In the mid-'70s, engineer, songwriter, and musician
Tom Trefethen began a lengthy association with soft rock band
Ambrosia, engineering their first three albums. The origins of this partnership can be traced to the early '60s when
Trefethen and future
Ambrosia bassist
Joe Puerta struck up a friendship, learning guitar and writing songs together. While in high school,
Trefethen played with another
Ambrosia founding member, Christopher North, in the psych-rock outfit
Blue Toad Flax. Along with
Burleigh Drummond and
David Pack, North and
Puerta formed
Ambrosia in 1971. Although it took the group a few years to score a record deal, their debut album -- produced by
Alan Parsons and engineered by
Trefethen -- was a Top 30 hit upon its release in 1975.
Trefethen received industry recognition for his work when the record was nominated for a Grammy for Best Engineered Recording. Before the end of 1976, he engineered two more recordings that became Grammy nominees for his contributions,
Take Me Back by gospel singer
Andraé Crouch and
Ambrosia's second effort,
Somewhere I've Never Traveled. Also during this time, he worked on
Parsons' debut effort,
Tales of Mystery and Imagination.
Crouch's
Take Me Back was the first in a string of contemporary Christian albums
Trefethen would engineer.
Glow in the Dark by
Chuck Girard,
Welcome to Paradise by
Randy Stonehill, and
For Him Who Has Ears to Hear by
Keith Green are all considered important releases in the development of the CCM genre.
Trefethen's work with
Ambrosia continued until the release of
Life Beyond L.A. in 1978. After the album was released, he focused his attention on releasing his own album, which he had finished recording in 1977. He soon hooked up with
Michael Nesmith's Pacific Arts label and engineered
Nesmith's album
Infinite Rider on the Big Dogma, released in 1979. A year later, Pacific Arts released
Trefethen's album, titled
Am I Stupid or Am I Great?/It's All Mom's Fault. Assuming all songwriting and production duties,
Trefethen was joined on the album by all original members of
Ambrosia helping out on instrumentation.
Alan Parsons and
Andraé Crouch also made guest appearances. The songs and the packaging of the LP suggested a loose concept album; the bizarre cover photo showed raincoat-clad
Trefethen and sister Tina sitting atop a jet engine. Despite some promising response from college radio,
Trefethen's eccentric brand of pop never found an audience, due partly to poor distribution and other label tribulations.
Trefethen took a break from music business after the release of his album but returned in the 2000s, building a studio and creating his own production company. With assistance from
Parsons, he released the ambitious, Internet-only single "Johnny's Gone Away" in late 2005.
Trefethen performed the song, written in 1980 after the death of
John Lennon, at the 25th annual
Lennon candlelight vigil in Hollywood. He also recently contributed his talents to the Mountainfilm Festival, composing and producing three original musical works for montages presented at the event. Interestingly enough,
Trefethen's name is semi-famous outside of music. His 1969 sketches of a vehicle designed to break speed records are well known among enthusiasts of high-speed land travel.
–
Jeremy Frey, Rovi