Ambrosia is an American rock band formed in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in 1970. Ambrosia had five top 40 hit singles released between 1975 and 1980, including the top 5 hits " How Much I Feel" and " Biggest Part of Me", and top 20 hits "

You're the Only Woman (You & I) "You're the Only Woman (You & I)" is a song by American soft rock band Ambrosia, released in 1980 as the second single from the album '' One Eighty''. The song was their fifth and final U.S. top 40 hit, peaking at No. 13 on the U.S. ''Billboard' ...

" and "

Holdin' on to Yesterday "Holdin' On to Yesterday" is the debut single by American rock band Ambrosia. It was written by David Pack and Joe Puerta. Chart performance The song was released in the spring of 1975 as the lead single from their eponymous debut album, peaking ...

". Most of the original band members have been active with the group continuously for over thirty years to the present day, with the notable exception of original lead vocalist and guitarist

David Pack David Robert Pack (born July 15, 1952) is an American singer and musician who co-founded the rock band Ambrosia in the 1970s. Career As performer Pack was co-founder, guitarist and main vocalist for the band Ambrosia. His collected works as a ...

since 2000. Ambrosia currently tours internationally and has worked in the past and present with

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

Alan Parsons Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948) is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Parsons was involved with the production of several notable albums, including the Beatles' ''Abbey Road'' (1969) and ''Let It Be'' ( ...

Bruce Hornsby Bruce Randall Hornsby (born November 23, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. His music draws from folk rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Southern rock, country rock, jam band, rock, heartland rock, and blues rock musical traditions ...

Bill Champlin William Bradford Champlin (born May 21, 1947) is an American singer, musician, arranger, producer, and songwriter. He formed the band Sons of Champlin in 1965, which still performs today, and was a member of the band Chicago from 1981–2009. ...

, Michael McDonald and

Peter Beckett Peter Beckett (born 10 August 1948) is an English musician and songwriter who has written songs for many prominent recording artists, his own bands and solo work, and for several films. He is likely best known as the lead singer and guitarist ...

among other notable artists.

Formation

The group was founded as a quartet with guitarist/vocalist

, bassist/vocalist

Joe Puerta Joe Puerta (born 2 July 1951, California, US) is the bassist/vocalist and founder of the American rock group Ambrosia. He co-wrote one of the band's early hits, "Holdin' On To Yesterday" (1975). He was a touring member (bass/vocals) of the bands ...

, keyboardist Christopher North and drummer

Burleigh Drummond Burleigh Drummond (born September 25, 1951) is an American drummer, percussionist, producer, songwriter, and singer. He is a founding member and the only drummer/percussionist for the five-time Grammy Award nominated band Ambrosia. He currently ...

. According to Joe Puerta, their original name was "Ambergris Mite," but after doing some touring they discovered there was already a band using the name "Ambergris," so they turned to the dictionary and picked the name "Ambrosia" because a name meaning "nectar of the gods" seemed fitting. While Ambrosia had several radio hits in the 1970s, much of the material on their five albums is progressive in nature. The founding constituents of Ambrosia were reared in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

's South Bay, later adopting San Pedro as their hometown. Their initial musical influences, like many of their generation, came from

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...

Jimmy Reed Mathis James Reed (September 6, 1925 – August 29, 1976) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His particular style of electric blues was popular with blues as well as non-blues audiences. Reed's songs such as "Honest I Do" (1957), " ...

King Crimson King Crimson are a progressive rock band formed in 1968 in London, England. The band draws inspiration from a wide variety of music, incorporating elements of classical, jazz, folk, heavy metal, gamelan, industrial, electronic, experime ...

, and

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. Ambrosia fused symphonic

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ...

with a slickly produced pop sound,Preston, J. (n.d.). The Ambrosia page.
(retrieved September 7, 2006) resulting in a "melodic prog" style. Early on, the band was infatuated with Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young and began to experiment with vocal harmonies. After the group attended a show at the

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boule ...

in December 1969 to see an unknown but highly recommended new band called

, their perception of music was changed. The musicians, inspired by the music and artists of the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

era, acquired a significant regional admiration. In 1971, a friend who was doing sound for the

Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is an amphitheatre in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was named one of the 10 best live music venues in America by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in 2018. The Hollywood Bowl is known for its distin ...

, invited them to play there on stage to test a new sound system that had been installed. Gordon Parry, the head engineer in charge at the Bowl, was so impressed with the group that he invited them back to attend performances by the Los Angeles Philharmonic. He introduced them to conductor

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father was the fou ...

, who featured Ambrosia as part of a so-called All-American Dream Concert.

Rise to fame

Ambrosia auditioned for

Herb Alpert Herb Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American trumpeter who led the band Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass in the 1960s. During the same decade, he co-founded A&M Records with Jerry Moss. Alpert has recorded 28 albums that have landed on the ...

and

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

early in their history, but were signed by

20th Century Fox Records 20th Century Fox Records (also known as 20th Fox Records and 20th Century Records, or simply 20th Century Fox Film Scores and Fox Records) was a wholly owned subsidiary of film studio 20th Century Fox. The history of the label covers three dis ...

in 1975, who released two albums by the group. Their first album, the eponymous ''

Ambrosia In the ancient Greek myths, ''ambrosia'' (, grc, ἀμβροσία 'immortality'), the food or drink of the Greek gods, is often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It was brought to the gods in Olympus ...

'', produced by Freddie Piro, was released in February 1975. It spawned the top 20 chart single "Holdin' On to Yesterday", as well as "Nice, Nice, Very Nice". The latter sets to music the lyrics to a poem in

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

's ''

Cat's Cradle Cat's cradle is a game involving the creation of various string figures between the fingers, either individually or by passing a loop of string back and forth between two or more players. The true origin of the name is debated, though the fir ...

''. The album was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for Best Engineered Recording (other than Classical).

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 The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock band active between 1975 and 1990, whose core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They were accompani ...

album, '' Tales of Mystery and Imagination'', which was recorded soon after Ambrosia's first album. David Pack later appeared on the Alan Parsons album ''

Try Anything Once ''Try Anything Once'' is the first solo album by Alan Parsons, released in 1993. It was his first album following the split of The Alan Parsons Project. This album features vocals by Ambrosia's David Pack, Jacqui Copland, former Mindbender a ...

'' (1993), co-writing, playing, and providing vocals on three songs. The music group Ambrosia backstage in the 1970s

After lengthy touring, the band returned in September 1976 with ''Somewhere I've Never Travelled''. The album yielded the title song and the single "Can't Let a Woman", which both became FM favorites, both featuring lush orchestration and vocal arrangements. The record sleeve folded into a large pyramid. ''Somewhere I've Never Travelled'' received a Grammy nomination and set the stage for the band's signing to Warner Bros. Records. In 1976 the group recorded

song "

Magical Mystery Tour ''Magical Mystery Tour'' is a record by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a double EP in the United Kingdom and an LP in the United States. It includes the soundtrack to the 1967 television film of the same name. The EP ...

", for the transitory musical documentary, '' All This and World War II'' (November 1976). The film's soundtrack consisted of different artists providing arrangements of Beatles songs. Their version of "Magical Mystery Tour" scored a top 40 hit, and has since been a staple of their live shows.Steve Huey, Ambrosia Biography, from Yahoo! Music
music.yahoo.com
In August 1978, ''Life Beyond L.A.'' was released. It marked a move away from their lush arrangements and introduced a more raw, aggressive jazz/R&B influence. Christopher North, who had family obligations and was not totally happy with the group's shift away from the sound of the first two albums, had left the group in 1977 during the album's recording. The year 1978 marked their biggest pop breakthrough with their first Gold single " How Much I Feel" from the album, which was a No. 3 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Warner Bros advertised the title cut for radio and ''Life Beyond L.A.'' started to get significant airplay on radio stations, a few months after the album's release. Extensive touring with

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epo ...

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as ca ...

, and the Doobie Brothers, in addition to major headlining shows, cemented Ambrosia's reputation as a live act.Sonboleh, R. (2002). Earthtone music, Ambrosia.
(retrieved September 6, 2006). For the 1978 touring band, North returned and the group added a second keyboardist, David C. Lewis, as well as an additional singer, Royce Jones, who joined in late 1978. In April 1980 Warner Bros. released ''One Eighty'', which produced two of the year's biggest hits. The first, " Biggest Part of Me", reached number three for three weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and crossed over to the soul chart, where it peaked at number thirty-five. The second, another blue-eyed soul hit, "

", reached No. 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ''One Eighty'' earned the band three Grammy nominations, including Best Pop Vocal Group. A headlining world tour followed. For the Japanese leg of the tour, the group was joined by their longtime friend Cliff Woolley (formerly of

the Association The Association is an American sunshine pop band from California. During the late 1960s, the band had numerous hits at or near the top of the ''Billboard'' charts (including " Windy", " Cherish", " Never My Love" and " Along Comes Mary") a ...

, who had also guested on ''Life Beyond L.A.'') on guitar, harmonica, and backup vocals. The title of the album ''One Eighty'' was believed by fans to signal the group's "180-degree" change in direction. The band maintains that the album title came from the fact that they began recording in January 1980 (1/80). Also in 1980, the band contributed the song "Outside" to the film ''

Inside Moves ''Inside Moves'' is a 1980 American drama film directed by Richard Donner. The film is based on the book of the same name by Todd Walton, with a script by then writing duo Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson. Plot After a suicide attempt leav ...

'', and "Feels So Good to Win" appeared in the film '' Coast to Coast'' later that same year. The following year they placed another track, "Poor Rich Boy" (written by

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gr ...

), on the soundtrack of the film, ''

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more wi ...

''. In 1982, David C. Lewis briefly left the touring group to be replaced by

, four years before his own rise to stardom. The same year, Ambrosia released their fifth and final studio album, ''Road Island'' (May 1982), their first effort without the assistance of Freddie Piro's production company. Produced by James Guthrie, the album consisted of intense, driving hard rock (outside of the soft ballad "Feeling Alive Again" and the progressive rock closer "Endings"). Though it received some airplay with "How Can You Love Me", the album was a commercial disappointment. The band broke up afterwards, ending their run of chart success.

Later years

After Ambrosia, David Pack pursued a solo career and produced or worked with many top artists. Pack's 1985 solo album, '' Anywhere You Go'', included the song "Prove Me Wrong", which also appeared on the soundtrack of the 1985 film ''

White Nights White night, White Night, or White Nights may refer to: * White night (astronomy), a night in which it never gets completely dark, at high latitudes outside the Arctic and Antarctic Circles * White Night festivals, all-night arts festivals held ...

''. Joe Puerta became a founding member of

Bruce Hornsby and the Range Bruce Randall Hornsby (born November 23, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. His music draws from folk rock, jazz, bluegrass, folk, Southern rock, country rock, jam band, rock, heartland rock, and blues rock musical traditions. ...

. In 1989, Ambrosia reunited with all four original members and began playing live shows again, mostly on the West Coast. They expanded their touring ranks once again with

Tollak Ollestad Tollak Ollestad is an American harmonica player, singer, keyboardist and songwriter. He is best known for his harmonica feature performance on the Northern Exposure tv series theme and on recordings by artists including Christopher Cross, Al Jarr ...

(vocals, keyboards, harmonica) and Shem von Schroeck (vocals, percussion, bass, guitar). In 1995, the band expanded their annual touring schedule. Pack had a conflict and guitarist John DeFaria filled in for him.

Bernie Chiaravalle Bernie Chiaravalle (born August 11, 1953) is an American guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is known for backing up Michael McDonald. Career Chiaravalle was born in Port Hueneme, California. He studied piano as a child and still plays it. Ac ...

likewise stepped-in in the summer of 1997 and

Mike Keneally Michael Joseph Keneally (born December 20, 1961) is an American session guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist and composer. Early years and musical influences Keneally started playing music at the age of 7 when he received an electric organ for h ...

did the honors in 1998 and 2000 for the concerts Pack was unable to play. Brian Stiemke subbed for an ill Burleigh Drummond for a few shows in 1997. In May 1997, Warner Bros. released Ambrosia's greatest hits CD ''Anthology'', which contained tracks from all five albums plus three new tracks. In addition to ''Anthology'', the entire Ambrosia catalog was remastered and released on CD. The band launched a 30th anniversary tour in 2000. Early the following year, it was announced that Pack had permanently left the band and he was replaced by Doug Jackson, who had filled in for him for some shows the previous year. Pack's final show with the band was on November 4, 2000, in Chandler,

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. Jackson was in place on guitar for their 2001 shows, except for one gig at

Stone Mountain Park Stone Mountain is a quartz monzonite dome monadnock and the site of Stone Mountain Park, east of Atlanta, Georgia. Outside the park is the small city of Stone Mountain, Georgia. The park is the most visited tourist site in the state of Georgia. ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

on August 25 where Steve Farris (from Mr. Mister) subbed for him. Ricky Cosentino filled in for Shem for some concerts in 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2003. Shem then left in 2003 to join

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His ...

' band. Robert Berry (vocals, guitars), formerly of 3 and GTR, joined temporarily in 2004–2005, and singer/guitarist

Ken Stacey Ken Stacey (born in Los Angeles, California) is an American lead singer, guitarist, songwriter, session vocalist and backing vocalist. Stacey has worked with Michael Jackson, Phil Collins, Johnny Hallyday, Natalie Jackson, Richard Marx, and Phil ...

became a member in 2005. Shem then returned and he and Stacey alternated with the group for a while.

left in late 2004 to concentrate on a solo career and relocate to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

where he has had success. David C. Lewis then returned, after having substituted for Ollestad on some 1999 and 2003 gigs. Ollestad remained on call to sub for various band members and came back to play with Ambrosia's spring 2009 tour in place of Lewis and Shem. Later in 2009, Rick Cowling (formerly with Kenny Loggins) came in on vocals, guitar, and keyboards, though Ollestad still appeared with the band from time to time, most recently in 2010 when Doug Jackson was out playing guitar for

Gary Wright Gary Malcolm Wright (born April 26, 1943) is an American musician and composer best known for his 1976 hit songs "Dream Weaver" and " Love Is Alive", and for his role in helping establish the synthesizer as a leading instrument in rock and pop ...

, and again while Cowling moved over to lead guitar until Jackson's return later in the year.

Current era

Ambrosia appeared on the May 2, 2011 episode of ''

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon ''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by comedian Jimmy Fallon. About pag ...

'' as part of the host's "

Yacht Rock Yacht rock (originally known as the West Coast soundThat ' ...

2k11" theme show, performing "Biggest Part of Me" (during the show) and "How Much I Feel" (after the formal taping, but put up on the Fallon website). In 2012, Burleigh Drummond's wife Mary Harris, after filling in on a show or two since 2000, became a permanent band member on keyboards and vocals. Harris is also a vocal arranger and songwriter, who has co-written new material for Ambrosia performed onstage. She has previously worked in varied capacities with

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philosophical lyrics an ...

XTC XTC were an English rock band formed in Swindon in 1972. Fronted by songwriters Andy Partridge (guitars, vocals) and Colin Moulding (bass, vocals), the band gained popularity during the rise of punk and new wave in the 1970s, later playing i ...

Stanley Clarke Stanley Clarke (born June 30, 1951) is an American bassist, film composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first ja ...

and for many years with

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffe ...

. Ken Stacey rejoined in 2014 after Rick Cowling departed. Ambrosia's six-person lineup was then stable for a while and the group continued to tour, sometimes combining their talents with other artists including

, Michael McDonald,

Edgar Winter Edgar Holland Winter (born December 28, 1946) is an American musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist, playing keyboards, guitar, saxophone, and percussion, as well as singing. His success peaked in the 1970s with his band the Edgar Winter Group ...

Dave Mason David Thomas Mason (born 10 May 1946) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic. Over the course of his career, Mason has played and recorded with many notable pop and rock mu ...

Al Stewart Alastair Ian Stewart (born 5 September 1945) is a Scottish born singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s. He developed a unique style of combining folk-rock so ...

and others. Ambrosia's live performances showcase both their legacy hit material and more recent songs. Ambrosia continues to feature a majority of the band's founding members, with Puerta, Drummond and North onstage, as they have been for the past thirty plus years.

Kipp Lennon Christopher Joel "Kipp" Lennon (born March 12, 1960) is an American musician, and a founding member of the folk rock band Venice. His role in the band includes performing as a lead vocalist and percussionist. Kipp Lennon has also been a member ...

(from the Venice, California band Venice) joined on lead vocals to start the 2021 tour as the band began their post lockdown era, Ken Stacey having exited during their downtime in 2020. Former keyboardist for the band David Cutler Lewis died of brain cancer on June 7, 2021. Former member Shem von Schroeck returned in the fall of 2022, this time on drums, to sub for Drummond, who was recovering from back surgery.

Live and alumni albums

On September 1, 2001, the band recorded a live album at the Galaxy Theater in

Santa Ana, California Santa Ana () is the second most populous city and the county seat of Orange County, California. Located in the Greater Los Angeles region of Southern California, the city's population was 310,227 at the 2020 census, making Santa Ana the 13th-m ...

without David Pack. This album, ''Live'', was released in May 2002. Also, in 2003

Collectables Records Collectables is a reissue record label founded in 1980 by Jerry Greene. Jerry Greene formed Lost Nite and Crimson record labels. Soul Survivors gained the hit "Expressway to Your Heart" (1967) while on Crimson Records. History It maintains a ca ...

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''. Ambrosia has written and performed new material, and an album of all new original material is currently being recorded, their first since 1982.

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 Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, jus ...

fame, former

Journey Journey or journeying may refer to: * Travel, the movement of people between distant geographical locations ** Day's journey, a measurement of distance ** Road trip, a long-distance journey on the road Animals * Journey (horse), a thoroughbred ra ...

vocalist

Steve Perry Stephen Ray Perry (born January 22, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the rock band Journey during their most commercially successful periods from 1977 to 1987, and again from 1995 to 1998. He also wrote/co ...

vocalist

Ann Wilson Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in t ...

and

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

co-founder

Dewey Bunnell Lee Merton "Dewey" Bunnell (born 19 January 1952) is a British-American musician, singer, guitarist, and songwriter, best known as a member of the folk rock band America. Biography Bunnell was born in Harrogate, Yorkshire, England, to an Americ ...

, amongst others. Both albums follow in Pack's later era style of smooth pop-rock.

Member solo projects

Several members have established careers outside of Ambrosia. * 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 Lost Dogs are an American musical supergroup formed in 1991, comprising vocalists, songwriters, and guitarists from multiple Christian alternative rock bands. Their current lineup includes Terry Scott Taylor (Daniel Amos, the Swirling Eddies) ...

for several albums. He and Mary Harris co-founded their own group, Tin Drum, which has released three albums to date. Tin Drum also become a production company with such varied artists on their roster as bluesman Mighty Mo Rodgers and kids-oriented gospel act Kingdom Bound. * Doug Jackson released his second solo album in 2016. * David Pack joined childhood friend and former bandmate Fred Beato to form Beato Band.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (1975) * ''

Somewhere I've Never Travelled ''Somewhere I've Never Travelled'' is the second album by Ambrosia, and their final album on 20th Century Fox Records, released in 1976. The 1st pressings of the vinyl LP were issued in a custom "pyramid" cover, having 3 fold-out panels that turne ...

'' (1976) * '' Life Beyond L.A.'' (1978) * '' One Eighty'' (1980) * '' Road Island'' (1982)

Band members

;Current members *

- bass, backing and lead vocals, guitar (1970-1982, 1989–present) *

- drums, backing and occasional lead vocals, percussion, bassoon (1970-1982, 1989–present) * Christopher North - keyboards (1970-1977, 1978–1982, 1989-present) * Doug Jackson - guitars, backing vocals (2000–present) * Mary Harris - keyboards, backing and occasional lead vocals (2012–present) *

- lead and backing vocals, percussion (2021–present) ;Former members *

- guitars, lead and backing vocals, keyboards (1970-1982, 1989–2000) * David C. Lewis - keyboards (1978-1982, 2005–2009; died 2021) * Royce Jones - backing and lead vocals, percussion (1978-1982) *

- keyboards, backing vocals (1982) *

- keyboards, backing and lead vocals, harmonica (1989-2004) *Shem von Schroeck - lead and backing vocals, percussion, guitar, bass, drums (1989-2003, 2005–2009, 2022) * Robert Berry - lead and backing vocals, guitar (2004-2005) *

- lead and backing vocals, percussion, guitar (2005-2009, 2014–2020) *Rick Cowling - lead and backing vocals, keyboards, guitar (2009-2013)

Timeline

References

External links

* *
Michael McDonald sits in with Ambrosia in a tribute to the late B. B. King in May, 2015

Ambrosia’s Mary Harris and Burleigh Drummond
interviewed by

Gonzo Today Gonzo Today is an internet-based publication inspired by the writing and reporting style of gonzo journalism popularized by Hunter Thompson. Interviews Among other pursuits, Gonzo Today interviews a wide range of subjects, as reported by the ...

in 2017 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ambrosia American soft rock music groups Rock music groups from California Musical groups established in 1970 Musical groups disestablished in 1982 Musical groups reestablished in 1989