High School at Bushey Hall in North London. In 1973 he married Catherine Maberry,[5] with whom he would write a number of songs, including “Lonely People“.[6] He published an autobiography entitled An American Band, based on America’s most successful period, and his own spiritual journey.[7]
America[edit]
Peek contributed lead and backing vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, and harmonica to their recordings during his tenure in the band. As a member of America, Peek wrote or co-wrote four Top 100 singles: “Don’t Cross the River” (No. 35), “Lonely People” (No. 5), “Woman Tonight” (No. 44), and “Today’s the Day” (No. 23), all of which he also sang lead on. “Lonely People” and “Today’s the Day” also hit No. 1 on the Billboard AC charts.[5]
Peek abused alcohol and other drugs during this period. In 2004 he released an autobiography about that era entitled An American Band: The America Story which was very difficult for him to write because of the bad memories it brought up.[1]
Contemporary Christian music[edit]
Peek left the band shortly after the February 1977 release of the Harbor album. Years of life on the road had taken a toll on him.[7] He renewed his Christian faith and had begun to seek a different artistic direction than Beckley or Bunnell. He went on to sign with Pat Boone‘s Lamb & Lion Records[7] and found modest success as a pioneering artist in the emerging Christianpop music genre.
Peek’s debut solo album, All Things Are Possible was released in 1979. Chris Christian co-wrote, produced, and contributed acoustic guitar and backing vocals on the album. The title track reached the Billboard charts, making the Top 10 in the A/C Billboard chart and number 1 in the Christian charts, becoming one of the earliest contemporary Christian music crossover hits. Another song on the album, “Love Was Just Another Word”, was recorded in Los Angeles and written by Chris Christian and Steve Kipner. Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell contributed the background vocals. This was the last time the three original members of America recorded together.[citation needed] At the22nd Grammy Awards, the album was nominated,[2] losing in the Contemporary Gospel category to The Imperials album Heed the Call. Peek followed All Things Are Possible with Doer of the Word, which hit number 2 in the Christian charts. Gerry Beckley contributed background vocals, which were recorded at Chris Christian’s studio in Los Angeles while Peek was there.[8]
Peek waited five years before releasing a second solo album, 1984’s Doer of the Word. 1986 saw the release of his Electrovoice album, again to the CCM market, which included a remake of “Lonely People”, featuring a very similar lead vocal treatment and overall arrangement to the original America version. He changed some of the song’s lyrics to reflect his Christian faith,[citation needed] for example, the lines “And ride that highway in the sky” and “You never know until you try” became “And give your heart to Jesus Christ”.
Peek spent much of the 1990s in semi-retirement, occasionally recording music at his home in Bodden Town, Grand Cayman Island.[7] He released several solo projects and collaborated with Ken Marvin and Brian Gentry as “Peace” on three albums. In the years before his death, Peek released music via his website. His last musical collaboration was performing lead vocal on a track on the 2011 album Steps on the Water by Etcetera.
Death[edit]
Peek died in his sleep of fibrinous pericarditis on July 24, 2011, at age 60 at his home in Farmington, Missouri.[1][9] His interment was in Farmington’s Zolman Cemetery.
Discography[edit]
Table Key:
CCM – Contemporary Christian Music Chart
BB – Billboard Pop Singles Chart
AC – Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart
CB – Cash Box Singles Chart
| Year | Title Album ————————– Single |
CCM | BB[10] | AC[10] | CB[11] | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | All Things Are Possible (album) | – | – | – | – | Produced by Chris Christian |
| 1979 | “All Things Are Possible” | 1 | 78 | 6 | 95 | 13 weeks at number 1. Nominated for a Grammy award. |
| 1980 | “Ready for Love” | – | – | – | – | 7 Canadian Adult Contemporary Chart |
| 1981 | “Divine Lady” | 23 | – | – | – | – |
| 1979 | On This Christmas Night | – | – | – | – | Various artists |
| 1979 | “The Star” | – | – | – | – | Produced by Chris Christian |
| 1984 | Doer of the Word (album) | – | – | – | – | Produced by Chris Christian |
| 1984 | “Doer of the Word” | 2 | – | – | – | Backing vocal by Gerry Beckley |
| 1985 | “Power and Glory” | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1986 | Electro Voice (album) | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1986 | “Lonely People” | 2 | – | – | – | Remake of Peek’s 1975 hit with America |
| 1986 | “Electro Voice” | 7 | – | – | – | – |
| 1986 | Christmas Greetings | – | – | – | – | Various artists |
| 1986 | “Sleep Baby Jesus” | – | – | – | – | |
| 1987 | Cross Over (album) | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1987 | “Cross Over” | 13 | – | – | – | – |
| 1988 | Best of Dan Peek | – | – | – | – | Compilation |
| 1989 | Light of the World[12] | – | – | – | – | With Marvin and Gentry |
| 1997 | Peace | – | – | – | – | Peace with Marvin and Gentry |
| 1998 | “Summer Rain” | – | – | – | – | Peace with Marvin and Gentry |
| 1999 | Bodden Town | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2000 | Under the Mercy | – | – | – | – | Peace with Marvin and Gentry |
| 2000 | “On Wings of Eagles” | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2000 | Caribbean Christmas | – | – | – | – | Instrumental |
| 2001 | Driftin’ | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2002 | Guitar Man | – | – | – | – | – |
| 2006 | Guitar Man II | – | – | – | – | Digital Internet release |
| 2007 | All American Boy | – | – | – | – | Digital Internet release |
| 2012 | Greatest Hits | – | – | – | – | Digital Internet release – Compilation |
| 2012 | Christian Artists Series: Dan Peek, Vol. 1 | – | – | – | – | Digital Internet release – Compilation |
| 2012 | Christian Artists Series: Dan Peek, Vol. 2 | – | – | – | – | Digital Internet release – Compilation |
| 2012 | Christian Artists Series: Dan Peek & Friends | – | – | – | – | Digital Internet release – Compilation with Various Artists |
| 2012 | Christmas With Dan Peek and Friends | – | – | – | – | Digital Internet release – Compilation with Various Artists |
References[edit]
- ^ Jump up to:a b c d Lewis, Randy (27 July 2011). “Dan Peek dies at 60; founding member of the band America”. LA Times. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
- ^ Jump up to:a b “America singer Dan Peek dies aged 60”. BBC News. July 27, 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-27.
- ^ Jump up to:a b “Dan Peek, Co-Founder of America, Dead at 60”. Billboard magazine. July 26, 2011. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
Peek was born in Panama City, Fla., to a U.S. Air Force officer father. He moved to England in 1963 when his father was assigned to a base there, meeting Bunnell and Beckley at London Central High School. Peek and Beckley played in a band called The Days, and after Peek left to attend Old Dominion University in Virginia, Bunnell took his place.
- Jump up^ “A first for Navy ship: Baby born on board”. The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
- ^ Jump up to:a b Margalit Fox (July 26, 2011). “Dan Peek, of the Rock Band America, Dies at 60”. New York Times.
Dan Peek, an original member of the rock band America who later forsook the group for a life in Christian music, died on Sunday at his home in Farmington, Mo. He was 60. …
- Jump up^ “Lonely People” compositional info, ASCAP. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c d “Dan Peek”. London: Telegraph. July 27, 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
- Jump up^ Dan Peek recording Doer of the Word with Gerry Beckley and Chris Christian in LA on YouTube.
- Jump up^ Tijs, Andrew (2011-07-26). “Dan Peek of America Dies at 60 – Undercover.fm News”. Undercover.fm. Retrieved 2012-05-01.
- ^ Jump up to:a b “– US Billboard Music Charts”. Billboard.com. Retrieved 2011-07-27.
- Jump up^ “US Cash Box Charts”. CashBoxMagazine.com. Retrieved 2011-07-27.
- Jump up^ “Marvin & Gentry with Dan Peek – Light of the World – Amazon.com Music”. amazon.com. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
External links[edit]
- Official website
- Dan Peek at AllMusic
- Dan Peek at the Internet Movie Database
- Official America Homepage
- Obituary of Dan Peek, The Daily Telegraph, 27 July, 2011
- Dan Peek Autopsy Report, ParklandNews.com
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- 1950 births
- 2011 deaths
- People from Panama City, Florida
- American rock musicians
- American Christians
- American performers of Christian music
- American soft rock musicians
- American expatriates in the United Kingdom
- Military brats
- America (band) members
- People from Farmington, Missouri
- American rock singers
- American rock guitarists
- American folk guitarists
- American country guitarists
- American multi-instrumentalists
- American singer-songwriters
______________
__
Francis and Edith Schaeffer pictured below:
___
Dan and Catherine Peek wedding day
___
Francis Schaeffer
Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
__
May 2, 2016
Paul McCartney
Dear Paul,
I so enjoyed the concert April 30th in Little Rock and you played one of my favorite Beatles songs ELEANOR RIGBY because it takes a long hard look at the loneliness felt by so many people in the world today. Another band also captured that same feel in one of their songs and it happened to be produced by your old friend GEORGE MARTIN who you also took time to recognize at the concert. The song is LONELY PEOPLE by the band AMERICA and it was written by Dan and Catherine Peek. Let’s take a look first at the lyrics of ELEANOR RIGBY:
Ah look at all the lonely people
In the church where a wedding has been
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face
That she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near
Look at him working, darning his socks
In the night when there’s nobody there
What does he care
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Later came psychedelic rock, an attempt to find this experience without drugs. The younger people and the older ones tried drug taking but then turned to the eastern religions. Both drugs and the eastern religions seek truth inside one’s own head, a negation of reason. The central reason of the popularity of eastern religions in the west is a hope for a nonrational meaning to life and values….
Then the Beatles gradually came home. The last thing we find them doing is the YELLOW SUBMARINE. I sure a lot of parents thought this is much better than the old hard rock, but I thought it was a very sad thing because it really wasn’t a children’s story at all, but what it was in fact was a romantic statement and the fact is that is all there is. Just the same as [Ingmar] Bergman after he makes the movie SILENCE [1963] then he makes a comedy [ALL THESE WOMEN in 1964]. It is the same as Picasso when he pictures his child as a clown [Paul in a Clown Suit, 1924]. So we find the Beatles making the YELLOW SUBMARINE, but there is something more to it than this because Erich Segal made his reputation by writing the script for the movie version of YELLOW SUBMARINE and then he went on and wrote LOVE STORY. So what we have done is we have come around in a big circle. There was the destruction of the romantic. Students in the 1960’s said we are tired of the romantic of giving us optimistic statements with no sufficient base.
So the Beatles destroyed that and then they went through these various trips into non-reason but when they came out they had nothing left but the romantic. This is the tragedy of the young people starting with Berkeley in 1964. How right they were in saying we have largely a plastic culture. This is something the church should have been saying. These students said give us reality. Then the students tried those trips and they weren’t trips based on reality but they were separated from reason. It was trying to find answers in one’s own head whether it was the drug trip or the Eastern Religion trip. Then they came around in a big circle and what do we find–we end up with Segal’s LOVE STORY, just the romantic thing as one can imagine but with no adequate base at all, yet giving us a lovely romantic answer, which just like the YELLOW SUBMARINE is very, very sad because the Beatles and young people WERE GIVING UP THE SEARCH and just accepting something like this.
Now let’s turn to the song LONELY PEOPLE by the band AMERICA but let’s look at the later Christian version of the song written by Dan and Catherine Peek and they were the original writers of the original song. However, the original song did not have the answer to loneliness in it, but they found the answers to the big questions in life when they found Christ. Here is that Christian version of the song:
This is for all the lonely people
Thinkin’ that life has passed them by
Don’t give up until you drink from the silver cup
And give your heart to Jesus Christ
This is for all the single people
Thinkin’ that love has left them dry
Don’t give up until you drink from the silver cup
And give your heart to Jesus Christ
Well, He’s on his way
He’s coming back someday
He’s coming back to take us home
This is for all the lonely people
Thinkin’ that life has passed them by
Don’t give up until you drink from the silver cup
He’ll never take you down or He’ll never give you up
But you’ll never know until you try
Actually the answer to find meaning in life is found in putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. The Bible is true from cover to cover and can be trusted. Here are some of the posts I have done in the past on the subject and if you like you could just google these subjects: 1. The Babylonian Chronicle, of Nebuchadnezzars Siege of Jerusalem, 2. Hezekiah’s Siloam Tunnel Inscription.13. The Pilate Inscription, 14. Caiaphas Ossuary, 14 B Pontius Pilate Part 2, 14c. Three greatest American Archaeologists moved to accept Bible’s accuracy through archaeology.
Dan Peek, of the Rock Band America, Dies at 60
“We wanted to set ourselves apart and not be seen as English guys trying to do American music, but instead accentuate that we were an American band,” Mr. Peek told The Jerusalem Post last year.
The group’s self-titled debut album was released in Britain in 1971 and in the United States by Warner Brothers the next year.
The band won a Grammy Award in 1973 as best new artist. A string of successful albums followed, including “Homecoming,” “Holiday,” “Hearts” and “Hideaway.” Many were produced by George Martin, who produced many of the Beatles’ records.
As Mr. Peek later recalled, those early years passed in a blur of airplanes and limousines, wealth, drugs and alcohol.
“Sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll; it was the whole cornucopia of fleshly material,” he said in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network show “The 700 Club.” “I tried everything. I tasted every possible thing. I had a spiritual compass, but I abandoned it completely.”
In 1977, distraught at the turn his life had taken, Mr. Peek became a born-again Christian. He renounced drugs and alcohol and left the band. He signed with Lamb & Lion Records, a label founded by Pat Boone, for which he recorded “All Things Are Possible.” His other albums of religious music include “Electro Voice,” “Cross Over” and “Caribbean Christmas.” (Mr. Peek and his wife lived in the Cayman Islands for many years.)
Sincerely,
Everette Hatcher, everettehatcher@gmail.com, http://www.thedailyhatch.org, cell ph 501-920-5733, Box 23416, LittleRock, AR 72221
Remembering Dan Peek of AMERICA – Lonely People (Christian version)
Lonely People
| “Lonely People” | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by America | ||||
| from the album Holiday | ||||
| B-side | “Mad Dog” | |||
| Released | November 27, 1974 | |||
| Genre | Pop Rock | |||
| Length | 2:27 | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. 8048 | |||
| Writer(s) | Dan Peek, Catherine Peek | |||
| Producer(s) | George Martin | |||
| America singles chronology | ||||
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“Lonely People” is a song written by the husband-and-wife team of Dan and Catherine Peek and recorded by America.
Background[edit]
“Lonely People” was the second single release from America’s 1974 album Holiday. “Lonely People” reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100,[1] Dan Peek’s only credited song to reach that chart’s top 10,[2] and was America’s second number one on the Easy Listening chart, where it stayed for one week in February 1975.[3]
“Lonely People” was not automatically earmarked for the Holiday album: Peek unsuccessfully submitted a demo of the song for John Sebastian to consider recording.[4]
“Lonely People” was written as an optimistic response to the Beatles‘ song “Eleanor Rigby“. Peek considered “Eleanor Rigby” an “overwhelming” “picture…of the masses of lost humanity, drowning in grey oblivion” and would recall being “lacerated” on first hearing the lyrics of its chorus which run “All the lonely people: where do they all come from…where do they all belong”.[4] “Lonely People” was written within a few weeks of Peek’s 1973 marriage to Catherine Mayberry: Peek- “I always felt like a melancholy, lonely person. And now [upon getting married] I felt like I’d won.”[5] The lyrics of “Lonely People” advise “all the lonely people”: “Don’t give up until you drink from the silver cup”, a metaphor which Peek thus explains: “It’s possible to drink from another’s well of experience…and be refreshed.”[4]
Dan Peek would recall that in his post-America solo career he would utilize “Lonely People” to close his concerts, introducing the song “with words to the effect” “that Jesus is the answer to loneliness”. On the advice of a fan Peek began amending the actual lyrics of the song to convey this pro-Christian message and Peek recorded a lyrically revised version of “Lonely People” for his 1986 album Electro Voice. This revised version amended the original lyrics “And ride that highway in the sky” and “You never know until you try” to “And give your heart to Jesus Christ.”[6]
Charts[edit]
| Chart (1974) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard Easy Listening | 1 |
| US Billboard Hot 100 | 5 |
| US Cash Box Singles Chart | 10 |
| US Record World Singles Chart | 9 |
| US Radio & Records Singles Chart | 12 |
Other versions[edit]
Jars of Clay remade “Lonely People” for their 2003 album Who We Are Instead. Their version was featured on The WB TV series Everwood and was on the 2004 Everwood soundtrack album.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- Jump up^ America, “Lonely People” Chart Positions Retrieved March 30, 2015
- Jump up^ Chart Positions for Dan Peek songs Retrieved March 30, 2015
- Jump up^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 20.
- ^ Jump up to:a b c Peak, Dan (2004). An American Band: the America Story. Xulon Press. ISBN 1-594679-29-0.
- Jump up^ “America Founding Guitarist Dan Peek Dies”. The Morton Report. Retrieved March 7, 2014.
- Jump up^ “Dan Peek Discusses His Latest Album Electro Voice”. Billboard (The Morton Report) (vol 98 #32 (August 9, 1986)).
External links[edit]
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