Montrose

[KingLouieLouie]

Now.. here's a band that catapulted out of nowhere with avengence on their 1973 self-titled debut album, but unfortunately they immediately fizzled just as soon as their sound sizzled....

This band had it all with someone who turned-out to the ultimate frontman from one of the most legendary groups ever (Sammy Hagar), an accomplished underrated guitarist (Ronny Montrose) and a fairly competent rhythm section..

It's just a shame that Montrose experienced such chemistry issues that doomed them all too prematurely and it would be intriguing if all the 4 original members would reunite, however, I wonder if that would be beneath Hagar now...

But talk about an excellent debut album..it rocked from the first to the final track with such blistering speed....The album just clocked in at 32 minutes, but they were able to inject so much excitement in such a brief duration They sounded so dynamic and again it leads to wonder...what if?

Of course I liked Hagar solo and his first couple albums with Van Halen, but to me he was at his best during "Montrose" just demonstrating a keen sense of how to sing with such authority/enthusiasm.... Just a brilliant album and must for those who are heavily into hard-rock.....

 

[O]

Montrose's version of a Town Without Pity is a classic.

I do prefer Brian Setzer's version better though.

 

[jstadvl]

Town

was later on. Ronnie treid to capture that orignal sound they had a couple of lineups down the road, but they never took off again. He then went into a Jeff Beck knid of mode doing fusion type of work that was under appreciated and economically suicide.
Sammy has always been so much more than a front man for any band. His talent is amazing andcan be overwhelming to others. He took the whole rythm section with him when he left Montrose. I ran with his bass player, "The Electirc" church oof and on for a bit. He was always cool. and I just couldn't believ the stpidity of Denny Carmesi splitin from them. gary Pihl always did a great job on guitar in the bands best days of back then.

 

[O]

Denny Carmesi, thank you I was trying to think of his name.
He did go on to have a good run with Heart.
Another monster.

 

[DieHardFromMO]

My favorite song from Montrose was Rock Candy. I didn't know Montrose existed originally until I started liking Sammy Hagar in the early 80's after I heard, "I Can't Drive 55".

 

[KingLouieLouie]

Oh yeah....The year of reunions is continuing and I have such high anticipation for this longly awaited one:

http://livedaily.com/news/Sammy_Hagar_plots_shows_with_Wabos_Montrose-8414.html?t=1

Sammy Hagar plots shows with Wabos, Montrose
July 13, 2005 11:07 AM
by Jon Zahlaway
liveDaily Senior Writer

Sammy Hagar, who spent last summer on a reunion tour with Van Halen, will head up another revival this summer when he joins his former Montrose bandmates on stage during a handful of shows he'll headline with his current group, The Wabos.

So far, Hagar has lined up five August concerts, three of which will feature Montrose. Details are included in the itinerary below.

During a recent interview with Norway's Metal Express, Hagar outlined what fans can expect if they're attending one of the Montrose dates.

"I'll go out and play an hour and a half, two hours with the Wabos, and then, for the encore, we'll bring Montrose, the original Montrose--you know, [drummer] Denny [Carmassi], [bassist] Bill [Church], myself and [guitarist] Ronnie [Montrose]--and we'll play about 40 minutes of Montrose stuff," he said.

Hagar fronted Montrose in the early '70s, but went solo after a falling out with the group's namesake guitarist. The band's self-titled 1973 debut spawned the cuts "Space Station No. 5," "Bad Motor Scooter" and "Rock Candy."

The Wabos, a backing band that Hagar formed following his 1996 split with Van Halen, features his pre-VH solo-band drummer David Lauser, bassist Mona and former Bus Boys guitarist Victor Johnson. The group was on hiatus for much of 2004 while Hagar mounted an 80-date reunion run with Van Halen, an occurrence that The Wabos won't have to worry about again any time soon, according to Hagar's recent comments to Metal Express.

"I'm not saying that we would never do it again, but some people would have to change, including maybe myself," Hagar said. "Maybe I'm the first guy that should change. But we would have to change. We couldn't just do it the way it was being done. It was falling apart."

Hagar went on to say that the last show on the 2004 Van Halen tour was a "disaster."

"It was a horrible experience," he said. "We had to be pushed off the stage separately, [with] me taken this way and Eddie [Van Halen] taken this way, and Alex [Van Halen] and Michael [Anthony] down the middle, because we were ready to go to blows. It was that bad. So that was horrible. The rest of the tour wasn't that bad, but at the end ... I don't know. Something got crazy."

Before heading out on tour with Van Halen, Hagar and the group recorded three new songs--"It's About Time," "Up for Breakfast" and "Learning to See"--which appeared on last year's two-disc hits collection, "Best of Both Worlds."

Hagar and The Wabos, meanwhile, issued their most recent studio album, "Not 4 Sale," in 2002. The concert set "Live - Hallelujah" followed in 2003.

Last month, Hagar and the Wabos released a cover of the classic Staple Singers hit "I'll Take You There." The cut is available exclusively via Apple's iTunes Music Store.

In October, Hagar and The Wabos will make their annual pilgrimage to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, the site of Hagar's Cabo Wabo nightclub. There, they'll celebrate Hagar's 58th birthday with several live performances. Details for the multi-night event--known as the Birthday Bash--have not yet been announced.

Hagar and The Wabos hope to put out a new record soon, but nothing definite is lined up, according to a spokesperson.

August 2005
6 - Clarkston, MI - DTE Energy Music Theatre (w/ Montrose)
9 - Phoenix, AZ - Dodge Theatre
11 - San Diego, CA - Harrah's Rincon
13 - Lake Tahoe, NV - Harrah's Tahoe (w/ Montrose)
14 - Concord, CA - Chronicle Pavilion @ Concord (w/ Montrose)

Unfortunately, it's not Montrose performing together here in Phoenix, but perhaps this reunion will be successful enough to record some newer material and do an extensive tour in support of it.... This is where Hagar will revert back to his hard-rock roots...