Mitchum Junction (demo)
Written by Dewey Bunnell, ©1972
Found on Highway.

Railroad smoke sifting through the strong southern sky
I always knew that one day I'd see you die
Said the man at the junction
To the boy in conjunction
With the murder of a man
With the murder of a man

Railroad smoke sifting through the strong southern sky
I always knew that one day I'd see you die
Said the man at the junction
To the boy in conjunction
With the murder of a man
With the murder of a man

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na ...
With the murder of a man
With the murder of a man

Highway Highlight (from the box set booklet) Events moved quickly during '72. With a certified-gold debut album behind them, America left Britain for L.A. and prepared to record their second LP, Homecoming. The band switched from Jeff Dexter to the Geffen Roberts Company for management. Bunnell: "When we first got to L.A., we lived up at David Geffen's house for about a month, until he said, 'Hey, you guys, start looking for somewhere to live.' We'd sit by his pool and look out over L.A. and think that we'd made it. Joni Mitchell was living there as well. It was inspiring to watch her paint and have discussions with her." Songs were written, sorted through, and chosen or discarded for the next record. Among the songs that didn't make the final cut was "Mitchum Junction," a Bunnell tune. "As I recall, that song was never even finished," says Beckley. "It started with, 'There's a man at the junction in conjunction with the murder of a man..." And we went around and around with it, saying, 'Where do we go from here? Never mind. Next...' That's how fast things would happen."