One Fine Morning - by Lighthouse

So glad I got to see them live... unfortunately, I heard most of the show with only one ear ('cause I had a headset on 'cause I ran a spotlight for the show!  I know - cool, eh?  :P     )

Lighthouse was formed in Toronto, On.  They started when Skip Prokop (voc's & drums) met Paul Hoffert (keys & vibraphone) in New York when Skip was playing his last show as a member of The Paupers & Paul was "working on his off-Broadway musical 'Get Thee to Canterbury'".  Guitarist Ralph Cole was recruited 'immediately', after having been convinced to quit his band Thyme, & "as weeks went by, the concept* began to take shape. They assembled a group drawn from friends, studio musicians, and Toronto Symphony Orchestra members"; they recorded their first 6 song demo & took it to MGM Records in NYCity.  They were signed, & "made their live debut at Toronto's Rock Place on May 14, 1969" (to which, as an interesting fact: it was Duke Ellington who introduced them!).  However, during the show, Vinnie Fusco (a manager) "cheerily popped in to announce that he had just signed the band to a hot deal with RCA records… he brokered a backroom deal between the two companies (RCA & MGM)".  & the rest, as they say - & I often say - is history (if/when I post another song by them, I'll continue the story!).  They've released over half a dozen studio albums & have toured the world & continue to do so.  This song is from "One Fine Morning" released in 1971.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvVN_KRriTM


* - this 'concept' that I mentioned was Skip's vision of a "rock orchestra comprised of three quartets - jazz horns, classical strings, and a rock rhythm section"