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I just saw this posted on the Daily Press web site, and thought I’d share it.
– Rich
Quote:Bruce Hornsby says the band Ambrosia is misunderstood
Los Angeles group Ambrosia is best known for 1970s smooth-rock hits “How Much I Feel” and “Biggest Part of Me.”
But Bruce Hornsby — who is friends with members of the band — says the mellow soul of those radio tunes only tells part of the story.
“The hits are what people think of, but they were a schizo sort of band,” Hornsby told me about the group that plays The NorVa on Wednesday, April 14. “Really what they were was an American version of an English prog band. It was a shame what happened to them — the hits that kill careers.”
Hornsby, who appeared in one of the band’s videos, said Ambrosia’s early recordings had much in common with bands like (early) Genesis, Gentle Giant and Pink Floyd.
“Ambrosia was a very good band, but not many people know that.”
Hornsby said that Ambrosia opened for the Doobie Brothers at Hampton Coliseum when Doobies singer Michael McDonald walked into the Steak and Ale on Coliseum Drive and discovered the tall piano player from Williamsburg.
Hornsby became friends with members of Ambrosia and would crash on a member’s sofa when he made visits to Los Angeles in 1979 or 1980.
Contrary to what can be read on the Internet, though, Hornsby says he never performed with Ambrosia. He remains friends with the group, though. Ambrosia bassist Joe Puerta was in Hornsby’s band The Range for years.
Posted by Sam McDonald on Thursday, April 08, 2010 at 10:44 AM
I’ll have to take your word for it, BH.
“That’s how much I feel,
Feel for your love…
That’s how much I need
I need your touch…
That’s how much I live
Live for your lovin’,
That’s how much, that’s how much, that’s how mu-u-u-u–ch…wooo…!”
T,
coming down from a nostalgic sugar highTakavl wrote:I’ll have to take your word for it, BH.“That’s how much I feel,
Feel for your love…
That’s how much I need
I need your touch…
That’s how much I live
Live for your lovin’,
That’s how much, that’s how much, that’s how mu-u-u-u–ch…wooo…!”T,
coming down from a nostalgic sugar highI guess a tour through some of the deeper album cuts might be in order, just to verify this.
rdiakun wrote:I guess a tour through some of the deeper album cuts might be in order, just to verify this.Phewwwww….you’re a better music fan than I, I gotta say….. 😯
I s’pose that if one judged, f’rinstance, Genesis on such tracks as “Invisible Touch,” well…hell yes I would lambaste that person of prejudicial predilection… 🙄
So, as not to be a hypocrite, p’raps I ought to listen to, urg, AMBROSIA?
I’ll get around to it in May. Maybe this May, maybe May ’11…know what I’m saying?
😆
T
Takavl wrote:Phewwwww….you’re a better music fan than I, I gotta say….. 😯I s’pose that if one judged, f’rinstance, Genesis on such tracks as “Invisible Touch,” well…hell yes I would lambaste that person of prejudicial predilection… 🙄
So, as not to be a hypocrite, p’raps I ought to listen to, urg, AMBROSIA?
I’ll get around to it in May. Maybe this May, maybe May ’11…know what I’m saying?😆
I’ll being my investigations this weekend. If I find anything of merit to support the description Mr. Hornsby offered forth, I’ll make a point of turning the group on to it. Heck, it wasn’t that long ago that someone gave me a CD full of tracks from the Aussie band, The Church, and I was pleasantly dispelled of my notion that most of their music was on the same lines of the hit single, “Under The Milky Way”, that many of us probably know. Of course, I started with actually liking that song a lot, so the journey wasn’t too surprising.
BTW… how do we describe Bruce’s music to someone who only knows of him through the earliest hit singles? They were great songs, but he got typecast as “soft rock”, and we all know that’s bunk. I do the same when describing the early Chicago albums to someone who has only heard “If You Leave Me Now” and “Baby What A Big Surprise” and Pete Cetera’s solo hits.
Rich
Wow…you did NOT just compare BH to Peter Cetera and Chicago……………. 👿 Oh no, you did!
But, good point, and one that I think most of us take for granted…BH was kinda initially hard to categorize, as he got played on rock stations, pop stations, adult contemporary, etc. I remember hearing BH hits from the 1st album on my local (at the time) rock station (95YNF, in Tampa) and ALSO on the soft rock station played in the drugstore where I worked after school. P’raps the mid 80s were still a part of that semi-inclusive nebulousness of “roots rock,” “alternative rock,” “album rock,” “smooth jazz,” etc.
But, prejudice aside, we ALL know that Bruce rocks. And he rocks WAY harder than Chicago (and ick, Peter Cetera) EVER did. 😆
T
Takavl wrote:Wow…you did NOT just compare BH to Peter Cetera and Chicago……………. 👿 Oh no, you did!But, good point, and one that I think most of us take for granted…BH was kinda initially hard to categorize, as he got played on rock stations, pop stations, adult contemporary, etc. I remember hearing BH hits from the 1st album on my local (at the time) rock station (95YNF, in Tampa) and ALSO on the soft rock station played in the drugstore where I worked after school. P’raps the mid 80s were still a part of that semi-inclusive nebulousness of “roots rock,” “alternative rock,” “album rock,” “smooth jazz,” etc.
But, prejudice aside, we ALL know that Bruce rocks. And he rocks WAY harder than Chicago (and ick, Peter Cetera) EVER did. 😆
T
I see you got the point, though. It is often impossible to judge a musical outfit by the singles that make it on the radio.
As for the WAY harder… give Chicago’s first 5 albums (especially the Carnegie Hall live set) a relisten. Listen to what Terry Kath does with his guitar. I would suggest that the rhythm section of Chicago (Terry Kath on guitar, Pete Cetera on bass, Danny Seraphine on drums, and Bobby Lamm on keyboards) was as good a core rock band for the late 60s/early 70s as there was. If you must, tune out the horn section and listen to what’s going on behind them. Please don’t judge Peter Cetera by what he did after the “learned how to sing” during that first summer tour with what was left of The Beach Boys. He used to be one a$$-kicking bass player. Unfortunately, he wussed out when he became a power-balladeer. Heck, Bryan Adams used to rock out before the song for the “Robin Hood” movie. Remember when Elton John used to rock out? It’s sad, but it apparently happens to some people. But it doesn’t eliminate the past body of work – it just makes the new stuff not worth buying.
Rich
Bruce is absolutely right! Ambrosia’s first two albums are Classic Progressive Rock. The debut album was mixed by Alan Parsons and Alan produced their second “Somewhere I’ve Never Travelled”. Ambrosia just headlined the CalProg Progressive Rock festival
last October and Rocked the house ditching the soft pop and playing only extended versions of their Progressive Rock songs.Check out one of my favorite songs off Ambrosia’s debut album “Make Us All Aware”. Parsons does a great job mixing this song including coming up with the idea to begin it with a backwards gong.
Make Us All Aware
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZAw5J9Z8lYThen Check out these Killer Live versions of Classic Ambrosia songs!!
Nice Nice Very Nice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbEf5PIehesTime Waits For No One
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry8tHxEWd1ESomewhere I’ve Never Travelled
http://www.youtube.com/user/AMBROSIABAN … vjc9CG0j18Holdin On To Yesterday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j2BI3BHhIILife Beyond LA
http://www.youtube.com/user/AMBROSIABAN … fGDMQBiR6kAnd here’s Bruce Hornsby playing with Ambrosia on their single “How Can You Love Me” off their album “Road Island” that was a return to their Prog and Rock roots.
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