David Pack

David Pack

Pack in Los Angeles, 2000
Background information
Birth name David Robert Pack
Born (1952-07-01) July 1, 1952
Huntington Park, California, U.S.
Genres Rock, soft rock
Occupation(s) Composer, musician, record producer, director
Instruments Guitar, keyboards, vocals
Years active 1970–present
Labels
Associated acts Ambrosia
Website www.davidpack.com

David Robert Pack (born July 15, 1952) is an American musician, producer and music director of Global Events. His career began as the frontman, vocalist and guitarist with the rock group Ambrosia, popular in the 1970s and 1980s.

Career

Pack was co-founder, guitarist and main vocalist for the band Ambrosia.[1] His collected works as a performer and producer have sold over 40 million units worldwide. Noted hits from the band written and sung by Pack include certified Gold singles "Biggest Part of Me" (1980), "You're the Only Woman (You & I)" (1980) and "How Much I Feel" (1978), as well as being co-writer of their first Top 20 hit, "Holdin' On to Yesterday" (1975).

Pack is also a Grammy-winning producer for Wynonna, Phil Collins, Aretha Franklin and Kenny Loggins. He also has produced for LeAnn Rimes, Faith Hill, Michael McDonald, Natalie Cole, Patti LaBelle, Amy Holland (he sang a duet with her called "I Still Run To You" which was on Holland's second album On Your Every Word), Trisha Yearwood, Selena, All-4-One, Bette Midler (and also sang a duet with her, "I Know You by Heart", on the Beaches film soundtrack), Brian Setzer, TLC, Brian McKnight, Little Richard, Buckner & Garcia, Patti Austin, Linda Ronstadt, James Ingram, The Pointer Sisters, Mavis Staples, Andrae Crouch, David Benoit, Take 6, Bruce Hornsby, Branford Marsalis, Chick Corea, Steve Vai, Tevin Campbell, The Jerky Boys, Paul Rodriguez, Yakov Smirnoff, Def Jeff, Amy Grant, Chet Atkins, Olivia Newton-John, DC Talk, Jennifer Hudson and CeCe Winans.

He served as music director/producer for former President Bill Clinton's inaugurations in January 1993 and 1997.[2]

In 1992, he teamed up with Bernie Taupin to produce/music direct a tribute to Barbra Streisand & David Geffen, with Elton John, Billy Joel and Eddie Van Halen for the AIDS Project L.A. Commitment to Life VI. He also worked with the 1995 Benefit for Children of Bosnia with Fleetwood Mac, Yes, Roberta Flack, Yanni, Kitaro, Ambrosia, Kenny Loggins and Alan Parsons.

Pack also produced the 1995 album The Songs of West Side Story, which benefited the school founded in Nashville by one of his mentors, Leonard Bernstein, but which did not open until shortly after Bernstein's death. The album featured several of the musicians that worked on the Commitment to Life project, collaborators Brian Setzer, Michael McDonald and James Ingram; a rollicking take on "I Feel Pretty" from Little Richard; Phil Collins and Aretha Franklin who performed separate versions of "Somewhere", and "A Boy Like That", performed by Selena. The album is notable for being the final recorded performance of Selena, made just three weeks before her murder in April 1995, and for containing the final work by Marty Paich, who arranged the strings on Franklin's "Somewhere".

He produced the 1988 Carnegie Hall AIDS Benefit song "Children Will Die" featuring Leonard Bernstein and the Boys Choir of Harlem, David Benoit & Patti Austin. In 1997, the White House asked him to direct the music and produce the presidents' Volunteer Summit in Philadelphia for presidents Clinton, Bush, Carter and Ford. In 2000, he was asked to direct and produce Yamaha's Michael McDonald Lifetime Achievement Award Show at the L.A. Shrine for his good friend. Pack brought together Ray Charles, Patti LaBelle, Kenny Loggins, Boz Scaggs and Christopher Cross for the event. In 2005, he produced and directed the 2005 World Aids Day Concert at Saddleback Church in Orange County for author pastor Rick Warren. He not only performed but he also brought in Wynonna, DC Talk, and Out of Eden.

Pack guested on lead vocals on the song "Ground Zero" for Kansas founder Kerry Livgren's 1980 solo album, Seeds of Change. He then performed on Kansas's Vinyl Confessions album in 1982. He would later contribute guest lead vocals on the track "Shine On" off of the album It's a Jungle Out There! by Mastedon, one of two Mastedon albums written and produced by former Kansas lead singer John Elefante and his brother Dino Elefante. Pack's 1985 solo album Anywhere You Go spawned the song "Prove Me Wrong" which appeared on the soundtrack of the 1985 film White Nights starring Gregory Hines & Mikhail Baryshnikov. Pack lent his vocals to a Mike Post/Pete Carpenter-penned song, "Signs of Human Error" for an episode of the TV series Stingray in 1987. He co-wrote two songs ("The Three of Me" and "I'm Talkin' to You"), sang and played guitar on Alan Parsons' 1993 album Try Anything Once, and sang and played guitar on the song "You Can Run" on Parsons' 2004 album, A Valid Path. (Ambrosia's first album was engineered by Alan Parsons, who served as producer and engineer for their second; all four members of Ambrosia played on the first Alan Parsons Project album, Tales of Mystery and Imagination.) Pack's 2005 solo album, The Secret of Movin' On included collaborative efforts from musical legends such as Journey's Steve Perry, Heart's Ann Wilson, Timothy B. Schmit from the Eagles and America's Dewey Bunnell. Steve Perry makes his first appearance in mainstream rock in over eight years on the album. The album includes remakes of two of Pack's biggest hits with Ambrosia, "Biggest Part of Me" and "You're The Only Woman".

Pack has toured with and/or performed in concert with many artists including Fleetwood Mac, The Doobie Brothers, Michael McDonald, Barbra Streisand, Ray Charles, Beach Boys, Heart, The Alan Parsons Project, David Benoit, Patti Austin, Chet Atkins, Wynonna Judd, Kenny Loggins, Béla Fleck, BeBe Winans, Billy Joel, Elton John, Leonard Bernstein, Patti LaBelle, Andrae Crouch, Russ Freeman, Mark Knopfler, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Foreigner, Supertramp, U2, Eddie Van Halen, Natalie Cole, Bruce Hornsby, The Everly Brothers, Emmylou Harris, Chick Corea, Toto and Huey Lewis & the News.

Pack joined producer Alan Parsons on his 2001 live tribute tour to the music of the Beatles called A Walk Down Abbey Road which featured other headlining performers Todd Rundgren, Ann Wilson and John Entwistle.

In 2002, Pack released, "Psalm 23". A tribute to the children of 9/11.

In 2004 Pack released, "The Secret of Movin' On with special guests; Steve Perry, Ann Wilson (Heart), Dewey Bunnell (America), Timothy B. Schmitt (Eagles), David Benoit and others.

In 2007, Pack released a five song EP on Speakerheart.com, self-titled David Pack.

In 2010, Pack joined forces with Avon as a celebrity judge for Avon Voices, Avon's first ever global, online singing talent search for women and songwriting competition for men and women.

In November 2011, Pack appeared on The Howard Stern Show as Robin Quivers' guest. Pack sat through the news and spoke about his time with Ambrosia, his solo career and his life on tour. Scott the engineer came into the studio and revealed his love for Ambrosia by playing their anthology album on his phone.

In May 2014, Pack released, "Napa Crossroads" with special guests; Ray Manzarek of The Doors, Todd Rundgren, David Benoit, Larry Carlton, Robert Schwartzman, Bela Fleck, Alan Parsons, Mindi Abair, Jimmy Wayne and others.

As of 2016, David Pack joined childhood friend and former bandmate, Fred Beato, to form Beato Band[9].

Discography

Date Title Label Charted Country Catalog Number
as part of Ambrosia
1975 Ambrosia 20th Century Fox 22 US
1976 Somewhere I Never Travelled 20th Century Fox 79 US
1978 Life Beyond L.A. Warner Bros. 19 US
1980 One Eighty Warner Bros. 25 US
1982 Road Island Warner Bros. 115 US
1997 Anthology Warner Bros. US
2002 Essentials Warner Bros. US
2003 How Much I Feel and Other Hits Rhino Flashback US New.

Solo albums

References

  1. ↑ Theakston, Rob. "David Pack Biography". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Interview with David Pack for the release of the album Napa Crossroads". Yuzu Melodies. September 15, 2014.

External links

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