Lighthouse on Tour
As the parameters of rock ‘n' roll blew wide open in the late 1960s, Canadian collective Lighthouse emerged from Toronto's happenin' hippie scene with a bewitching brew of rock, soul, jazz, and classical music. They gradually harnessed their improvisational finesse into a string of ebullient pop hits that remain staples on classic-rock radio to this day.
The group's genre-blurring fusion was triggered by a chance meeting on a flight in 1968 between singer/drummer Skip Prokop and keyboardist Paul Hoffert, whose differing backgrounds yielded the core elements of the Lighthouse sound. The former was a member of psych-rock combo The Paupers who'd become a session player for the likes of Janis Joplin. The latter was a classically trained multi-instrumentalist who had played in jazz combos since he was a teen and had gone on to perform with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
In 1969, Lighthouse debuted as a 13-member ensemble, with a standard rock-band formation supplemented by seasoned players from the worlds of jazz and classical (including an alto saxophonist named Howard Shore, better known today as Oscar-winning film composer for The Lord of the Rings trilogy, among many other blockbusters).
The band's freewheeling live performances made them instant favorites on the festival circuit, but with the release of their fourth album, 1971's One Fine Morning, Lighthouse became chart mainstays on both sides of the border for the next couple years. Thanks to feel-good singles like "Take It Slow (Out in the Country)" and "Sunny Days," Lighthouse helped define the bright, brass-gilded sound of early ‘70s pop alongside U.S. peers Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears.
Following Hoffert's departure in 1973, the group soldiered on, taking home Group of the Year and Album of the Year honors at the 1974 Juno Awards. Their tenure as hitmakers was effectively over, with the band petering out in 1976. However, a 1992 reunion has put the band back in action periodically throughout the subsequent decades, and despite Prokop's 2017 death from heart complications, Hoffert continues to guide the band through their 50th anniversary celebrations, ensuring more sunny days lie ahead.