Ambrosia (band)

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The musical group Ambrosia was formed in the Los Angeles area during the early 1970s. The core members of the band are:

Contents

[edit] Formation and inspiration

The members of Ambrosia decided on the moniker since it connotes a vision of their music: all shades, textures, colors and styles. While many people are familiar with Ambrosia's radio hits of the 70's, the songs on their five albums range from progressive to experimental. The band is as comfortable with ballads as they are with driving rock and roll. They can be meaningful or mischievous; however, the music is continuously copious and the harmonies are magnificently intermingled (Preston, n.d.).

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 slickly produced pop sound (J. Preston, n.d.).

According to Preston (n.d.), 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 Whiskey 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 progressive rock era, acquired a significant regional admiration for their inventive musicianship and skillful arranging. In 1971, Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Zubin Mehta, who featured Ambrosia as part of a so-called All-American Dream Concert, discovered the group. However, it took them four additional years to obtain a recording contract (Ambrosia, 2005).

The major influences on Ambrosia’s music include: The Allman Brothers, The Sons of Champlin, Yes, The Who, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Traffic, Pink Floyd and later Genesis and Gentle Giant. On an individual basis, David Pack always loved Motown and this is evident in his singing and song writing; Christopher North was classically trained; however, loves jazz and the blues; Burleigh Drummond had early training in stage acting; and Joe Puerta liked anything that had a tone (Preston, n.d.).

[edit] 1970s

The eponymous first album, Ambrosia, was released in 1975. It spawned the chart singles Holdin' on to Yesterday as well as the FM classic Nice, Nice, Very Nice. The latter was based on Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s Cat's Cradle. The album was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Engineered Recording (other than Classical).

According to Preston (n.d.), 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 two 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, 2005).

Additionally in 1976, the group participated in a variety of projects. They covered a Beatles song for the transitory musical documentary All This and World War II. The film's sountrack consisted of different groups providing arrangements of Beatles songs. Ambrosia provided an arrangement of Magical Mystery Tour, scoring a top 40 hit that has since been very popular in their live shows (Huey, 2006).

In 1978 Life Beyond LA was released; Ambrosia’s third album. It continued in a progressive rock style, but without the lush arrangements and with a harder edge. Christopher North left the group just before their biggest pop breakthrough, scoring their first gold CHR hit, with How Much I Feel. Extensive touring with Fleetwood Mac and the Doobie Brothers, in addition to major headlining shows, cemented Ambrosia's reputation as a stellar live act (Sonboleh, 2002).

[edit] 1980s

In 1980, Warner Bros. released One Eighty, a smash LP that produced two of the year's biggest hits, You're the Only Woman, reaching number thrirteen, and Biggest Part of Me, which reached number three. The LP marked a change in the band’s direction, into mainstream popular music. This album added new members to the band, and 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 (Sonboleh, 2002).

Ambrosia released their fifth and last album, Road Island, in 1982, 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 (Sonboleh, 2002).

After Ambrosia, David Pack produced many records by top artists. Joe Puerta was a founding member of Bruce Hornsby and the Range. However, in 1990, Ambrosia reunited with original members and performed live shows. There have been no new albums since 1982, but they have written and performed new material, so a CD of all-new songs is a possibility (Preston, n.d.).

In 1997, Warner Bros. released Ambrosia's long awaited greatest hits CD, Anthology, an album that spans the group's entire career and includes 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 (Ambrosia, 2005).

In 2002 the band released a live album, Live At The Galaxy, and a best-of album with the tracks remastered, titled The Essentials, which includes a broad spectrum of their music. In 2004, they released yet another best-of album titled How Much I Feel And Other Hits, which contains mainly ballads. The band talked about doing another album of original music; however, David Pack is no longer a member of the band. He recently released a solo project which features collaborations with Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles and former Journey vocalist Steve Perry, among others.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Ambrosia (1975)

Featuring the Songs:

  • "Nice, Nice, Very Nice"
  • "Time Waits for No One"
  • "Holdin' on to Yesterday"
  • "World Leave me Alone"
  • "Make Us All Aware"
  • "Lover Arrive"
  • "Mama Frog"
  • "Drink of Water"

[edit] Somewhere I've Never Traveled (1976)

Featuring the songs:

  • "And... Somewhere I've Never Traveled"
  • "Cowboy Star"
  • "Runnin' Away"
  • "Harvey"
  • "I Wanna Know"
  • "The Brunt"
  • "Dance with me George (Chopin's Plea)"
  • "Can't Let a Woman"
  • "We Need You Too"

[edit] Life Beyond L.A. (1978)

Featuring the songs:

  • "Life Beyond L.A."
  • "Art Beware"
  • "Apothecary"
  • "If Heaven Could Find Me"
  • "How Much I Feel"
  • "Dancin' By Myself"
  • "Angola"
  • "Heart to Heart"
  • "Not as You Were"
  • "Ready for Camarillo"

[edit] One Eighty (1980)

Featuring the songs:

  • "Ready"
  • "Shape I'm In"
  • "Kamikaze"
  • "You're the Only Woman"
  • "Rock N' A Hard Place"
  • "Livin' On My Own"
  • "Cryin' In The Rain"
  • "No Big Deal"
  • "Biggest Part Of Me"

[edit] Road Island (1982)

Featuring the songs:

  • "For Openers (Welcome Home)"
  • "Still Not Satisfied"
  • "Kid No More"
  • "Feelin' Alive Again"
  • "How Can You Love Me"
  • "Fool Like Me"
  • "Ice Age"
  • "Endings"

[edit] Anthology (1997)

Featuring the songs:

  • "Mama Don't Understand"
  • "Biggest Part Of Me"
  • "You're The Only Woman"
  • "Nice, Nice, Very Nice"
  • "Life Beyond L.A."
  • "Livin' On My Own"
  • "Holdin' On To Yesterday"
  • "Angola"
  • "How Much I Feel"
  • "Time Waits For No One"
  • "I Just Can't Let Go"
  • "Heart To Heart"
  • "And...Somewhere I've Never Travelled"
  • "Sky Is Falling"
  • "Still Not Satisfied"
  • "Cowboy Star"

[edit] Live At The Galaxy (2002)

Featuring the songs:

  • "Nice, Nice, Very Nice"
  • "Livin' On My Own"
  • "You're The Only Woman"
  • "Mama Don't Understand"
  • "And...Somewhere I've Never Travelled"
  • "In My Life"
  • "Time Waits For No One"
  • "How Much I Feel"
  • "Magical Mystery Tour"
  • "Drink of Water"
  • "Holdin' On To Yesterday"
  • "Biggest Part Of Me"

[edit] Essentials (2002)

Featuring the songs:

  • "Nice, Nice, Very Nice"
  • "Holdin' On To Yesterday"
  • "And...Somewhere I've Never Travelled"
  • "How Much I Feel"
  • "Biggest Part Of Me"
  • "You're The Only Woman"
  • "How Can You Love Me"
  • "Life Beyond L.A."
  • "For Openers (Welcome Home)"
  • "Cryin' In The Rain"
  • "Time Waits For No One"
  • "We Need You Too"

[edit] How Much I Feel and Other Hits (2003)

Featuring the songs:

  • "How Much I Feel"
  • "How Can You Love Me"
  • "Livin' On My Own"
  • "Heart To Heart"
  • "Sky Is Falling"
  • "You're The Only Woman"
  • "I Just Can't Let Go"
  • "Angola"
  • "Mama Don't Understand"
  • "Holdin' On To Yesterday"

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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