Big Mountain is an American reggae band formed in 1986 at San Diego, California by vocalist Joaquin "Quino" McWhinney. The band gained wide recognition and became known for its cover of Peter Frampton's "Baby, I Love Your Way", which became a top 10 hit single in the US in early 1994, reaching No. 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100, No. 1 on the Mainstream Top 40 and No. 2 in the UK.

History

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 Keeno) 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 1993, 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 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart, In May 2016 the band released their first album in 14 years, Perfect Summer.

Band members

Current members

  • Joaquin "Quino" McWhinney – vocals, guitar <small>(1988–present)</small>
  • Paul "GrooveGalore" KasticK – drums <small>(1998–present)</small>
  • Richard "Goofy" Campbell – keyboards <small>(1999–present)</small>
  • Audley Chisholm – guitar, vocals <small>(2013–present)</small>
  • Michael Ortiz – bass <small>(2013–present)</small>
  • James McWhinney – vocals, percussion <small>(2013–present)</small>

Former members

  • Lynn Copeland – bass <small>(1988–1995)</small>
  • Gregory Blakney – drums <small>(1988–1992)</small>
  • Jerome Cruz – guitar <small>(1988–1993)</small>
  • Manfred Reinke – keyboards <small>(1988–1993)</small>
  • Lance Rhodes – drums <small>(1988–1995)</small>
  • James McWhinney – percussion, vocals <small>(1994–current)</small>
  • Tony Chin – guitar <small>(1994–2002)</small>
  • Billy "Bones" Stoll – keyboards <small>(1994–1997)</small>
  • Carlton "Santa" Davis – drums <small>(1994–1998)</small>
  • Carlos Arias – bass <small>(2013)</small>
  • Stephen Kamada – guitar <small>(2013)</small>
  • Tim Pacheco - vocals, percussion <small>(2016)</small>

thumb|Joaquin "Quino" McWhinney (2018)

Awards and nominations

{| class=wikitable

|-

! Year !! Awards !! Work !! Category !! Result

|-

| 1994

| MTV Europe Music Awards

| rowspan=2|"Baby I Love Your Way"

| Best Cover

|

|-

| 1995

| Ivor Novello Awards

| Most Performed Work

|

Discography

Studio albums

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! rowspan="2" style="width:14em;"| Title

! rowspan="2" style="width:18em;"| Details

! colspan="8"| Peak chart positions

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! style="width:45px;"| US

! style="width:45px;"| AUS<br />

! style="width:45px;"| AUT

! style="width:45px;"| GER

! style="width:45px;"| NED

! style="width:45px;"| NZ

! style="width:45px;"| SWE

! style="width:45px;"| SWI

|-

! scope="row"| California Reggae (as Shiloh)

|

  • Release date: 1988
  • Label: Quality
  • Formats: LP

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|-

! scope="row"| Wake Up

|

  • Release date: October 13, 1992
  • Label: Quality
  • Formats: CD

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|-

! scope="row"| Unity

|

  • Release date: July 19, 1994
  • Label: Giant
  • Formats: CD

| 174

| 97

| 15

| 52

| 52

| 29

| 37

| 10

|-

! scope="row"| Resistance

|

  • Release date: January 1, 1996
  • Label: Giant
  • Formats: CD

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|-

! scope="row"| Free Up

|

  • Release date: August 26, 1997
  • Label: Giant
  • Formats: CD

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|-

! scope="row"| Things to Come

|

  • Release date: August 4, 1999
  • Label: Pony Canyon
  • Formats: CD

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|-

! scope="row"| Dance Party

|

  • Release date: 2000
  • Label: Momentum
  • Formats: CD, cassette

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|-

! scope="row"| One Love

|

  • Release date: April 17, 2001
  • Label: Pony Canyon
  • Formats: CD

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|-

! scope="row"| Cool Breeze

|

  • Release date: July 4, 2001
  • Label: Pony Canyon
  • Formats: CD

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|-

! scope="row"| New Day

|

  • Release date: June 19, 2002
  • Label: Pony Canyon
  • Formats: CD

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|-

! scope="row"| Perfect Summer

|

  • Release date: May 27, 2016
  • Label: VPAL
  • Formats: CD

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|-

| colspan="15" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart

|}

Compilations

  • The Best of Big Mountain (1998), Giant
  • Reggae Remakes (2003), Pony Canyon
  • Big Mountain's Greatest Moments 1999–2004 (2004), Pony Canyon
  • Versions Undercover (2008), Rebel Ink Records

Singles

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|-≥

! rowspan="2"| Year

! rowspan="2"| Single

! colspan="10"| Peak chart positions

! rowspan="2"| Certifications<br /><small>(sales thresholds)</small>

! rowspan="2"| Album

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! width="35"| US<br />

! width="35"| AUS<br />

! width="35"| AUT<br />

! width="35"| CAN<br />

! width="35"| GER<br />

! width="35"| NED<br />

|-

| 1992

| align="left"| "Touch My Light"

| 51

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

| align="left" rowspan="2"| Wake Up

|-

| 1993

| align="left"| "Reggae Inna Summertime"

| —

| 179

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

|-

| rowspan=3| 1994

| align="left"| "Baby, I Love Your Way"

| 6

| 4

| 4

| 2

| 9

| 3

| 12

| 1

| 2

| 2

|

  • AUS: Platinum
  • US: Gold

| align="left" rowspan="3"| Unity

|-

| align="left"| "I Would Find a Way"

| —

| —

| —

| —

| 62

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

|-

| align="left"| "Sweet Sensual Love"

| 80

| —

| —

| 87

| —

| —

| 23

| —

| —

| 51

|

|-

| rowspan=3| 1995

| align="left"| "Get Together"

| 44

| 127

| —

| 16

| 71

| —

| 49

| —

| —

| —

|

| align="left" rowspan="3"| Resistance

|-

| align="left"| "Where Do the Children Play"

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|-

| align="left"| "Caribbean Blue"

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| 94

|-

| rowspan=2| 1997

| align="left"| "All Kinds of People"

| —

| —

| —

| —

| 75

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

| align="left" rowspan="2"| Free Up

|-

| align="left"| "Let's Stay Together"

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

|-

| 2011

| align="left"| "Leap of Faith"

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

|

|-

| 2013

| align="left"| "Blue Skies"

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

|

|-

| 2016

| align="left"| "Here Comes the Sun" (The Beatles cover)

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

| Perfect Summer

|-

| colspan="15" style="font-size:85%"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart

|}

References

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