344 - Joe Puerta of Ambrosia - Kurt Vonnegut, Alan Parsons and Yacht Rock

Ambrosia released five albums and five Top 40 singles during their original chart run. Their hits included “Holding on To Yesterday,” “How Much I Feel,” “Biggest Part of Me” and “You’re the Only Woman.” For the band’s last tour, an up and coming musician by the name of Bruce Hornsby played piano for them. Well bassist Joe Puerta is an original member of Ambrosia, who followed Hornsby and played in the original Bruce Hornsby and the Range as well. Now, Ambrosia is back out on the road, playing a series of dates.

We talk to Puerta about the what got him playing bass, the origins of Ambrosia, and the struggles they had early on in their career. A couple of other tidbits of our chat include working with Alan Parsons on their early records, and the story behind “Nice, Nice, Very Nice,” which features words by author Kurt Vonnegut.