“Like trains forever leaving stations, Merciful are these stories we spin,” sings Gerry Beckley on the title track to his latest solo album, Merciful, a dark-laced song penned by noted Scandinavian jazz trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær. That sentiment captures the elegiac spirit of the 13-song collection, produced by Beckley with frequent collaborator and lyricist Jeff Larson, which looks both back and forward with an appreciation of the past and an acknowledgement of impending mortality.

Beckley is the co-founding member of the multi-platinum band America. Beckley wrote and sang lead on such successful America singles as “Sister Golden Hair,” “I Need You,” “Daisy Jane” and the Russ Ballard-penned “You Can Do Magic.” His latest solo work, Merciful, is a timeless, personal work that realizes our own very limited span on earth at the same time as it seizes the possibilities while we’re still here; a most worthy addition to the classic Gerry Beckley oeuvre, the light and dark perfectly calibrated.

The album’s highlights include singles “When the Wells Run Dry,” the upbeat, joyful “Get It Right” and Beckley’s emotional cover of “Norwegian Wood,” the Beatles’ wistful saga of an extramarital love affair with special guest Graham Nash on vocals.

Track Listing

SIDE A

1. When The Wells Run Dry
2. 75
3. All The Wounded Cowboys
4. Merciful
5. Get It Right
6. Monster
7. The Last Song

SIDE B

1. Norwegian Wood
2. Brand New Night
3. Big Rain
4. My Idea
5. I Will Remember
6. Angel

Gerry Beckley says there was a pragmatic reason for putting his own name as the title for his 10th solo album. True to form, Gerry Beckley contains 12 outstanding tracks including first single “Crazy,” the autobiographical “Well Worn Shoes,” and the soulful “Red and Blue.” Produced, arranged, engineered and mixed by Gerry along with Jeff Larson, the album continues a musical path now in its seventh decade.

Track Listing

SIDE A

1. My Life
2. Amnesia
3. Well Worn Shoes
4. Crazy
5. Everybody’s Talkin'
6. Simone

SIDE B

1. Arrow
2. Folly
3. Where There’s A Will
4. Even If Tomorrow
5. Red And Blue
6. One Lit Window

Aurora came on the heels of Beckley's greatest hits album, Keeping the Light On: The Best of Gerry Beckley, and is at once a look back on some of his original influences — among them The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Bee Gees, and Chicago — as well as a fresh start moving forward.

Track Listing

SIDE A

1. Aurora
2. I Fall Down
3. Never Know Why
4. Tickets to the Past (feat. Dewey Bunnell)
5. Way to Go

SIDE B

1. Friends Are Hard to Find
2. Peace of Mind
3. Indy's Gatho
4. Aerial
5. Superscope
6. Tears