Ambrosia is a musical group formed in the Los Angeles area during the early 1970s.
Formation and inspiration
The members of Ambrosia decided on the moniker in 1970 to represent a vision of their music: all shades, textures, colors and styles.[citation needed] While many people are familiar with Ambrosia's radio hits of the 1970s, the songs on their five albums range from progressive to experimental.
The founding constituents of Ambrosia were reared in Southern California in the area known as The South Bay, later adopting San Pedro as their hometown. Their initial musical influences, like many of their generation, came from The Beach Boys and The Beatles. Ambrosia fused symphonic art rock with a slick produced pop sound[1].
According to Preston[1], an early incarnation of the band began to experiment with harmonies, which led to an infatuation with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. After the group attended a show at the Whisky a Go-Go to see an unknown but highly recommended new band called King Crimson, their perception of music changed forever.
The musicians, inspired by the music and artists of the progressive rock era, acquired a significant regional admiration for their inventive musicianship and skillful arranging. In 1971, one of their friends, who was doing sound for the Hollywood Bowl, invited them to play there on stage to test a new sound system that had been installed. Grammy-winning engineer Gordon Parry was the head engineer in charge at the Bowl. He was so impressed with the group that he invited them back to attend performances there by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He also introduced them to conductor Zubin Mehta, who featured Ambrosia as part of a so-called All-American Dream Concert. Despite this early career break, however, it took them four additional years to obtain a recording contract[2].
The major influences on Ambrosia's music include Frank Zappa,[citation needed] The Allman Brothers,[citation needed] The Sons of Champlin,[citation needed] Yes,[citation needed] The Who,[citation needed] Emerson, Lake and Palmer,[citation needed] Traffic,[citation needed] Pink Floyd[citation needed] and later, Genesis[citation needed] and Gentle Giant.[citation needed] Motown has influenced David Pack's singing and songwriting. Christopher North was classically trained, but is influenced by jazz and the blues. Burleigh Drummond had early training in stage acting, and Joe Puerta supposedly liked "anything that had a tone"[1].
1970s
The group auditioned for Herb Alpert and A&M Records early on. The audition did not go well, but Alpert let the band do some demos and they signed with Rubicon Management who passed the demos around. Eventually, the group signed with 20th Century Fox Records.
The first album, Ambrosia, produced by Freddie Piro, was released in 1975. It spawned the Top 20 chart single "Holdin' on to Yesterday" as well as the FM classic "Nice, Nice, Very Nice." The latter sets to music the lyrics to a song in Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle. The album was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Engineered Recording (other than Classical). According to Preston[1], a little known fact is Ambrosia's connection with The Alan Parsons Project. Alan Parsons was the engineer for Ambrosia's first album and the producer for their second. All four members of Ambrosia played on the first Alan Parsons Project album, Tales of Mystery and Imagination, which was recorded soon after Ambrosia's first album. David Pack appears on the Alan Parsons Project album Try Anything Once (1993), co-writing, playing and providing vocals on three songs.
After lengthy touring, the band returned in 1976 with Somewhere I've Never Traveled, continuing in the progressive rock style. The album yielded the title song, which quickly became an FM favorite and featured lush orchestration and vocal arrangements. The record sleeve folded into a large pyramid, tapping into a fad belief in mystical pyramid power. Both Ambrosia and Somewhere I've Never Traveled received Grammy nominations, and set the stage for the band's signing to Warner Bros. Records (Ambrosia, 1975).
Additionally in 1976, the group participated in a variety of projects. They covered the Beatles song "Magical Mystery Tour" for the transitory musical documentary All This and World War II. The film's soundtrack consisted of different groups providing arrangements of Beatles songs. Their version of "Magical Mystery Tour" scored a top 40 hit and has since been very popular in their live shows[3].
In 1978 Life Beyond L.A. was released; Ambrosia's third album. It marked a bit of a move away from their progressive rock style and the lush arrangements and introduced a more pop/jazz influence. Christopher North, with family obligations, left the group in 1977 during the album's recording. 1978 marked their biggest Pop breakthrough, scoring their first gold CHR hit, with "How Much I Feel" from the album, which was a #3 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Extensive touring with Fleetwood Mac, Heart and the Doobie Brothers, in addition to major headlining shows, cemented Ambrosia's reputation as a stellar live act[4]. For the '78 tour, North returned and the group added a second keyboardist, David Cutler-Lewis, as well as an additional singer Royce Jones (ex-Steely Dan) who joined in December 1978.
1980s and temporary split
In 1980, Warner Bros. released One Eighty, a highly successful album that produced two of the year's biggest hits, "You're the Only Woman (You & I)", reaching #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second hit: "Biggest Part of Me" reached number three for three weeks on the Hot 100 and crossed over to the soul chart, where it peaked at number thirty-five [5]. The album featured the two new members, David Cutler-Lewis and Royce Jones, although Lewis had contributed keyboard work on the Life Beyond L.A. album. The album earned the band three Grammy nominations, including Best Pop Vocal Group. A headlining world tour soon followed. One of the biggest honors bestowed upon the band was Quincy Jones' declaration that "Biggest Part of Me" was one of his all time favorite songs. The title of the album, One Eighty was believed by fans to signal the group's "180-degree" change in direction[4]. In actuality, it was so named because it was recorded in January 1980 (1/80). They dedicated one of their songs to Sandie Clark, a mysterious woman as yet unknown.
In 1981, they performed the song "Poor Rich Boy" (written by Burt Bacharach) to the soundtrack of the movie Arthur, starring Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, and John Gielgud.
In 1982 Lewis briefly left the group to be replaced temporarily by Bruce Hornsby, four years before his own rise to stardom. The same year, Ambrosia released their fifth and final studio album, Road Island, their first effort done without the assistance of Freddie Piro's production company. From the cover illustration of Ralph Steadman, the popular artist who illustrated Hunter S. Thompson's books, to the production of James Guthrie, to the album's dark central themes, Road Island was a conceptual, adventurous work of art that brought forward Ambrosia's exceptional talents. It also marked the end of an era for the band. Critics and fans alike poorly received it and in the wake of the album's disappointing performance, the band broke up, ending their run of chart success[4].
After Ambrosia, David Pack pursued a solo career and produced or worked with many top artists. Pack's 1985 solo album Anywhere You Go spawned the song "Prove Me Wrong," which also appeared on the soundtrack of the 1985 film White Nights starring Gregory Hines and Mikhail Baryshnikov. Joe Puerta became a founding member of Bruce Hornsby and the Range.
In 1989, Ambrosia reunited with all four original members and began playing live shows again, mostly on the West Coast. They expanded their ranks once again at this time by adding additional backing members: Tollak Ollestad (vocals, keyboards, harmonica) and Shem Von Schroeck (vocals, percussion, bass, guitar).
In 1995 the band began to expand their annual touring schedule. Pack had a conflict and guitarist John DeFaria filled in for him. Bernie Chiaravalle likewise stepped in in the summer of 1997 and Mike Keneally did the honors in 1998 and 2000 for the concerts Pack was not able to play. Brian Stiemke subbed for an ill Burleigh Drummond for a few shows in 1997. In 2001 when Pack's schedule grew way too busy, he was forced to bow out altogether and was replaced by Doug Jackson, who had filled in for him for some shows the previous year.
Shem had scheduling conflicts himself and Ricky Cosentino filled in for him in 1998, 2000 and 2003. Shem then left in 2003 to join Kenny Loggins' band. Robert Berry (vocals, guitars), formerly of 3 and GTR, joined temporarily in 2004-2005, and Ken Stacey jumped in in 2005. Since that time Shem has returned and he & Stacey have alternated with the group. Tollak Ollestad split in late 2004 to concentrate on a solo career and relocate to Holland where he has had success over there. David Cutler-Lewis then returned, after having substituted for Tollak on some 2003 gigs. But Tollak has remained on call to sub for various band members and returned to play their spring 2009 tour in place of Cutler-Lewis & Shem.
In 1997, Warner Bros. released Ambrosia's long awaited greatest hits CD, Anthology, an album that spanned the group's entire career and included three new tracks. In addition to Anthology, the entire Ambrosia catalog has been re-mastered and released on CD for the first time. The Year 2000 marked the 30th anniversary of Ambrosia, and the band celebrated with a very busy touring schedule that reaped box office success[2].
In 2002 the band recorded a live album without David Pack, Live at the Galaxy. Also, in 2003 Collectables Records released another compilation album, How Much I Feel and Other Hits. Several compilation albums and another live album have been released, though none officially from the band.
In 2004, the band released a DVD called Ambrosia: Real Artists Working. There have been no new studio albums since 1982, but they have written and performed new material, so a CD of all-new songs has long been in the planning stages.
David Pack released two 2005 solo projects: Unborn, a compilation of older unreleased material, and the more up-to-date The Secret of Movin' On featuring collaborations with Timothy B. Schmit of Eagles, former Journey vocalist Steve Perry, Heart legend Ann Wilson and America co-founder Dewey Bunnell amongst others. Both albums follow in Pack's recent bent of smooth pop-rock, meaning there's nary a prog note to be found.
The band, in the meanwhile, while continuing to tour essentially as an oldies act with other similar artists from the era (including John Ford Coley, Gary Wright and Stephen Bishop), often acting as the backing band for said other artists, have to some degree begun embarking on solo/other careers.
Joe Puerta has started a studio near his suburban Milwaukee home, The Exchange, where he's produced several artists including Les Lokey, Big Nick & the Cydecos, Alaria Taylor and The Good Luck Joes.
Burleigh Drummond drummed for roots CCM supergroup Lost Dogs for several albums and then started a group, Tin Drum, with his wife, Mary Harris, a singer/songwriter who has worked with Pink Floyd, XTC, Stanley Clarke and Jimmy Buffett. The band has released three albums and also become a production company with such varied artists on their roster as bluesman Mo Rodgers and kids-oriented gospel act Kingdom Bound.
Discography
- 1975: Ambrosia
- 1976: Somewhere I've Never Traveled
- 1978: Life Beyond L.A.
- 1980: One Eighty
- 1982: Road Island
- 1997: Anthology
- 2006: Ambrosia Live
Band members
- Current members
- Joe Puerta — vocals, bass, guitar
- Christopher North — keyboards (primarily Hammond organ and Chamberlin), synthesizers, backing vocals
- Burleigh Drummond — Drums, percussion, vocals, bassoon
- David Cutler-Lewis — keyboards
- Former members
References
- ^ a b c d Preston, J. (n.d.). The Ambrosia page. www.inertron.com/ambrosia/ambrosiapage.html (retrieved September 7, 2006)
- ^ a b Ambrosia page on ProgArchives.com (retrieved 11-Jan-09).
- ^ Steve Huey, Ambrosia Biography, from Yahoo! Music, music.yahoo.com.
- ^ a b c Sonboleh, R. (2002). Earthtone music, Ambrosia. www.earthtone-music.com/amb.htm (retrieved September 6, 2006).
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 29.
External links
