Gonzo’s Gems: “Good Rockin’ Tonight With Montrose”
By Sam “Gonzo” Gonzales
It was a hot summer day, all the flea-market stands were being broken down and loaded up. And while everyone was busy loading up their wares, I was speedily looking through two big plastic crates of albums. After the owner of the albums had loaded most of his wares into his truck he walked over to me and asked me how much I would give him for both crates. I stood up and looked down at the crates. There had to be at least 200 albums at my feet. “How much do you want for them?” I asked. “Give me $20 dollars and both crates are yours.“
His wife, who had just walked up and heard us negotiating, nudged him hard with her elbow and shot him a dirty look. She was acting as if he‘d just offered to sell their most prized possession for mere pennies. As he explained to her with exasperation that he was tired of lugging the albums around, I whipped out a crisp $20 dollar bill from my wallet and handed it to the man, sealing the deal quickly before the wife could change his mind. As I lugged the crates of albums to my car I could hear the poor man’s wife giving him holy hell.
At home, I looked through the albums and was pleasantly surprised to find practically every genre of music represented. Rock, Blues, Jazz, R&B and even Movie Soundtracks. I had gotten more than my moneys worth. And how happy was I when I came across most of Ronnie Montrose’s solo albums, two of his three Gamma albums and all five Montrose albums, including the crown jewel, the Montrose album that had served as the prototype for much of the 70s and 80s hard rock and heavy metal music,… “Montrose”!
Ronnie Montrose began his career in music as a session player with for artists such as Beaver & Krause, The Beau Brummels, Gary Wright, Dan Hartman, Herbie Hancock and Van Morrison, then as a backing musician for Boz Scaggs and The Edgar Winter Group. In 1973, Ronnie Montrose left The Edgar Winter Group and formed Montrose with fellow session musicians, Bill Church on bass, Denny Carmassi on drums and a new up-and-coming lead singer by the name of Sammy Hagar.
The self-titled debut, “Montrose”, released in 1973, contained no ballads, just pure, straight-ahead rock and roll. The entire album is a true Gem! Not one weak song can be found. The album has gone on to become the one of the most influential albums of the 70s. Its even been referred to as the first American heavy metal album. Interestingly, the albums producer Ted Templeman, engineer Donn Landee and lead singer Sammy Hagar would all go on to become key players in the success of another great band… the mighty Van Halen.
“Rock The Nation”, a song that Ronnie originally wrote while in The Edgar Winter Group, but never presented to the group, kicks off his debut album. Ronnie Montrose’s killer guitar tone and riff greets us before Sammy Hagar sings, “Ain’t nothing’ to it, just gonna shake my hips, throw my head back and shout…“; “Bad Motor Scooter”, a song born out of an open-D tuned guitar, a fuzz box and slide guitar playing delivers it’s “revving up” motorcycle sound throughout the song; “Space Station No. 5” lulls us in with quirky, yet cool, space sound effects before assaulting us with a thoroughly infectious big riff; “I Don’t Want It” has a mean guitar sound and pissed off lyrics as Sammy sings, “Well, I gave love a chance and it shit back in my face, I don‘t want it, I don’t need it, take it away…“; “Good Rockin’ Tonight” is the album’s feel-good party tune. “It’ll rock away all your blues.”; “Rock Candy“ is immediately recognizable by most rock fans. The song lurches and prowls menacingly with an awesome tone and fantastic lyrics; “One Thing On My Mind” is similar in attitude to “Good Rockin’ Tonight” only slower and bluesier; and finally, “Make It Last” ends the album in a reflective mood. Did I mention that the entire album is a Gem?
“Paper Money”, released the following year, didn’t meet with the same enthusiasm as their debut album. “Paper Money“ has Ronnie experimenting with new tones, but the album just doesn’t quite meet the high standard set by their blistering debut album. The standout song is “I Got The Fire”. It’s a strong and energetic hard rock tune and could have fit in nicely on the their debut album. With tension building between Sammy Hagar and Ronnie Montrose, Sammy left the band after the Paper Money Tour and went on to a successful solo career…
With Sammy Hagar out of the loop, Bob James was hired on as the lead vocalist for the 1975 release, “Warner Bros. Presents Montrose!” Bob James did a superb job on the mic and the band rocked harder than on the previous album. The album contains a suped-up version of the Eddie Cochran song, “Twenty Flight Rock” and “Matriarch” sounds very Deep Purplish with its keyboard work, power guitar and propulsive rhythm.
1976’s Jack Douglas-produced “Jump On It”, picked up where “Warner Bros. Presents Montrose!” had left off. With Jack Douglas at the helm, it allowed Ronnie to concentrated on laying down some blazing lead guitar work and memorable riffs. The album gives us “Let’s Go”, complete with a great drum pattern, and “Jump On It“, with its great lyrics and the message: When you find yourself facing a challenge or a good opportunity, then go for it!
After venturing out and following a solo career and forming another rock group, Gamma, Ronnie Montrose returned eleven years later in 1987 with another Montrose album, “Mean“. With Johnny Edwards on vocals now, “Mean” sounded raw with a nice mix of acoustic and electric guitar work. This is my second favorite Montrose album. The entire album is a great listen, but the Gems are “Ready Willing And Able” and “M For Machine”.
In early 2002, Ronnie formed another incarnation of Montrose with new members and toured the West Coast in support of “The Very Best Of Montrose”. Ronnie and a rotating cast of musicians continue to perform as Montrose up to present time. In 2009, Ronnie revealed that he had successfully fought prostate cancer over a two year period. Great job Ronnie! We wish you continued good health.
Whether it’s a Montrose album, Gamma album or solo album, Ronnie Montrose has proven time and time again that he is a true original. He has never stuck with any one particular formula, instead he has chosen to push the envelope in search of new tones, sounds and technology. By doing this, Ronnie Montrose has created eclectic and different sounding albums that alternate between hard rock and jazz-rock. Casual fans starting off should pick up “The Best Of Montrose”. Serious fans should get on their bad motor scooters and pick up the mind-boggling “Montrose” and then any and all Ronnie Montrose releases.
(CDs) “Montrose” (1973) and “Mean” (1987)
(Songs) Good Rockin’ Tonight, Rock The Nation, Bad Motor Scooter, Space Station No. 5, I Don’t Want It, One Thing On My Mind, Rock Candy, I Got The Fire, Matriarch, Twenty Flight Rock, Let’s Go, Jump On It, Ready Willing And Able, and M For Machine
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