By the time “Amie” became a hit in 1975, the musician who wrote and sang it was no longer a member of Pure Prairie League.
Written by founding member Craig Fuller, the harmony-rich country rock song had actually been recorded several years earlier in Toronto for the Ohio band’s 1972 album Bustin’ Out. It initially attracted little attention, only to find an audience through radio airplay and give Pure Prairie League its signature hit years later.
The band traveled to Canada to make its second album.
Working with producer Bob Ringe, Pure Prairie League recorded Bustin’ Out at RCA Studios in Toronto. Fuller was joined by guitarist George Powell and drummer Billy Hinds, while future country star Mick Ronson, best known for his work with David Bowie, contributed string arrangements to the album.
“Amie” appeared near the end of the record.
Fuller’s acoustic guitar and lead vocal anchor the song, while the band’s close harmonies and electric guitar give it the easygoing country rock sound that would eventually make it a radio favorite. On the album, “Amie” flows directly into another Fuller composition, “Falling In and Out of Love,” creating a pairing that radio stations would later frequently play together.
“‘Amie’ was written as a harder, rockin’ song, but when we got into the studio, we turned it into an acoustic guitar song,” bassist Michael Reilly told WTOP. “When guys get together and sing, that’s where magic happens. … We were lucky enough to hit upon a harmony and it just worked.”
Commercial success wasn’t immediate.
Bustin’ Out initially struggled, and Pure Prairie League was dropped by RCA. Fuller also left the group, with his departure complicated by legal issues surrounding his conscientious-objector status during the Vietnam War era.
“He filed as a conscientious objector and the judge in New York didn’t want to hear it, so he threw him in prison,” said Reilly. “We felt bad for Craig and went out to Springfield, Missouri, to bring him a chessboard, his guitar and stuff like that [in prison]. … I basically stepped up, I think by default, and grabbed the reins and kept trying to steer the buggy.”
Then radio programmers gave the album another chance.
College and FM stations began playing “Amie,” gradually building enough interest that RCA re-signed the band and released the song as a single. In 1975, nearly three years after it had been recorded, “Amie” climbed to No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Its delayed success helped revive Pure Prairie League.
The group continued with a changing lineup and later welcomed Vince Gill, years before he became a major country star. With Gill singing lead, the band scored additional hits including “Let Me Love You Tonight.”
Fuller eventually returned to Pure Prairie League as well, reconnecting with the song that had become his best-known composition.
“Nobody back in the early days in the ’70s when the band formed, nobody even dreamed that we’d get a lifetime of work out of it,” Reilly told What’s Up Newp. “It’s just one of those things that you don’t think about, and the next thing you know you’re 10-20 years down the road, and you’re still doing it.”
More than five decades after “Amie” finally reached the charts, its winding journey remains part of its appeal. Recorded in Canada, overlooked upon release, and rediscovered years later, the song ultimately gave Pure Prairie League the enduring hit that had been sitting in its catalog all along.
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