| Ronnie Montrose | |
|---|---|
Montrose in 1974 |
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| Background information | |
| Born | November 29, 1947 |
| Origin | Denver, Colorado, United States |
| Genres | Hard rock, heavy metal, instrumental rock, jazz fusion, blues-rock |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter, producer |
| Instruments | Guitar, mandolin, mandocello, bass, koto |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Associated acts | Montrose, Gamma, Edgar Winter Group, Van Morrison, Sawbuck |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson Les Paul | |
Ronnie Montrose (born November 29, 1947, San Francisco, California, United States) is an American rock guitarist who has headed his own bands as well as performing with a variety of musicians, including Sammy Hagar, Herbie Hancock, Van Morrison, The Beau Brummels, Boz Scaggs, Beaver & Krause, Gary Wright, Tony Williams, The Neville Brothers, Dan Hartman, Edgar Winter and Johnny Winter.
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In 1969, he started out in a band called Sawbuck with Bill Church. Montrose had been in the process of recording what would have been his first album with Sawbuck when David Rubinson, the producer, arranged an audition with Van Morrison. Montrose got the job and played on Morrison's 1971 album Tupelo Honey. He also played on the song "Listen to the Lion", which was recorded during the Tupelo Honey sessions but released on Morrison's next album. Saint Dominic's Preview (1972).[1]
He then joined the Edgar Winter Group before forming his own band, Montrose in 1973, featuring Sammy Hagar on vocals. That incarnation of the band put out two albums on Warner Bros. Records, Montrose and Paper Money, before Hagar left to pursue a solo career. Although the liner notes for the CD edition of Paper Money said that Ronnie was offered to play lead guitar for Mott the Hoople when he left the Edgar Winter Group, Ronnie says that it never happened and was just a rumor. He also added his guitar work to Gary Wright's song, "Power of Love" off the 1975 album, The Dream Weaver.
The guitar virtuoso continued to put out albums as "Montrose" (Warner Brothers Presents... Montrose! and Jump on It) or "Ronnie Montrose" (Open Fire) until he formed Gamma in 1979, initially putting out three albums using that moniker with Davey Pattison singing.
In 1983 he played lead guitar on the song "(She Is A) Telepath" from Paul Kantner's album Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra although he wasn't a member of the original PERRO.
In 1985 he joined Seattle's Rail (band) (winners of MTV's first Basement Tapes video competition) for several months. He was looking for a new band and one of Rail's guitarists, Rick Knotts, had recently left. Billed as Rail featuring Ronnie Montrose or Ronnie & Rail, they played a set of half Rail favorites and half Montrose songs ("Rock Candy," "Rock the Nation," "Matriarch," and Gamma's remake of Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air"). At the end of the tour, there was an amicable split.
He continued to record through the 1980s and 1990s, and Gamma put out a fourth album in 2005.
Ronnie Montrose appeared on Sammy Hagar's Marching To Mars along with original Montrose members Bill Church and Denny Carmassi on the song "Leaving The Warmth Of The Womb." The original Montrose lineup also reformed to play as a special guest at several Sammy Hagar concerts in summer 2004 and 2005. Ronnie Montrose has also performed regularly from 2002 to present with a Montrose lineup featuring Keith St. John on lead vocals and a rotating cast of veteran hard rock players on bass and drums.
On his latest tour in late 2009, Montrose revealed that he had successfully fought prostate cancer over the last 2 years.[2]
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