Big Mountain | |
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Also known as | Shiloh |
Origin | San Diego, California, United States |
Genres | Pop, reggae |
Years active | 1988–present |
Labels | Giant, Pony Canyon, White Sage Ent. |
Website | bigmountainband |
Members | Joaquin "Quino" McWhinney Michael Hyde Paul "Groove Galore" Kastick Richard "Goofy" Campbell Reggie Griffin Danny Lopilato Andre Sias Luis Castillo Jakob McWhinney Michael Ortiz |
Past members | Lynn Copeland Gregory Blakney Jerome Cruz Manfred Reinke Lance Rhodes James McWhinney Tony Chin Billy "Bones" Stoll Carlton "Santa" Davis Carlos Arias Stephen Kamada/Tim Pacheco |
Big Mountain is an American Reggae/pop band known for its cover version of Peter Frampton's "Baby, I Love Your Way", which became a Top 10 hit single in the U.S. in early 1994, reaching No. 6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, No. 1 on Mainstream Top 40 and No. 2 in the UK.
The evolution of the Big Mountain band started in 1986 as the San Diego, California reggae band Rainbow Warriors. In 1988, future Big Mountain frontman Joaquin "Quino" (pronounced Kino) McWhinney joined as the lead singer of the band Shiloh. Quino is of Mexican/Irish heritage, and several members of his family were mariachi musicians. His interest in reggae began after seeing a documentary about Bob Marley and Rastafari. In 1989, Shiloh secured their first record deal and put out one album titled California Reggae. In 1991, the band changed the name to Big Mountain which was the name of a Native American reservation in Arizona. The original line-up was a sextet consisting of Quino (vocals), Lynn Copeland (bass), Gregory Blakney (drums), Jerome Cruz (guitar), Manfred Reinke (keyboards), and Lance Rhodes (drums).
The band first reached the charts with the song "Touch My Light" in spring 1993, a song taken from their debut album Wake Up. Prior to the band recording their second album, Unity, in 1994, Blakney, Cruz, Reinke, and Rhodes all departed the band, with McWhinney and Copeland finding replacements in Jamaican duo Tony Chin (guitar) and Carlton "Santa" Davis (drums), along with keyboard players Michael Hyde and Billy "Bones" Stoll, and percussionist James McWhinney. Following this lineup change, the band went on to receive major airplay on mainstream radio stations. "Baby, I Love Your Way" was included on the soundtrack for the film Reality Bites, and peaked at No. 6 in the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 in the UK Singles Chart, and its follow-up, "Sweet Sensual Love" reached No. 51 in the UK, whilst Unity went on to sell over a million copies worldwide. Big Mountain's follow up single "Get Together" became a top five hit in Brazil and Norway.