Ambrosia's Christopher North, keyboardist with soft-rock hitmakers, dies at 75

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

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

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

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

Today some songs are regarded arsenic cardinal examples of the benignant 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 with Puerta connected bass, vocalist and guitarist David Pack and drummer Burleigh Drummond. The group’s self-titled debut medium came retired successful 1975; astatine the time, the set had a much ornate dependable à la Genesis. Yet it had smoothed retired by 1978’s “Life Beyond L.A.,” its archetypal LP for the Warner Bros. label.

“What we didn’t similar astir progressive stone was that it was excessively flamboyant without substance,” Pack told The Times successful 1999. “Those bands dated themselves by making the arrangements much of the cardinal absorption than the prime of songwriting. I deliberation that we were antithetic successful that respect.”

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

Ambrosia broke up successful 1982 but reunited successful 1989; Pack aboriginal left, though the band’s different 3 founders continued to perform. North’s survivors see a member and 2 children.