Skylark (Canadian band)

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For more uses of the word Skylark, see Skylark (disambiguation)

Skylark was a Canadian pop/rock band active from 1971-1973 (1974?) and based in the Pacific Northwest. The band formed from one of Ronnie Hawkins' backup groups and signed with Capitol Records, releasing a self-titled album in 1972 which spawned three singles. The group, whose alumni include renowned composer/arranger David Foster, disbanded after the lukewarm reception of their second album, 2, and its members achieved mixed success in other projects.

Their biggest single, "Wildflower", was a 1972 number one hit in Canada, making Billboard's top 10, and selling over a million copies. It was written by guitarist Doug Edwards and Dave Richardson, who was a Victoria police officer at the time. "Wildflower" is an early example of the power ballad, featuring a strong, emotional lead vocal, a blend of electric guitar, strings and harp, distinctive "slow dance" percussion, and almost-gospel background vocals. It has since been covered by Johnny Mathis, The New Birth, The O'Jays, Kenny Rogers, Aaron Neville, Gary Morris, Color Me Badd, Lisa Fischer, Hong Kong superstar Sandy Lam, and sampled by Tupac Shakur and Jamie Foxx.

[edit] Members

B.J. Cook (vocals), Doug Edwards (guitar), David Foster (keyboards), Donny Gerrard (vocals), Carl Graves (percussion), Duris Maxwell (drums), Steven Pugsley (bass), Kat Hendricks (drums; replaced Hilton), Brian Hilton (drums; replaced Maxwell), Norman McPherson (guitar; replaced Edwards), John Verner (Guitar; American, replaced McPherson), Allan Mix (guitar; replaced Verner and wrote for sally struthers save the children commercial