Big Mountain
formed - 1991
(San Diego, California)
Much like UB40, American reggae band Big Mountain brought a very commercialized version of Jamaican music to the American mainstream when their cover of Peter Frampton's "Baby, I Love Your Way" reached the Top Ten in early 1994. To the band's credit, though, their three albums contain reggae roots music combined with only several R&B-ish covers, and the lineup includes two Jamaicans with excellent credentials: rhythm guitarist Tony Chin and drummer Santa Davis — both of whom played with the Peter Tosh band and the Soul Syndicate.
Big Mountain was originally formed in San Diego as the Rainbow Warriors. After several years of dizzying lineups and two name changes — first to Shiloh and finally to Big Mountain — the group centralized around vocalist/guitarist Quino, with rhythm guitarist Jerome Cruz, drummers Gregory Blakney and Lance Rhodes, keyboard player Manfred Reinke, and bassist Lynn Copeland. That lineup released Wake Up on the Quality label in 1992 and charted "Touch My Light" early the following year. The single reached number 51 in America, but only one year later Big Mountain began to experiment with several different guitarists. After several changes, Tony Chin became available and joined Quino and Copeland with new additions Santa Davis, James McWhinney (percussion) and keyboard players Billy Stoll and Michael Hyde. During sessions for their second album, movie producer Ron Fair approached Big Mountain about recording a cover of "Baby, I Love Your Way" for his upcoming movie Reality Bites. Included on the soundtrack and the group's 1994 Unity album, the single reached number six in the U.S. and became a worldwide hit.
Despite Big Mountain's success on the commercial pop charts, most of the reggae community remained faithful to the band; the group headlined two consecutive Reggae Sunsplash festivals in Jamaica during massive world tours that crisscrossed Europe, North and South America, Asia and Indonesia. Third album Resistance was released in 1995, followed two years later by Free Up.
-- Courtesy (John Bush, All-Music Guide) --
 Big Mountain evolved from a Californian reggae band, the Rainbow Warriors, in the mid-80s. They toured the USA playing gigs to the uninitiated, introducing a diluted form of reggae to American ears. The multicultural line-up featured Quino (vocals), Lance Rhodes (drums, percussion), Billy Stoll (keyboards), Lynn Copeland (bass), James McWhinney (vocals) and Jamaican Tony Chin (lead guitar). In 1994, the band released a version of Peter Frampton 's 'Baby, I Love Your Way', which when featured in the movie Reality Bites became an international top-seller, peaking at UK number 2 and US number 6. The single also featured a Spanish version, enabling the band to enjoy successful sales in the South American market. The hit was followed by 'Sweet Sensual Love', performed in both English and Spanish, although it only reached number 51 in the UK pop chart. Unity followed, selling over a million copies worldwide. The band's accomplishment led to successful appearances at Jamaica's 1994 and 1995 Reggae Sunsplash festivals. They have since been unable to match the success of their first hit, but have continued to record with a number of Jamaica's top sessionmen, including Sly And Robbie and Handel Tucker. In 1995, the single 'Caribbean Blue' failed to make an impression in either the reggae or pop charts. Free Up featured singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow on co-writing credits.
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