“One Fine Morning” (Lighthouse)

We’re coming close to the end of horn rock (jazz rock) week and for today’s classic horn rock song of the day we move north of the border for the Canadian band Lighthouse and their big hit, “One Fine Morning.” Released in 1971, this tune peaked at #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 but hit #2 on the Canada RPM Top Singles chart and #13 on the CHUM Top Airplay chart.

“One Fine Morning” is a different-sounding jazz rock record because Lighthouse was a different jazz rock band. The band, led by drummer and lead vocalist Skip Prokop, took the normal horn rock lineup (two trumpets, alto sax, and trombone, just like BS&T) and layered strings (two cellos and two violas) on top. That gives you more colors to work with and results in a bigger, more full sound that I’ve always liked.

This track was written by Mr. Prokop, who wrote most of the band’s songs, and produced by music legend Jimmy Ienner. Mr. Prokop had previously played drums with Al Kooper, who went on to form the original version of Blood, Sweat & Tears. Prokop also played on sessions for Janis Joplin, Carlos Santana, and Peter, Paul & Mary before forming Lighthouse.

Mr. Prokop founded the group with keyboardist Paul Hoffert in 1968. They wanted a band that combined a rock rhythm section, a jazz horn section, and a classical string section, and that’s exactly what they put together. Among the players they assembled was an alto saxophonist named Howard Shore, who later became the founding bandleader of the Saturday Night Live band and went on to much success scoring movie soundtracks. (Count Scanners, Places in the Heart, Nadine, Big, Postcards from the Edge, The Silence of the Lambs, Single White Female, Mrs. Doubtfire, Philadelphia, Ed Wood, That Thing You Do!, High Fidelity, The Aviator, The Departed, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy among his most well-known film work.)

Lighthouse released their first album in 1969 and had a #5 hit on the Canadian Content chart with “Feels So Good.” After three albums on RCA, however, they switched record labels in 1970 and that really got the ball rolling. Their first release on GRT (in Canada; Evolution in the U.S.) was the album One Fine Morning, from which today’s Classic Song of the Day derives. They released four more studio albums on GRT/Evolution that spawned a handful of Canadian hits, including (from the 1973 album, Can You Feel It) a previous Classic Song of the Day, “Pretty Lady.” (That one was also released in the U.S. but only rose as high as #53 on the Billboard Hot 100.)

Skip Prokop left the band during recording sessions late in 1974. Paul Hoffert assembled some new musicians and tried to keep the band going, but ended up calling it quits in 1976, long after the jazz rock era had peaked. Lighthouse reunited a few times after dissolving, but that was pretty much that.

Skip Prokop passed away in 2017 at age 73. Paul Hoffert, like former bandmate Howard Shore, became a film composer, as well as doing technology research. He’s still around today, aged 79.