Ambosia by Ambrosia (20th Century 1975)
LA band serve the food of the gods
Ambrosia Tracklist
1. Nice, Nice, Very Nice (with lyric by Kurt Vonnegut)
2. Time Waits for No-one
3. Hold On to Yesterday
4. World Leave Me Alone
5. Make Us All Aware
6. Lover Arrive
7. Mama Frog, inc. The Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll
8. Drink of Water
Ambrosia Lineup
David Pack: Lead vocals, guitars, keyboards on Lover Arrive
Christopher North: Keyboards, vocals
Joe Puerta: Bass guitar, vocals
Burleigh Drummond: Drums, percussion, vocals
Produced by Freddie Piro
Engineered by Alan Parsons
In the seventies, I thought Ambrosia were a mushy AOR group, like REO Speedwagon, Chicago or Journey with Steve Perry, and on this basis I never gave them a second hearing . . . until now. In fairness, I know little about REO Speedwagon, while Chicago and Journey were exciting in the early days. American AOR of this mid-seventies period became early melodic rock, in the form of Boston, Toto and others, while a branch of the genre was blended with progressive elements, giving us Kansas, Styx and Ambrosia. Singer/guitarist David Pack, keyboardist Christopher North, bassist/vocalist Joe Puerta and drummer Burleigh Drummond joined forces to form Ambrosia in LA in 1970, remaining together for the first self-titled album through to the recording of the third album, Life Beyond LA, in 1977, when North departed. While Ambrosia had several hit singles in the nineteen-seventies, much of the material on their first five studio albums is firmly progressive in approach.
Ambrosia (1975) was produced by studio owner Freddie Piro, engineered by Alan Parsons and released in 1975. It contained a hit single Holdin' On To Yesterday, which reached the top twenty in the US, as well as a minor hit in Nice, Nice, Very Nice. Parsons became producer for Ambrosia's second album, while all four band members played on the first Alan Parsons Project album, Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976), shortly before recording the second Ambrosia album, Somewhere I've Never Travelled (1976). David Pack later appeared on the Alan Parsons album Try Anything Once (1993), co-writing, playing and providing vocals on three songs.
It is unusual to open an album with a lyric from someone outside the band, but Ambrosia has Nice, Nice, Very Nice, written in collaboration with American author, Kurt Vonnegut (adapted from the Bokononist Hymn on the second page of his novel, Cat's Cradle, published in 1963). Like many list poems, it makes an effective lyric, with references to seemingly unconnected characters, such as the lion hunter, a Chinese dentist and the British Queen. The song has a vocal arrangement similar to the British and Californian psychedelia groups of the mid-to-late sixties, with flowing harmonies and a relaxed intonation. Lead singer David Pack uses a calypso delivery, with rolling consonants, in keeping with Vonnegut's novel, which is set on the fictional Caribbean island of San Lorenzo. The track itself starts with hi-hat and open chords, developing into the instrumentation of early Yes. There are Spanish guitar parts, guitar and keyboard solos reminiscent of Howe and Banks, and a Keith Emerson-style brass fanfare on synthesizer. According to Classics Rock, a website devoted to literary references in rock music, Vonnegut was pleased with the results and it certainly makes a sprightly opener.
Time Waits for No-one also has a percussive intro, with more Spanish guitar - a trademark of the group. Punchy acoustic guitar creates a Groundhogs-type riff, while the band's own lyrics are sung in a less mannered but equally strong technique. David Pack is clearly a capable lead singer. Variety comes in the form of complex harmonies, touches of jazz guitar with piano, hand claps (Alan Parsons?) and whooping. Added to these is a guitar solo which sounds like Alan Parsons Project alumnus, Ian Bairnson. Hold On to Yesterday continues the Steely Dan jazz feel, before a lilting vocal over piano and organ, along with excellent harmonies, creates an atmosphere reminiscent of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (that was also engineered by Alan Parsons). An instrumental passage combines guitar with strings, while there is another distinctive Ian Bairnson-sounding guitar solo. Overall, Hold On to Yesterday is a brilliantly constructed piece and is one of the best tracks on the album. It gives the impression that, although credited as engineer, Alan Parsons had a hand in the production. Hold On to Yesterday's influence extends to Celtic-inspired British rock bands such as Love & Money and Mostly Autumn.
As the title suggests, World Leave Me Alone is a blues track with loud acoustic guitar and plenty of reverb. Pack provides a superb guitar solo and an unexpected phased vocal. The intro to Make Us All Aware makes good use of stereo and the production with grand piano and bass drum sounds like Rupert Holmes's for John Miles's Zaragon. Beach Boys harmonies give way to harpsichord psychedelia before segueing into clean synthesizers and piano. Ambrosia's token slow ballad is the short Lover Arrive, which sounds a bit like Simon and Garfunkel. In Mama Frog, the band has attempted to write a nonsense verse, along the lines of Lewis Carroll's The Jabberwocky, hence its inclusion as a reading, along with curious synthesizer and percussion effects, before the end of the track. Strangely, Mama Frog is a near perfect impersonation of Captain Beyond, in jazz mode, and would have been better if the song and poem were separate. Indeed, The Jabberwocky (’Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre And gimble in the wabe) serves little purpose other than to give attention to a great writer, carry the AP mark and fill a gap.
If Hold On to Yesterday is a great track, Drink of Water is a minor masterpiece on which to close the album. It is a symphonic piece with plaintive voice and organ, big Fifth Dimension chorus, soaring guitar solo and melodic instrumental passage. The ending is pleasingly unpredictable and the group finish on a high point with their best track.