Pros: Hits:"Holdin' On To Yesterday,""How Much I Feel,""Biggest Part Of Me"...
Cons: Doesn't include their Top 40 cover of The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour."
The Bottom Line: The Top 20 hits "Biggest Part Of Me," "How Much I Feel," "Holdin' On To Yesterday" and "You're The Only Woman" are part of a fine music collection.
Ambrosia doesn't get a lot of airplay these days, but in the mid-1970s they were a major pop music act, influenced by Alan Parsons, Pink Floyd and The Beatles.
Author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., author of "Slaughterhouse-Five" (the 1969 book that became a 1972 film), was a fan of the band, even co-writing their 1975 hit (# 63 on the charts) "Nice, Nice, Very Nice."
The recording lineup for their first, self-titled album on 20th Century Fox Records in 1975 was: David Pack, guitar/vocals; Joe Puerta, bass/vocals (later of Bruce Hornsby & The Range); Christopher North, keyboards/vocals, and Burleigh Drummond, drums/vocals (he later worked with Frank Zappa and Tin Drum).
Guitarist David Pack has enjoyed enormous success solo as a producer for acts such as Brian McKnight (he wrote "Remember The Night" for him), Linda Ronstadt, James Ingram, Kenny Loggins (the million-selling, Grammy-nominated "Return To Pooh Corner"), Michael McDonald, D. C. Talk, Wynonna Judd (he wrote and produced two songs for her album "The Other Side"), the Grammy-winning "The Songs Of West Side Story Tribute To Leonard Bernstein" and the Grammy-winning "Tribute - Songs Of Andrae Crouch," among others.
As a songwriter, he has written songs for the films "No Mercy," "Wildcats," "White Nights" and "Arthur" (the song "Poor Rich Boy"). He also composed Patti Austin's Top 10 Adult Contemporary hit "Through The Test Of Time" and Jack Wagner's Top 10 hit "All I Need."
As a music director, he was in charge of the music program for both of President Clinton's inagurations.
For Ambrosia, he wrote two songs that have earned BMI Awards for "two million airplays" (meaning that each song has been played two million times at some broadcast outlet --- very few songs reach this level): "Biggest Part Of Me" and "How Much I Feel."
Ambrosia's first album was produced Freddie Piro. It was mixed by Alan Parsons, who would record as The Alan Parsons Project by the end of that year and who is probably best known as producer of Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" album.
The band's first hit, "Holdin' On To Yesterday," hit the charts for 14 weeks beginning in June 1975. It eventually peaked at # 17 on the Billboard magazine charts.
It's my favorite of their songs (they also did a wonderful cover of The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour," but it unfortunately doesn't appear here). The tune is a slow, sweet piano ballad, with a lovely guitar solo and an oh-so-gentle violin improvisation by Daniel Kobialka (from Leonard Bernstein's band; Bernstein was another huge fan of the group).
The harmonies are sweet and the lead vocal smooth. The intelligent lyrics add to the memorable effect of this song about love lost (written by Pack and Puerta, their first song written together):
"I keep holding on to yesterday / I keep holding on enough to say / that I'm wrong / I keep thinking that I'm lonely / but it's only missing you inside / days that we were once together / seems will never come alive / so I keep holding on to yesterday..."
The band did the near impossible in 1975 by getting both Top 40 AM popularity and crossing over to FM radio's Album Oriented Rock (AOR) format. Their album received a Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Recording.
The follow-up single, "Nice, Nice, Very Nice" got a not-so-nice chart position of # 63.
The band was tapped for the soundtrack for the film "All This And World War Too" which gave them a # 39 hit with a cover of The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" (not on this album) which brought the band back to the Top 40 in 1977. As the band tried to expand their popularity, they toured with acts such as Fleetwood Mac, Blue Oyster Cult, The Beach Boys, Foreigner and Starship.
The band's second album, "Somewhere I've Never Travelled," had no hits, but did get the # 1 spot on FM/College radio playlists nationally. Lack of album success on the major pop charts though would end when the band left 20th Century Fox Records for Warner Brothers Records in 1978.
"How Much I Feel":
The band's greatest success came in 1978 when Pack's "How Much I Feel" went to # 3 during a 21-week chart run. A gentle, keyboards-based, uptempo pop ballad, the tune almost didn't make their first Warner's release, "Life Beyond L. A.," because the label was afraid it would alienate their rock audience.
The song, of course, did make the album, and was released as a single, reaching # 3 in Billboard while going straight to # 1 in Radio & Record, another industry chart publication. It features another tune where Pack's lyrics stand out:
"I don't know how this whole business started / of you thinking that I had been untrue / but if you think that we'd be better parted / it's gonna hurt me but I'll break away from you / well, just give me the sign / and I will be gone / that's how much I feel / feel for you baby / how much I need / well, I need your touch / how much I live / I live for your lovin' / that's how much..."
The album included Pack's "Life Beyond L.A.," which became a # 1 hit at FM and college radio stations. The album was reviewed by Billboard, which called it "a work of collective genius."
Around this time, the band toured with The Doobie Brothers. Pack became friends with Michael McDonald from that band, with both eventually writing together as songwriters and Pack touring for a year as McDonald's guitarist in 1987-88.
"Biggest Part Of Me":
In 1980, the single "Biggest Part Of Me" (written by Pack) also went to # 3 in Billboard (and, again, hit # 1 in Radio & Record). It received three Grammy nominations.
Like Ambrosia's biggest hits, "Biggest Part Of Me" was yet another ballad from Pack, a man who once said he "lived for beautiful four-part harmony":
"Sunrise / there's a new sun rising / in your eyes / I can see a new horizon / that keeps me realizin' / you're the biggest part of me..."
The next single, in the summer of 1980, "You're The Only Woman," went to # 13 in Billboard (Top 10 in Radio & Record), was another Pack-written ballad, featuring some great synthesizer work:
"...you and I've been in love too long / to worry about tomorrow / there's a place where we both belong / I know you're the only woman that I've been dreaming of / you're the only woman that I really love..."
The end:
The final Ambrosia album, "Road Island" in 1982, was produced by James Guthrie, who had worked on Pink Floyd's "The Wall." The album stiffed on the charts, with the only hit being "How Can You Love," which peaked at # 86 in Billboard (and it is not on this album).
The band members went their seperate ways, although the band members have regrouped over the years for tours. What this album offers is a testimony to their fine record as recording artists, full of sweet harmonies and lovely ballads. If intelligent pop ballads are to your liking, you'll enjoy this release.
Perhaps author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., in a 1976 fan letter to the band, summed it up best for all music fans when he wrote, "Music is the only art that's worth a damn. I envy you guys."
The CD booklet:
Very informative, though poorly illustrated, 12-page biography of the band in the CD booklet. Includes a link to an official website that no longer exists (this album was released in 1997).
The CD's 16 tracks:
"Mama Don't Understand Me," "Biggest Part Of Me," "You're The Only Woman," "Nice, Nice, Very Nice," "Life Beyond L. A." (a major slap at the Tinseltown stardom lifestyle), "Livin' On My Own," "Holdin' On To Yesterday" and "Angola."
Also, "How Much I Feel," "Time Waits For No One" (not to be confused with The Rolling Stones' song of the same name), "I Just Can't Let Go," "Heart To Heart," "And...Somewhere I've Never Travelled," "Sky Is Falling," "Still Not Satisfied" and "Cowboy Star (edited version)."
On the web:
The official band site no longer exists, but David Pack has an official site of his own at: http://www.davidpack.com
You might also enjoy:
Capitol/EMI's 20-track 24-bit digitally remastered CD "Greatest" by Raspberries (the original lineup --- Eric Carmen, Wally Bryson, Dave Smalley and Jim Bonfanti --- who sang the million-seller "Go All The Way" reunited in 2004-2005) was released in May of 2005 in the U. S. and Europe. It features all 7 of Raspberries Hot 100 singles, has 20 tracks and runs 78:53 minutes: http://www.epinions.com/content_186044681860
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