The melodic prog-rock/yacht rock band returns to Michigan to play Little River Casino on Friday. The Local Spins interview with founding member Joe Puerta.
Continuing a 55-Year Legacy: Ambrosia is performing throughout the summer. (Courtesy Photo)
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The members of Ambrosia never sought to label their music.
But when the term “yacht rock” came along, and they suddenly found themselves grouped with the likes of Pablo Cruise, Michael McDonald & The Doobie Brothers, Christopher Cross and others, they didn’t run the other direction either.
“It (the yacht rock label) is something that sprang up,” says bassist and vocalist Joe Puerta. “It’s taken on a life of its own.”
Little River Casino in Manistee will host Ambrosia along with Firefall on Friday (Aug. 1) for a special outdoor show. Tickets for the 7 p.m. concert, $20-40, are available online here.
Puerta says the band formed in 1970 without any particular rock sub-genre in mind. Given the group’s predilections toward lush orchestration and vocal arrangements, and the engineering and production work on the band’s first two albums by Alan Parsons (fresh off “Dark Side of the Moon”), it’s no surprise they developed a reputation as a melodic progressive rock band.
Joe Puerta: ‘We do what we do.’ (Courtesy Photo)
“Originally, we were part prog, the American answer to Yes or Genesis,” admits Puerta.
Their first two recordings garnered significant FM airplay. The record sleeve for the second album, “Somewhere I’ve Never Traveled,” folded into a large pyramid … very proggy. That album even received a Grammy Award nomination.
The next album, “Life Beyond LA,” similarly mixed approaches, but when “How Much I Feel” scaled the singles charts, the band largely shifted toward a more R&B-esque soft rock style. Ultimately, the band settled into life as a malleable outfit comfortable with complex arrangements as well as hummable melodies.
“We do what we do,” says Puerta, and that includes those hit songs – “The Biggest Part of Me,” “How Much I Feel” and “You’re The Only Woman” – alongside “Nice Nice Very Nice,” with lyrics taken from a Kurt Vonnegut novel. There’s also the synth-heavy “Life Beyond LA,” with its lyrical themes of heartbreak, angst, reflection and despair.
There’s not a lot of despair in most sunny yacht rock, but there you go: Ambrosia is comfortable with its hybrid status, and so are its fans. “We combine both sides,” agrees Puerta.
VIDEO: Ambrosia, “Nice, Nice, Very Nice” (Live)
‘WHEN YOU SEEN AN AMBROSIA SHOW, YOU GET A BIT OF EVERYTHING’
Today, the band includes three of the four founding members: Puerta, drummer and vocalist Burleigh Drummond and keyboardist Christopher North. Drummond’s wife, Mary Harris, a former member of Jimmy Buffet’s Coral Reefer band, sings and plays keyboard, with guitarist Doug Jackson also joining the group on stage.
The newest member of the band is Shem von Schroeck on lead and backing vocals, along with anything else the group needs. The versatile multi-instrumentalist has performed with numerous acts over the years, including Toto, Kenny Loggins and Christopher Cross – all charter members of the yacht rock club.
von Schroeck has served as a touring member of Ambrosia on numerous occasions. The first such time was when he was tapped to replace Puerta when founding guitarist and vocalist David Pack tried to put the band back together after they’d called it quits following the tour for 1982’s “Road Island.”
‘Wonderful’: Burleigh Drummond and Joe Puerta with an adoring crowd. (Courtesy Photo)
When Pack contacted Puerta, he was with Bruce Hornsby. Hornsby had played keyboards on Ambrosia’s final tour, and Puerta then became a charter member of Hornsby’s The Range.
So when Pack contacted Puerta about reconstituting the group, Puerta didn’t know whether he’d be available. Enter von Schroeck.
“We weren’t sure I could rejoin. Shem could play bass and sing,” says Puerta. Then a hole opened in Puerta’s schedule, so he did rejoin the band, prompting von Schroeck’s switch to percussion and vocals.
Pack eventually left the band, and after rotating through a number of other vocalists, von Schroeck is back on board. He handles the vocal parts, including the high falsettos that Pack originally sang, not to mention covering other needs. “When Burleigh had surgery, he played drums,” says Puerta. “When Chris got cancer a year ago, Shem switched to organ and keyboards.”
That demonstrates not only his versatility, but that of the band as a whole. So the audience at Little River will hear the hits, some longer progressive tracks, even a ringer or two.
“We throw in parts of our history. ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ was a Top 40 hit for us,” Puerta notes, part of a soundtrack recording, “All This and World War II,” with various artists covering The Beatles. The film was a colossal flop, but the album tracks by the Bee Gees, Peter Gabriel, Elton John, Bryan Ferry and numerous others were received positively.
Puerta says he welcomes the new life the band has received as part of the public appreciation for the high production values and strong, singable melodies of yacht rock. It tours with other such artists, including John Ford Coley, Peter Beckett from Player and others.
Ultimately for Puerta, it’s about playing music he loves and entertaining the crowds that come to see the band.
“You never quite know where things are going to go. It’s wonderful. When you see an Ambrosia show, you get a bit of everything.”
More details, ticket info online at lrcr.com.
Ambrosia (Courtesy Photo)
