UPDATE: This post was re-uploaded 08/22/2013. Enjoy, NØ.
There was one band that I saw at Winterland even more than Humble Pie. Bill Graham would stick them on any bill that needed another band & a little wake-up-the-crowd musick.
That was Montrose.
They seem to have been lost in the 70s history rewrite, especially when other American hard rock bands like Grand Funk Railroad & Aerosmith have gained much more (undeserved) exposure.
I would really like to post up Jump On It just because of all the testosterone-laced memories it brings up. That cover gives the 'Red Rocker' new meaning. Brother, that’s no camel-toe.
But, fact is, Montrose' self-titled first album is a greater hard rock album. Ronnie Montrose is a talented virtuoso guitarist who had a vision...a vision to rock & to rock hard.
Released in 1973, this record introduced a young Sammy Hagar to the world, but the explosive aggression of Ronnie Montrose's biting guitar left no doubt as to why the band was thusly named. Then there is the rock-solid rhythm section featuring drummer Denny Carmassi & bassist Bill Church.
Songs like "Rock the Nation" & "Good Rockin' Tonight" lay the ground rules for an entire generation of late-70s California bands. But it was the sheer euphoria of "Bad Motor Scooter," the adolescent nastiness of "Rock Candy," & the gargantuan riffage of the phenomenal stand-out tune "Space Station #5" that propelled this slab o' vinyl. If this musick doesn’t rock you, then you’re rock done rolled away. You better go find it, zombi.
Side A -
Rock The Nation
Bad Motor Scooter
Space Station
I Don't Want It
Side B -
Good Rockin' Tonight
Rock Candy
One Thing On My Mind
Make It Last
Enjoy,
NØ
I remember that cover well. I went through all of the LP racks in local stores hundreds of times. That record elicited a pause every single time. I don't think the CD graphics are capable of provoking the same reaction.
ReplyDeleteIt must have amused you when Montrose and Black Oak Arkansas begat Van Halen, and (later) when Humble Pie begat the Black Crowes. Or maybe it pissed you off. Anyway I am enjoying your trip down hard rock memory lane. I like to break out my Little Feat records once in awhile, tho I never saw them live. I sent you a package this week, by the way.
ReplyDeleteto FourSteps,
ReplyDeleteThe cd cover just doesn't do that great picture justice. It needs the full spread, so to speak.
to jonder,
The birth of VH & the Crowes both should have been aborted before either of those bastards were born, but not the fault of Marriot or Montrose, so more chagrin than anger.
On the other hand...Little Feat. After Zappa fired Lowell George from The Mothers but while Roy Estrada was still in Little Feat (the first two albums) is the only stuff I really like. Dixie & Feats Don't Fail Me have a good New Orleans vibe but are not the original product, but their later jazz fusion stuff lost me (& Lowell I guess). I saw them once early in their journey in L.A. but because of disinterest & declining health, Lowell was seen less & less.
Up next I think will be Bloodrock (either 1 or 2)
Had both albums back in the day. Haven't thought about them in years.
ReplyDeleteThe "Jump On It" album cover works for the vinyl record because it is actual size. At CD size, it is just not the same. ;^)
Yep, I prefer the early Feat as well, although Waiting for Columbus is a fine live album, especially with the Tower of Power horns onboard.
ReplyDeleteto jonder,
ReplyDeleteThough Waiting for C is often considered one of the greatest live albums, most of Lowell's guitar parts were redone in the studio & mixed into the recording. A fine album nonetheless, but I'm just saying...
Now there's something I wish I'd never read. I preferred the illusion that Lowell and the band were almost psykick in their instrumental sympathy that night. Next you'll be telling me that there's no Santa Claus, or that Kim Kardashian has had plastic surgery.
ReplyDeleteto jonder,
ReplyDeletedidn't mean to be a bubble burster. you always know more about musick than I so I assumed you already knew & that I was merely stating the obvious. as far as as Santa or Satan, that jolly man in red from the North is oh so real. & hubba hubba...I believe kim k. is 100% au naturel, a voluptuous Rubenesque woman.
MEGA decryption code
ReplyDeleteYrTu60WwKsezQq7LPRp68Sjs3ExlNm_a6DfTKSPF7KA
Nathan you ROCK my world .
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for posting this
I CDR'd my MONTROSE - Montrose and ended up with the '' swishing noise '' on the last 2 tracks .
Have you ever had that problem ?
I've only noticed these things after rippin' em to my pooter
The Oldest Groover In Town OGIT
merci beaucoup j'ai hâte de l'écouter
ReplyDeleteMerci pour le commentaire. J'espère que tu apprécie la musique.
Delete