Ambrosia's Christopher North, Keyboardist With Soft-rock Hitmakers, Dies At 75

Christopher North, who played keyboards arsenic a founding personnel of nan soft-rock group Ambrosia, died Monday successful a hospice successful Los Angeles. He was 75.

His decease was confirmed by Ambrosia’s Joe Puerta, who said nan origin was pharynx cancer. According to Puerta, North was earnestly injured precocious past twelvemonth erstwhile he was deed by a car arsenic he walked into Fromin’s deli successful Santa Monica.

In a station connected Ambrosia’s Facebook account, nan set described North arsenic “the Hammond B3 King” aft his preferred instrumentality and said his “sonic architecture defined a procreation of progressive and soft rock.” North “was a keyboard wizard,” nan group added, “who brought an unmatched strength and affectional extent to each performance” and whose activity “created ‘aural landscapes’ that balanced virtuosity pinch soulful, radio-friendly hooks.”

Purveyors of nan breezy, lightly soulful sound that besides brought occurrence successful nan mid-1970s to acts for illustration America and Seals & Crofts (whose Dash Crofts died past week), Ambrosia scored a drawstring of apical 40 hits successful nan 2nd half of that decade, including 2 that went to No. 3 connected Billboard’s Hot 100: “How Much I Feel” and “Biggest Part of Me,” nan second of which was nominated for a Grammy Award for popular capacity by a duo aliases group pinch vocals.

Today some songs are regarded arsenic cardinal examples of nan style that became known retroactively arsenic yacht rock; connected Spotify, each has much than 120 cardinal streams.

North was calved Jan. 26, 1951, and grew up successful San Pedro. He formed Ambrosia successful 1970 pinch Puerta connected bass, vocalist and guitarist David Pack and drummer Burleigh Drummond. The group’s self-titled debut medium came retired successful 1975; astatine nan time, nan set had a much ornate sound à la Genesis. Yet it had smoothed retired by 1978’s “Life Beyond L.A.,” its first LP for nan Warner Bros. label.

“What we didn’t for illustration astir progressive stone was that it was excessively flamboyant without substance,” Pack told The Times successful 1999. “Those bands dated themselves by making nan arrangements much of nan cardinal attraction than nan value of songwriting. I deliberation that we were different successful that respect.”

The medium “One Eighty” came retired successful 1980 and yielded a 2nd deed aft “Biggest Part of Me” successful “You’re nan Only Woman (You & I),” which peaked astatine No. 13 connected nan Hot 100. The adjacent year, Ambrosia’s opus “Poor Rich Boy” appeared connected nan soundtrack of nan movie “Arthur” alongside Christopher Cross’ chart-topping “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do).”

Ambrosia collapsed up successful 1982 but reunited successful 1989; Pack later left, though nan band’s different 3 founders continued to perform. North’s survivors see a relative and 2 children.