An American Dream (song)

"An American Dream"
Single by The Dirt Band
from the album An American Dream
B-side	"Take Me Back"
Released	November 19, 1979
Format	7"
Genre	Country
Length	3:28
Label	United Artists
Writer(s)	Rodney Crowell
Producer(s)	Jeff Hanna, Bob Edwards
The Dirt Band singles chronology
"In for the Night" (1978) "An American Dream" (1979) "Make a Little Magic" (1980)

"An American Dream" is a song written by Rodney Crowell. He recorded it under the title "Voilá, An American Dream" on his 1978 album Ain't Living Long Like This, and released it as the B-side to that album's single "(Now and Then There's) A Fool Such as I".^[1]

It was later recorded by American country music group Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. It was released in November 1979 as the only single and title track from the album An American Dream. The song reached number 58 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart but peaked at number 13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's version features a backing vocal from Linda Ronstadt.^[2]

The labels on some of the 45 rpm records were reversed, so that "An American Dream" was labeled "Take Me Back" and vice versa.

Track listing

7" single - North America (1979)

1. "An American Dream" - 3:50
2. "Take Me Back" - 3:01

Chart performance

Chart (1979–1980)	Peak position
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[3]	12
Canada (RPM)	3
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[4]	3
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[5]	39
South African Top 20 [6]	6
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	13
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	58

References

1. Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. p. 109. ISBN 0-89820-177-2.
2. Whitburn, pp. 300-301
3. "Austriancharts.at – The Dirt Band – An American Dream" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
4. "Nederlandse Top 40 – The Dirt Band search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40.
5. "Charts.org.nz – The Dirt Band – An American Dream". Top 40 Singles.
6. http://rock.co.za/files/springbok_top_20_(D).html Retrieved 1 April 2014