Review: "I Need You: 53 Years of the Band America"

Over the years, there have been some outstanding music documentaries about iconic bands and pop stars.  Rolling Stone Magazine’s “70 Greatest Music Documentaries of All Time” from November of 2021 included these four at the top of the list: Stop Making Sense (1984) about Talking Heads, Gimme Shelter (1970) about the Rolling Stones, The Last Waltz (1978) about The Band, and Don’t Look Back (1967) about Bob Dylan.

Making movies like those is a challenge in terms of gaining access and funding.  Accessing extensive music, film and photographic archives and gaining the legal rights to use the material is daunting. 

Organizing and distilling the countless hours of material is a Herculean task that can take months. 

Funneling it all down into an engaging, entertaining, fair and balanced version of someone’s complex career within the span of a couple of hours is perhaps the biggest hurdle of all.  It’s why the list of truly great music documentaries is limited.  Uncompromising passion for the project is required.

Passion is what is reflected in every frame of I Need You: 53 Years of The Band America directed by David Breschel and Dustin Elm, a documentary screened at the 49th annual Cleveland International Film Festival. It traces the history of one of the most iconic bands of the 70s whose enduring hits include “A Horse with No Name,” “Ventura Highway,” Tin Man,” and of course the movie’s title song, “I Need You.”

Filmmakers David Breschel, Jack Piatt and Dustin Elm, during Q&A at CIFF49.

The band’s remarkable success began when the three founding members of the band (Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek) were teenage Air Force brats whose fathers were stationed in England in the late 1960s. In an incredible stroke of good fortune, they became superstars while still in their late teens, recording hit records, touring the world, and eventually working with legendary producers like Sir George Martin (who famously produced albums for The Beatles).

Their meteoric success exceeded their wildest dreams, but as is often the case in stories of rock and pop stardom, skyrocketing demands and pressures took their toll.  Success became self-destructive with bandmember Dan Peek who began to unravel.  He left the band in 1977 and passed away in 2011.

Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell decided to keep the band alive and tour as a duo, building on the band’s monumental success that spanned several decades culminating in over 5000 concerts and 60 albums. 

Unbeknownst to the filmmakers, Beckley and Bunnell had decided to announce their retirement on stage in front of a live audience at the end of what would become their final performance.

I Need You takes you behind the scenes with the band glimpsing their life on stage and their life on the road on tour buses and in a string of endless hotels.  It’s an honest peek at reality, seen through the eyes of two aging, veteran rock stars still enjoying their music and each other as their careers wind down to the final encore.  What shines through is the deep mutual friendship and respect they share.  The warm friendship that ignited the band still glows.  They reminisce, laugh, and evaluate and appreciate their lives together and what they were able to accomplish. 

There is a level of intimacy, sincerity and authenticity in the movie that is tangible.  It’s a charming vibe.  The magic here is the complete and unguarded openness and honesty.  There is pride in their accomplishments and some degree of sadness and regret about the price they have paid for their fame and the many nights on the road that tore them away from their families.

Their many fond memories and recollections include winning the Grammy Award in 1972 for The Best New Artist of the Year.  They were talked out of attending because of the strong competition (Harry Chapin, John Prine, Loggins and Messina and Eagles).   Dusty Springfield accepted the award on their behalf. 

When the award statue arrived in the mail, they jokingly noted that “some assembly was required.”  They apparently never figured how to attach the parts of the famous antique record player, Gramophone-shaped award which is glimpsed later in the movie still sitting on a shelf, unassembled.

The film is a well-researched, beautifully nuanced documentary that includes intimate interviews, rare band footage and a trove of priceless images from their longtime photographer, Henry Diltz. 

I was delighted to have a brief interview with co-directors Davis Breschel and Dustin Elm and one of the film's producers, Jack Piatt, following the screening in which I learned they are currently in search of a distributor for the film which was two years in the making. 

Directors Dustin Elm and David Breschel. along with with producer Jack Piatt, discuss the making of "I Need You: 53 Years of the Band America."

Their 25 hours of footage were edited down to 94 minutes of screen time that is the definitive story of the band America (and that is according to bandmembers Gerry Beckley and Dewey Bunnell who gave the movie their blessing and even went so far to say it was their official epitaph).  It’s really the highest compliment a documentary filmmaker can receive, knowing you attempted to tell someone’s life story and that, in the end, they felt you got it right.

I Need You: 53 Years of the Band America was the highlight of CIFF49 for me.  Admittedly, I was always a fan of their music, from the beginning.  As a musician, I have been performing a few of their songs (“A Horse with No Name” and “Ventura Highway”) for decades now.  People never tire of hearing them.  I never tire of playing them.

I Need You is a remarkable documentary film.  America is a band deserving of the kind of treatment it received here.  It was overdue. 

Being able to chat with the filmmakers made it even more special.  They have other projects in the works.

One of the names mentioned was Jackson Brown.  I’m in.  Whatever turns out to be next, I hope it debuts at CIFF.  I’ll be in my favorite aisle seat with a bag of popcorn.