Figuring it Out: “Biggest Part of Me” by Ambrosia
The first social media anything I saw on New Year’s Day 2025 was a clip breaking down the production on Ambrosia’s 1980 smash hit “Biggest Part of Me.” That became today’s obsession, so here are a few words on the song followed by my own brief video breakdown below (sans talking, all playing, with some chord symbols as needed).
The production on this record, by Ambrosia and Hollywood soft rock producer Freddie Piro, is killing. Ambrosia lead singer and guitarist David Pack has the sole writing credit. Those palm-muted single note funk ostinatos he plays are so in the pocket and stylistically fitting — really simple and yet really exacting (they’re not a part of the video). Ditto the licks that Pack trades with tenor saxophone great Ernie Watts before the final chorus.
Ambrosia members David C. Clark (Fender Rhodes), Christopher North (Hammond organ), Royce Jones (backing vocals/percussion), Joe Puerta (bass) and Burleigh Drummond (drums) fill out the track with incredible taste and a textbook session-player late ’70s vibe.
Ernie Watts pops up thrice: first a short kind of Echoplex solo after the second chorus; then those soulful trades with Pack before the last chorus; and again after North’s chef’s-kiss organ solo on the rideout. Now 79, Watts is a major figure in West Coast jazz, a session veteran with credits including Marvin Gaye, Christopher Cross (that’s him on “Arthur’s Theme”), Carole King, Quincy Jones, Bobby Hutcherson, Charlie Haden’s Quartet West and many more.
The bridge of the song is pretty dull so I left it to the side. I think the chord changes marked in the video are largely accurate but of course I welcome dissents! For the first time on video I’m using the Black Mountain thumbpick, which is something I’ve just adopted (depending on the song/style). I love it but it still needs some smoothing out. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading/listening.
