Ambrosia

Ambrosia – formed in Los Angeles, California in 1970 – is a soft rock band best known for Top 5 hits “How Much I Feel” and “Biggest Part of Me.” Founded by David Pack (guitar / vocals), Joe Puerta (bass / vocals), Burleigh Drummond (drums), and Christopher North (keyboards), the band combined progressive rock with jazz, soul, and rock into a mix that would later be referred to as ‘yacht rock.’ Signed to the 20th Century Fox Records and released their self-titled debut album in 1975. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Recording (thanks to Alan Parsons) and featured the Top 20 hit “Holdin’ on to Yesterday.” After having Parsons engineer the debut, the four members of Ambrosia performed on the debut album by The Alan Parsons Project, Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Their second album, Somewhere I’ve Never Travelled (1976), was produced by Alan Parsons and was nominated for a Grammy Award. The group left 20th Century Fox and signed with Warner Bros. Records and began working on their third album. Part way through the recording, Christopher North left the group and David C. Lewis took over keyboards for the remainder of the album. Released in 1978, Life Beyond L.A. was the band’s third and most successful album. The album reached number 19 on the Billboard 200 and included “How Much I Feel,” which reached number 3 on the Hot 100 and number 2 in Canada. Ambrosia returned to the charts with their next album, One Eighty (1980), which featured the number 3 hit “Biggest Part of Me” and the Top 20 hit “You’re the Only Woman (You & I).” After two albums of commercial rock, the members of Ambrosia decided to return to their progressive rock roots on their 1982 album Road Island. The album was not commercially successful, and Ambrosia split up. In 1989, the original quartet reunited and began to perform live again. However, David Pack left in 2000 while the remaining band members continued to tour as Ambrosia. David C. Lewis, who had replaced original keyboardist Christopher North, died on June 7, 2021.