Lighthouse

Lighthouse is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 in Toronto which included horns, string instruments, and vibraphone; their music reflected elements of rock music, jazz, classical music,and swing. It won the Juno Award for best Canadian group in 1973 and 1974.

Band history

The cover of One Fine Morning (1970) was painted by British artist Roger Dean.

Lighthouse was formed in 1968 in Toronto, Canada by drummer/vocalist Skip Prokop, formerly with the Paupers, and keyboardist/arranger Paul Hoffert. The two met in New York City and discussed forming a band when they coincidentally found themselves on the same flight back to Toronto. The band originally consisted of 13 members including a horn and string section for swing rock. Original band members were:

Skip Prokop: drums and vocals
Paul Hoffert: keyboards and vibraphone
Ralph Cole: guitar and vocals
Grant Fullerton: bass and vocals
Vic "Pinky" Dauvin: percussion and lead vocals
Ian Guenther: violin
Don Dinovo: violin and viola
Don Whitton: cello
Leslie Schneider: cello
Freddy Stone: trumpet and flugelhorn
Arnie Chycoski: trumpet and flugelhorn
Howard Shore: alto saxophone
Russ Little: trombone

The band's demo record was funded by Richie Havens. One of the first Lighthouse concerts was at Carnegie Hall and in its first year, the band also played at Fillmore East, Fillmore West, Toronto, Boston and Atlantic City pop festivals, and the Monterey and Newport jazz festivals. A free concert at Toronto City Hall in the summer of 1969 drew a reported crowd of 25,000. Their first album, Lighthouse, was released in 1969 by RCA from RCA's Toronto East Sound Studio. This album was well-received by critics but obtained small commercial success.

Their next album, Suite Feeling, was also recorded in 1969 at Toronto East Sound Studio. It featured two cover songs: The Band's "Chest Fever" and The Beatles' hit "A Day In The Life." Their third and final album for RCA also turned out to be the last one for original lead singer Pinky Dauvin. The album Peacing It All Together was recorded in RCA?s New York studios. The songs "Feel So Good," "If There Ever was a Time" and "The Chant" were minor hits in Canada during the band's time with RCA.

The band moved to the record label GRT and Toronto?s Thunder Sound Studios. Along with this label change came a large change within the band with only five of the original members still remaining. The most notable change was a new lead singer in Bob McBride. In 1971, Lighthouse released One Fine Morning and Thoughts of Moving On. The title track from One Fine Morning was an international and American hit. It was preceded on the Canadian charts by "Hats Off to the Stranger."

During this period of recording from 1970-1971 with GRT, RCA piggybacked the success of Lighthouse and released a best of album of the first three records recorded with RCA called One Fine Light.

Lighthouse Live! was recorded live at Carnegie Hall in February 1972. The band came back later that year with the album Sunny Days on GRT. The title song became the band's next Canadian hit single. Not long after that album was released, lead singer Bob McBride was fired from the band due to substance abuse. Without McBride, Lighthouse's next album, Can You Feel It?, was recorded at New York?s Thunder Sound Studio and released in 1973, with Skip Prokop and Ralph Cole providing lead vocals, except for "No More Searching" which featured new sax player Dave Hillary on lead vocals. The single "Pretty Lady" went top-10 in Canada. Hoffert was no longer credited as a member of the band.

The band released Good Day in 1974. Like the previous album, the lead vocals were divided between Skip Prokop and Ralph Cole, but Prokop switched to guitar full-time and the drummer was Billy King. Even though there were two string players and two horn players credited on the album, their presence was minimal. The album produced no hits, but did contain "Wide-Eyed Lady", a song co-written by Bob McBride before his dismissal from the band. Back at Thunder Sounds Recording Studios, the band turned a few tracks on an album before Prokop left and the band fell into disarray. The album was never completed. GRT released The Best of Lighthouse to capitalize on their past success.

Prokop, Hoffert and McBride reunited in 1981 for a series of concerts in support of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada and in September 1982 a reformed Lighthouse drew over 30,000 people to four shows at Ontario Place. Denon records in 1989 bought the rights to the GRT recordings and released Best of Lighthouse-Sunny Days Again as well as Lighthouse Live Remastered. The band went on a reunion tour in 1993. Three years later they put out their final album to date, Song of the Ages. This album did not produce any major hits. In 1998 the remixed record The Best of Lighthouse: Sunny Days Again was distributed by True North Records on TNMD 173, produced by Hoffert, Cole, Prokop and McBride. The original master tapes were transferred to multi-track digital recorders.

Recent activity

After the band disbanded many of the prominent players went on with their musical careers and some went in different directions.

Howard Shore continued composing and ended up as musical director for Saturday Night Live. Larry E Smith after his Lighthouse career moved to Israel and started a software company. Donald Whitton left Lighthouse to audition for the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Skip Prokop went on to a lengthy radio career with CBC. Bob McBride suffered from drug abuse and serious illness, and died in 1998. Paul Hoffert went on to restart his research work in the science and technology sector. Russ Little after his time with Lighthouse did many session trombone spots and released his own albums, including On the Shoulders of Giants in 2008.

As of the summer of 2009, Lighthouse with Prokop, Hoffert and Cole continue to perform concerts.

Band members

Horns
Paul Adamson
Sam Alongi
Joe Ambrosia
John Capon
Bruce Cassidy
Arnie Chycoski
Don Englert
Doug Gibson
Dale Hillary
Chris Howells
Keith Jollimore
Steve Kennedy
Paul Litrenta
Russ Little
Mike Malone
John Naslen
Pete Pantaluk
Howard Shore
Larry E. Smith
Rick Stepton
Freddy Stone
Dave Tanner
Simon Wallis
Rick Waychesko
Strings
Donald Whitton
Dick Armin
Paul Armin
Don Dinovo
Ian Guenther
Myron Moskalyk
John Ogilvie
Leslie Snider
Howie Wiseman
Drums and percussion
John Dell
Billy King
Skip Prokop
Tom Wills

Larry Mansbridge

Lead vocals
Dan Clancy
Pinky Dauvin
Bob McBride
Ralph Cole
Skip Prokop
Bass
Grant Fullerton
Doug Moore
Dennis Pendrith
Terry Wilkins
Al Wilmot
Louie Yacknin
Gord Russell
Robert Sinclair Wilson
Keyboards
Paul Hoffert
Don Paulton
Donald Quan
Lyndsey Parton
Sam See
Larry Smith
Rod Phillips
Guitar
Ralph Cole
Trevor Veitch
Skip Prokop (on Good Day)

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Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lighthouse