Christopher Reed North (born January 26, 1951) is an American musician. He is the founding keyboardist of the American

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band

Ambrosia In the ancient Greek myths, ''ambrosia'' (, grc, ἀμβροσία 'immortality'), the food or drink of the Greek gods, is often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It was brought to the gods in Olympus ...

Career

North was born in San Francisco. He grew up in

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; Spanish: " St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...

, playing in various bands through junior high and high school. Some of the early bands he played with were The Proones, The Livin End, and Thee Exceptions. In 1968 he formed the psychedelic rock band Blue Toad Flax with Tom Trefethen playing organ and singing lead vocals. Crn4ambrosia

In 1970 he formed the progressive rock band

with

David Pack David Robert Pack (born July 15, 1952) is an American singer and musician who co-founded the rock band Ambrosia (band), Ambrosia in the 1970s. Career As performer Pack was co-founder, guitarist and main vocalist for the band Ambrosia (band), A ...

Joe Puerta Joe Puerta (born 2 July 1951, California, US) is the bassist/vocalist and founder of the American rock group Ambrosia. He co-wrote one of the band's early hits, "Holdin' On To Yesterday" (1975). He was a touring member (bass/vocals) of the bands ...

and

Burleigh Drummond Burleigh Drummond (born September 25, 1951) is an American drummer, percussionist, producer, songwriter, and singer. He is a founding member and the only drummer/percussionist for the five-time Grammy Award nominated band Ambrosia. He currentl ...

. He is known for his very intense live performances. North and the other members of

contributed to the album ''

Tales of Mystery and Imagination ''Tales of Mystery & Imagination'' (often rendered as ''Tales of Mystery and Imagination'') is a popular title for posthumous compilations of writings by American author, essayist and poet Edgar Allan Poe and was the first complete collection of ...

'' by

The Alan Parsons Project The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock band active between 1975 and 1990, whose core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They were accompanie ...

. He played organ and piano on the hit songs "Galilee" and "Rock 'N' Roll Preacher" from the debut album by

Chuck Girard Chuck Girard (born on August 27, 1943) is a pioneer of Contemporary Christian music. He moved to Santa Rosa, California in his young teens and was a member of the Castells and later the surf-rock band The Hondells. In 1970 he was a founding membe ...

and also on Girard's 1980 album ''The Stand''. North played organ on the John Lennon tribute single "Johnny's Gone Away" written and produced by Tom Trefethen with

Alan Parsons Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948) is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Parsons was involved with the production of several notable albums, including the Beatles' ''Abbey Road'' (1969) and ''Let It Be'' ( ...

as executive producer. Cnambrosia

In 2014 North played on the song "The Soft Parade" from '' Light My Fire: A Classic Rock Salute to The Doors''. North is listed on the All Time Hammond Pops list three times for his solos on Ambrosia hits “

Holdin' on to Yesterday "Holdin' On to Yesterday" is the debut single by American rock band Ambrosia. It was written by David Pack and Joe Puerta. Chart performance The song was released in the spring of 1975 as the lead single from their eponymous debut album, peaking ...

”, “

Biggest Part of Me "Biggest Part of Me" is a song by American band Ambrosia, from the album '' One Eighty''. Released as a single in 1980, the song reached number one on the ''Radio & Records'' chart and number 3 on both the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and Adult Cont ...

” and “

You're the Only Woman (You & I) "You're the Only Woman (You & I)" is a song by American soft rock band Ambrosia, released in 1980 as the second single from the album '' One Eighty''. The song was their fifth and final U.S. top 40 hit, peaking at No. 13 on the U.S. ''Billboard' ...

”. He was also listed from 1976-1981 as one of the top multi-keyboardists by Keyboard Magazine at which time they discontinued the list.

Discography

Live Albums with Ambrosia

Compilation Albums with Ambrosia

Singles with Ambrosia

References

External links

Ambrosia - Official Website

Ambrosia - Official Facebook Page
* https://web.archive.org/web/20110203021946/http://christophernorthmusic.com/ {{DEFAULTSORT:North, Christopher Ambrosia (band) members 1951 births Living people 20th-century American keyboardists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American keyboardists 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century organists American male organists American organists Musicians from San Francisco Progressive rock keyboardists