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Lighthouse is a Canadian rock band formed in 1968 in Toronto. Their sound included horns, string instruments, and vibraphone; their music reflected elements of rock music, jazz, classical music, and swing. They won Juno Awards for Best Canadian Group of the Year in 1972, 1973 and 1974. ==Band history== Lighthouse was formed in 1968 in Toronto by vocalist/drummer Skip Prokop (formerly of the Paupers) and keyboardist Paul Hoffert. The two met by coincidence on a flight from New York City to Toronto, and discussed forming a band structured around a rock rhythm section, jazz horn section, and classical string section. Prokop had admired Ralph Cole's playing when they shared the bill at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, so he brought him to Toronto to be the band's guitarist. Prokop and Hoffert assembled the rest of the group from friends, studio session musicians, and Toronto Symphony Orchestra members, and proceeded to make a demo recording. On the advice of Richie Havens, Prokop and Hoffert took the demo to MGM Records in New York, who signed the band. Two days later they had a manager, Vinnie Fusco, out of Albert Grossman's office, who overturned the MGM contract and made a deal with RCA Victor. Lighthouse made its debut on May 14, 1969, at the Rock Pile in Toronto, introduced by Duke Ellington with the words, "I'm beginning to see the Light...house".〔"Lighthouse shines as rock meets the classics," ''Toronto Star'', May 26, 1969, p. 29.〕 The band originally consisted of 13 members: *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 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, the Atlantic City Pop Festival, 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.〔"The Lighthouse is making it big by staying home", ''Toronto Star'', February 7, 1970, p. 37.〕 Their first album, ''Lighthouse'', was released in 1969 by RCA from RCA's Toronto Eastern Sound Studio. The band appeared at the Strawberry Fields Festival in August 1970, followed by the Isle of Wight Festival where they were the only act other than Jimi Hendrix asked to perform a second night among groups that included The Doors, Joni Mitchell, Chicago, Miles Davis, and The Who. Their next album, ''Suite Feeling'', was also recorded in 1969 at Toronto Eastern 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 Music Centre of the World Hollywood 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. There were some other changes within the band as well including the loss of a few members – down to eleven musicians with seven original members still on board. The most notable change was a new lead singer in Bob McBride. In 1971, Lighthouse released ''One Fine Morning'' and ''Thoughts of Movin' On''. The title track from ''One Fine Morning'' was a hit in Canada, peaking at #2 on Canada's Singles Chart.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Top Singles - Volume 16, No. 12, November 06 1971 )〕 The song was also an international and American hit, peaking at #24 in 1971 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, with both albums 'going gold' in Canada. It was preceded on the Canadian charts by "Hats Off to the Stranger" (#9 in Canada). In between recording albums and touring 300 days a year, they were creating innovative projects including the first performances by a rock band with symphony orchestras, a collaboration with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet company, ''Ballet High'', which toured across Canada,〔"Lighthouse in Rock Ballet", ''Billboard'', 29 Aug 1970〕 and a CBC production of ''Prometheus Bound'' with actress Irene Worth. During this period of recording from 1970 to 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. This was the first time a Canadian album qualified for platinum status. The band came back later that year with the album ''Sunny Days'' on GRT, and garnered the band another gold album. The title song became the band's next Canadian hit single and second and final Hot 100 single, peaking at #34 on 9 December 1972. Hoffert, tired of life on the road, left the band in 1973 but continued as the band's executive producer. Bob McBride mysteriously failed to show up at the Record Plant in New York for the recording of "Can You Feel It". Prokop and Cole wanted to scrap the sessions but producer Jimmy Ienner insisted they continue. He decided that whoever wrote the song, sings it.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Sunny Days Again: An Interview With Skip Prokop of Lighthouse. )〕 With the exception of "No More Searching", written and sung by new sax player Dale Hillary, Prokop and Cole sang all the vocals and harmonies on the album. The result was one of the band's biggest single releases, "Pretty Lady", which was a top-10 hit. 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. The album produced no hits, but did contain "Wide-Eyed Lady", a song co-written by Bob McBride. Back at Thunder Sounds Recording Studios, the band turned a few tracks on an album before Prokop left. The album was never completed. GRT released ''The Best of Lighthouse'' to capitalize on their past success. Ralph Cole took the band out for another couple of tours but in 1976 Lighthouse disbanded. Prokop, Hoffert, Cole and McBride reunited along with many of the Lighthouse alumnae in September 1982 for a weekend of four concerts at Ontario Place which drew 33,000 people but at the end of the weekend the musicians went their separate ways. In 1989 Denon Records bought the rights to the GRT recordings and released ''The Best of Lighthouse-Sunny Days Again''. The re-mix of the album was produced by Hoffert, Cole, Prokop, and McBride. The band reunited in 1992 with a ten-member line-up which included the founding members Prokop, Hoffert, and Cole with McBride on vocals. McBride had become addicted to drugs, resulting in erratic performances, and he was dismissed several months later. He was replaced by Dan Clancy. Three years later Breaking Records released ''Song of the Ages''. The single, "Remember the Times", was a top-thirty hit in Canada. In 1998 the original master tapes of ''The Best of Lighthouse-Sunny Days Again'' were digitally re-mastered and released by True North Records who also re-released ''Song of the Ages'' in 1999. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Lighthouse (band)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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