Ambrosia - 1976-Pittsburgh and 1978-Boston Radio broadcast shows

 Ambrosia

1976-10-31
Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh, PA
1978-10-29
Paradise Theater, Boston, MA
FM Broadcast recordings, good (1976) to very good (1978) sound quality
Available in both lossless (FLAC) and mp3 (320 kbps) versions

A couple weeks ago I heard some reference to the '70's band Ambrosia and it reminded my that, hey, that's a band that I have not thought about (or listened to) in ages, but back in the early days of the band (mid-70's) I really liked them. Ambrosia formed in the early '70's and consisted of guitarist/vocalist David Pack, bassist/vocalist Joe Puerta, keyboardist Christopher North and drummer Burleigh Drummond. The band was impressed by progressive rock of that time, but also had a strong affinity for vocal harmonies and melodic rock and pop. They created a great blend of progressive and mainstream rock and pop, showcasing their vocals and arrangements, at least for their first couple albums (Ambrosia - 1975 and Somewhere I've Never Traveled - 1976). However, by their third and fourth albums (Life Beyond L.A. - 1978 and One Eighty - 1980), they mostly abandoned the progressive aspects and turned to a softer, slicker commercial pop approach. This resulted in some sappy hit singles ('How Much I Feel', 'Bigger Part of Me', and 'You're the Only Woman'), but destroyed their credibility as a rock band. They did return to a harder rock edge for their last album, Road Island - 1982), but it sank commercially and the band broke up shortly thereafter. The band reunited in 1989, and has remained a touring band in various forms throughout the subsequent years. So, a spotty history, but I still really like those first 2 albums. So, here is Ambrosia from back in those days, first opening for Kansas in 1976, and then a longer show in Boston in 1978. The 1978 show was in support of their 3rd album (represented in the first 4 songs of the set), but after that  they play only songs from the first 2 albums (and a few additional ones from the earlier show). These were both radio broadcast shows, but the recording quality of the 1978 show is much better than the 1976 show. 

Tracklist:
1976 - Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh
01. Make Us All Aware (6:30)
02. Can't Let A Women (6:38)
03. Holdin' On To Yesterday (6:12)
04. I Wanna Know (7:45)
05. World Leave Me Alone (4:33)

FLAC - Ambrosia_1976-10-31_Pittsburgh_FLAC.rar
mp3 - Ambrosia_1976-10-31_Pittsburgh_mp3.rar

1978 - Paradise Theater, Boston
01. Life Beyond L.A. (6:19)
02. If Heaven Could Find Me (4:46)
03. Not As You Were (4:15)
04. How Much I Feel (5:47)
05. And... Somewhere I've Never Traveled (5:12)
06. Nice, Nice, Very Nice (6:07)
07. The Brunt (5:39)
08. Band intros > Holding On To Yesterday (5:55)
10. Can't Let A Woman (Get Into My Head) (6:23)  
11. I Wanna Know (7:17)

FLAC - Ambrosia_1978-10-29_Boston_FLAC.rar
mp3 - Ambrosia_1978-10-29_Boston_mp3.rar
New Links! Updated 06/25/23

Ambrosia:
David Pack - vocals, guitar
Chris North - keyboards
Joe Puerta - lead vocals, bass
Burleigh Drummond - drums, percussion, background vocals
David Cutler Lewis (1978 show only) - keyboards