Ambrosia - 1978 [1999] "Ambrosia" (Japanese Import)

Ambrosia is the self-titled debut album by Ambrosia. It was released in 1975 on 20th Century Fox Records. It spawned the top 20 chart single "Holdin' On to Yesterday" as well as the minor hit "Nice, Nice, Very Nice". The latter sets to music the lyrics to a poem in Kurt Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle". The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Engineered Recording (other than Classical). Alan Parsons was the engineer for Ambrosia's first album and the producer for their second.

The group auditioned for Herb Alpert and A&M Records early on but the audition did not go well. Although it has been alleged by some sources that the band members showed up late and heavily intoxicated to the audition, all of the band members showed up on time and sober. In spite of their poor performance, Alpert let the band record some demos. Eventually they signed with Rubicon Management, which eventually landed the group a deal with 20th Century Fox Records.
The first album, Ambrosia, produced by Freddie Piro, was released in February 1975.  All four members of Ambrosia played on the first Alan Parsons Project 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 (1993), co-writing, playing and providing vocals on three songs.

 Ambrosia is an American rock band formed in southern California in 1970. Ambrosia had five Top 40 hit singles between 1975 and 1980, including the Top 5 hits "How Much I Feel" and "Biggest Part of Me". Most of the original band members have been active with the group continuously for the past 25 years to the present day.
Ambrosia currently tours internationally and has worked in the past and present with Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Alan Parsons, Bruce Hornsby, and most recently Michael McDonald, among other notable artists. In 2015 the group released a new single and plans to release an album of all-new material in 2016.

Los Angeles quartet Ambrosia, whose founding members included guitarist/vocalist David Pack, bassist/vocalist Joe Puerta, keyboardist Christopher North, and drummer Burleigh Drummond, fused symphonic art rock with a slickly produced pop sound. The group was discovered in 1971 by Los Angeles Philharmonic conductor Zubin Mehta, who featured Ambrosia as part of a so-called All-American Dream Concert. However, it took them four more years to get a record contract; Ambrosia was released in 1975 and spawned the chart singles "Holdin' on to Yesterday" and "Nice, Nice, Very Nice." (The latter was based on Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle.) Ambrosia scored another hit in 1977 with a cover of the Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" from the film All This and World War II, which they also appeared in.
North left the group just before their biggest pop breakthrough in 1978 with the number three hit "How Much I Feel." Ambrosia followed this success in 1980 with another number three hit, "Biggest Part of Me," and the number 13 follow-up "You're the Only Woman." Their next album failed, ending their run of chart success, and the group broke up; individual members are still active as session musicians and vocalists, as well as producers. 

The most underrated progressive rock band of all time. Haven't stopped playing it since I got it.
Wish they'd get back together and record another album!
If all you know about Ambrosia are the pop ballads that got airplay, you DON'T know Ambrosia! 

Track listing

1. "Nice, Nice, Very Nice" – 5:49 (Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Christopher North, David Pack, Joe Puerta, Burleigh Drummond)
2. "Time Waits for No One" - 5:01 (Drummond, North, Pack, Puerta)
3. "Holdin' on to Yesterday" - 4:19 (Pack, Puerta)
4. "World Leave Me Alone" - 3:17 (Pack)
5. "Make Us All Aware" - 4:28 (Drummond, North, Pack, Puerta)
6. "Lover Arrive" – 3:12 (Pack)
7. "Mama Frog" – 6:06 (Drummond, North, Pack, Puerta)
8. "Drink of Water" – 6:29 (Drummond, North, Pack, Puerta)

Personnel

• David Pack - guitar, lead and backing vocals, keyboards
• Christopher North - keyboards, backing vocals
• Joe Puerta - bass, lead and backing vocals, guitar
• Burleigh Drummond - drums, backing and lead vocals, percussion, bassoon