Southern California quartet Ambrosia, whose founding members include 
guitarist/vocalist David Pack, bassist/vocalist Joe Puerta, keyboardist 
Christopher North, and drummer Burleigh Drummond, fused symphonic rock with 
an easy pop sound. The members all came from an area known as, 
The South Bay Area, about 20 miles south of Los Angeles. Later they all 
moved farther south to the city of San Pedro, CA, which is situated 
just a few miles north of the Mexican border.

Their initial musical influences, like many of their generation, came from 
The Beach Boys and The Beatles. It has been said that their name represents 
a vision of their music: all shades, textures, colors and styles. While 
Ambrosia's slick, pop, radio hits of the 1970s are what they are most known 
for, the songs on their five albums range from progressive to experimental. 

Ambrosia, inspired by the music and artists of the progressive rock era, 
acquired a significant regional admiration for their inventive 
musicianship and skillful arranging. 

In 1971, one of their friends, who was doing sound for the Hollywood Bowl (a 
music venue in L.A.), invited them to play there to test a new sound system 
that had been installed. Grammy-winning engineer, Gordon Parry, was the head 
engineer in charge at the Bowl. He was so impressed with the group that he 
invited them back to play during a performances by the Los Angeles 
Philharmonic. He also introduced them to the conductor of the Philharmonic, 
Zubin Mehta, who liked them so much, he featured them as part of a his 
 All-American Dream Concert. Despite this early career break, it still took 
them four additional years to get a record contract.

In 1975, their self-titled album, Ambrosia, (produced by Freddie Piro and 
engineered by Alan Parsons), was released by Warner Brothers Entertainment, 
and spawned the chart singles, "Holdin' on to Yesterday" and "Nice, Nice, 
Very Nice." (The latter was based on Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s novel, Cat's 
Cradle. ) Ambrosia was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Engineered 
Recording (other than Classical). 

1976 saw the release of their sophmore album, Somewhere I've Never 
Travelled, (produced by Alan Parsons). The album yielded the title song and 
the single "Can't Let a Woman," Both quickly became FM favorites, featuring 
lush orchestration and vocal arrangements. Also, the record sleeve folded 
into a large pyramid, tapping into a fad belief in mystical pyramid power. 

Ambrosia scored a hit in 1977 with a cover of the Beatles' "Magical Mystery 
Tour," from the film, All This and World War II, in which they also appeared. 
"Magical Mystery Tour" scored a Top 40 hit and was very popular in their live shows.

In 1978, Christopher North left the group, because of family obligations, 
just before their biggest pop breakthrough, "How Much I Feel," was released 
from their third album, Life Beyond L.A. It hit #3 on the U.S. Billboard 
Hot 100 Chart, but marked a bit of a move away from their progressive rock 
style and the luxurious arrangements they were known for, and introduced a 
more pop/jazz influence. Extensivly touring with Fleetwood Mac, Heart and the 
Doobie Brothers, and headlining other major shows, cemented Ambrosia's reputation 
as a stellar live act.

North returned to the group in November of 1978, and they added a second 
keyboardist, David Cutler-Lewis, as well as another singer Royce Jones (ex-Steely Dan).

Next, in 1980, from the successful album, One Eighty, came another #3 hit, 
"Biggest Part of Me," and the #13 follow-up, "You're the Only Woman." 

In 1981, they performed the song "Poor Rich Boy" 
(written by Burt Bacharach) for the soundtrack of the movie Arthur, 
starring Dudley Moore, Liza Minnelli, and John Gielgud.

Early in 1982, Cutler-Lewis left the group briefly to be replaced 
temporarily by Bruce Hornsby (four years before his own rise to stardom), 
before the mid-'82 release of their fifth and final album, Road Island. It 
failed to gain much attention, thus ending their run of chart successes. 
 Road Island was a conceptual, adventurous work of art that showcased 
Ambrosia's exceptional talents, but, in the wake of the album's 
disappointing performance, the band soon broke up.

In 1989, Ambrosia reunited with all four original members and began playing 
live shows again, mostly on the West Coast. They expanded their ranks once 
again, this time by adding additional backing members: Tollak Ollestad (vocals, 
keyboards, harmonica) and Shem Von Schroeck (vocals, percussion, bass, guitar).

In 1995 the band began to expand their annual touring schedule. David Pack 
had a scheduling conflict so guitarist, John DeFaria filled in for him. 
Bernie Chiaravalle likewise stepped in during the summer of 1997 and Mike 
Keneally 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 2001 when Pack's schedule grew way too busy, he was forced to 
bow out altogether and was replaced by Doug Jackson, who had filled in for 
him for some shows the previous year.

In 1997, Warner Bros. released Ambrosia's long awaited greatest hits CD, 
 Anthology, an album that spanned the group's entire career and included 
three new tracks. In addition to Anthology, the entire Ambrosia catalog 
has been re-mastered and released on CD for the first time. The Year 2000 
marked the 30th anniversary of Ambrosia, and the band celebrated with a very 
busy touring schedule that reaped box-office gold.

Von Schroeck had scheduling conflicts himself and Ricky Cosentino filled in 
for him in 1998, 2000 and 2003. Then, in 2003, Von Schroeck left permanently 
to join Kenny Loggins' band. Robert Berry (vocals, guitars), formerly of 3 
and GTR, joined temporarily in 2004-2005, and Ken Stacey jumped in in 2005. 
Since that time Shem has returned and he & Stacey have alternated with the 
group. Tollak Ollestad split in late 2004 to concentrate on a solo career 
and relocate to Holland where he has had several successes. David 
Cutler-Lewis then returned, after having substituted for Tollak on some 2003 
gigs and has remained on call to sub for various band members. He returned 
to play with their spring 2009 tour in place of Cutler-Lewis & Shem.

In 2002 the band recorded a live album without David Pack, Live at the 
Galaxy. Also, in 2003 Collectables Records 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. 
There have been no new studio albums since 1982, but they have written and performed 
new material, so a CD of all-new songs has long been in the planning stages.

CURRENT ACTIVITIES:
The band continues to tour, essentially as an oldies act, with other similar 
artists from the era (including John Ford Coley, Gary Wright and Stephen 
Bishop), and often serves as the backup band for the aforementioned artists.

David Pack 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, former Journey 
vocalist Steve Perry, Heart legend Ann Wilson and America co-founder Dewey 
Bunnell amongst others. Both albums follow in Pack's recent bent of smooth 
pop-rock.

Joe Puerta has started a studio, The Exchange, near his suburban Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin home, where he's produced several artists including Les Lokey, Big 
Nick & the Cydecos, Alaria Taylor and The Good Luck Joes.

Burleigh Drummond drummed for supergroup, Lost Dogs, for several albums and 
then started his own group, Tin Drum, with his wife, Mary Harris, a 
singer/songwriter who has worked with Pink Floyd, XTC, Stanley Clarke and 
Jimmy Buffett. The band has released three albums and also become a 
production company with such varied artists on their roster as bluesman, Mo 
Rodgers and the kid-oriented, gospel act, Kingdom Bound.

Biography by Steve Huey (edited for mp3lyrics.org):