Montrose

"Guitarist, Ronnie Montrose got his first big break when he was offered the chance to play in Van Morrison's band for the 'Tupelo' album. That noted move lead to him joining the Edgar Winter Group, who were very popular at the time. But EWG was so full of talent (Edgar Winter, Rick Derringer, Dan Hartman) and there were so many influences that Ronnie needed to have his own band - so he set out to form Montrose.

Ronnie teamed up with then unknown vocalist Sammy Hagar, Bill Church on Bass, Denny Carmassi on Drums, plus producer Ted Templeman and the classic 'Montrose' debut album was released in 1973. Templeman would later go on to produce Van Halen's explosive debut and several years later, Hagar joined Van Halen, as replacement for original vocalist, David Lee Roth. The VH connections were no coincidence as Eddie Van Halen was a big fan of Ronnie's guitar style and was greatly influenced by his playing.

The 'Montrose' album did not sell particularly well initially, but as word spread of it's importance in rock history, the record eventually reached platinum sales status. 'Montrose' was voted as the 4th best Metal Album of All Time by Kerrang! Magazine in 1989.

With supercharged anthems such as "Rock the Nation" and "Rock Candy", along with the "Bad Motor Scooter" (featuring Ronnie's Gibson Les Paul sounding like a revving engine) and the brilliant "Space Station No. 5", the Montrose debut hits the mark in pure rock style."
- GEOFF (18th March, 2010)