| An American Dream | |
| Cover: | Dirt Band American Dream.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | The Dirt Band |
| Album: | An American Dream |
| B-Side: | Take Me Back |
| Released: | November 19, 1979 |
| Genre: | Country |
| Length: | 3:28 (Single Version) 3:53 (Album Version) |
| Label: | United Artists |
| Producer: | Jeff Hanna, Bob Edwards |
| Prev Title: | In for the Night |
| Prev Year: | 1978 |
| Next Title: | Make a Little Magic |
| Next Year: | 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-rock music group the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, but using the shortened name "The 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, number 13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and number 16 on the Adult Contemporary chart. In Canada, it reached number three.[2] The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's version features a backing vocal from Linda Ronstadt;[3] as such, it is sometimes included in Ronstadt greatest hits collections, such as the 2014 Capitol release, Icon.
The labels on some of the 45 rpm records were reversed, so that "An American Dream" was labeled "Take Me Back" and vice versa.
| Chart (1979–1980) | Peak position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australian (Kent Music Report)[4] | 45 | |
| Canada (RPM) Top Singles[5] | 3 | |
| South African Top 20 [6] | 6 | |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100[7] | 13 | |
| U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary[8] | 16 | |
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks | 58 |
| Year-end chart (1980) | Rank | |
|---|---|---|
| Canada [9] | 26 | |
| US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[10] | 72 |
