You may not have heard of David Pack -- or can't remember why his name rings a bell -- but you almost surely know something of his work.

Pack, who will perform in two shows this weekend at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater, was a founder, guitarist and lead vocalist of the group Ambrosia, which had some major radio hits in the 1970s and '80s.

Among Ambrosia's best-known releases are "You're the Only Woman," "How Much I Feel" and "Biggest Part of Me."

But that was a long time ago and his career has since taken a turn or two.

"I became more successful as a producer," Pack said of his career today.

Indeed he has, and as a music director as well.

"I have had this Forrest Gump-like career," he said.

He produced and wrote two songs for Wynonna Judd's greatest hits CD, produced the duet "Ain't That Peculiar" for Michael McDonald and D.C. Talk for McDonald's "Blue Obsession" CD, produced and digitally remastered the retrospective "Ambrosia Anthology," and produced and arranged the RCA/Grammy Gold CD, "The Songs of West Side Story Tribute to Leonard Bernstein," with performers ranging from Phil Collins to Natalie Cole, Selena, TLC, Aretha Franklin, the Jerky Boys, Wynonna, All 4 One and Chick Corea.

Some of his gigs as musical director are even more recognizable.

They include both of Bill Clinton's inaugural Arkansas balls, for which he was MC, and guitarist for the Chuck Berry/Little Richard segment of a televised gala; Aids Project L.A.'s Commitment to Life VI tribute to Barbra Streisand and David Geffen; the 1995 Greek Theatre Benefit for Children of Bosnia with Fleetwood Mac, Yes, Roberta Flack, Yanni, Kitaro, Ambrosia, Kenny Loggins and Alan Parsons; Barbra Streisand and Goldie Hawn's Benefit for Hollywood Women's Political Caucus; the 1988 Carnegie Hall AIDS Benefit "Children Will Listen" featuring Leonard Bernstein and his children, the Boys Choir of Harlem, Patti Austin and David Benoit; the 1997 President's Volunteer Summit for Presidents Clinton, Bush, Carter and Ford, along with Hillary Clinton, Colin Powell and Oprah Winfrey, among others; and Yamaha's Michael McDonald Lifetime Achievement Award show at the Shrine in 2000 with Ray Charles, Patti LaBelle, Kenny Loggins, Jeff Bridges, Boz Skaggs, SheDaisy and Christopher Cross.

Along the way, he won Grammy and Dove Best Contemporary Pop Gospel Album awards in 1997 for "Tribute -- Songs of Andrae Crouch"; produced Kenny Loggins' platinum-plus "Return to Pooh Corner, which was nominated for a Grammy for Best Children's Album"; and produced two tracks on Cece Winans' 2000 Grammy Best Soul Gospel Album nominee "His Gift."

He also squeezed in a duet with Bette Midler on the multiplatinum "Beaches" soundtrack, a duet with Wynonna on the "Why Now" track from "The Other Side," wrote and sang "Prove Me Wrong" for the multiplatinum soundtrack to "White Nights" with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines, and toured with Michael McDonald as guitarist/vocalist in 1987-88, among others.

You could say it all started with Al Stewart's breakthrough album "Year of the Cat" and his follow-up, "Time Passages." Pack was vocalist and guitarist on both albums.

But Pack will tell you his musical career started well before that. In fact, he cannot remember a time when music was not a part of his life.

His father sang in church every week -- and still does, now even in his late 80s -- and his mother, an Oklahoma native, listened with him to the broadcasts of The Grand Ole Opry from Nashville.

By the time he was 5 or 6 years old, he was learning the ukulele and was playing guitar by the time he was 8.

"It is just an intangible thing you know you're destined to do," Pack said.

Along came Elvis and the Everly Brothers and an article he read about country performer Jimmy Webb "writing all these incredible songs that were touching people."

He was inspired to write himself.

"I wrote songs by the dozen," he said. "I realized I had a gift in that area."

And then it happened. The Beatles. And the surf music that arose from the Southern California native's own coastal neighborhood.

"That was the detonator for the fuse in my life," he said.

Eventually, he hooked up with Al Stewart, whose success inspired Pack to continued efforts in what, as a 20-year-old, he saw as an easy business. Only later would he come to see how complex and demanding life in music can be.

During his time with Al Stewart, Pack and another Stewart performer, Peter White, formed a friendship that has lasted four decades.

The friends will team up for the first of Pack's two performances, an evening of acoustic Ambrosia tunes (as well as other songs) on Friday.

On Saturday, Pack will hook up and plug in with his band and perform his works from Ambrosia.

These days he spends as much time as he can on projects for Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, where pastor Rick Warren has established a small-group ministry to promote what he calls his PEACE plan.

Church representatives speak to small groups to promote individual and community level activism on the five points of the PEACE plan, which Warren describes as spiritual lostness, corrupt leadership, poverty, disease and lack of education.