Montrose (band)

Montrose
Montrose, 1975. Clockwise from top left: Alan Fitzgerald, Ronnie Montrose, Sammy Hagar, and Denny Carmassi.
Background information
Origin	United States
Genres	Hard rock, heavy metal
Years active	1973–1977, 1987, 2005
Labels	Warner Bros.
Associated acts	Van Halen, Chickenfoot, Edgar Winter Group, Van Morrison, Buster Brown, Gamma, Scorpions
Past members	Ronnie Montrose - guitar Sammy Hagar - vocals Bill Church - bass Denny Carmassi - drums Steve Smith - drums Alan Fitzgerald - bass Bob James - vocals Jim Alcivar - keyboards Randy Jo Hobbs - bass Glenn Letsch - bass Johnny Edwards - vocals James Kottak - drums

Montrose was a California-based hard rock band. The band originally featured Ronnie Montrose on guitar and future solo artist and Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar. Rounding out the original foursome were bassist Bill Church and drummer Denny Carmassi.

Prior to forming the band Montrose, guitarist Ronnie Montrose had been a successful session musician, playing (along with future Montrose bassist Bill Church) on Van Morrison's Tupelo Honey album produced by Ted Templeman, and on albums by Beaver & Krause and Herbie Hancock. He was also a member of the Edgar Winter Group, playing on the hit single Frankenstein from the best-selling album They Only Come Out at Night (1972).

The original Montrose lineup, consisting of Ronnie Montrose on guitar, Sammy Hagar (then known as Sam Hagar) on lead vocals, Bill Church on bass, and Denny Carmassi on drums, was formed in early 1973 after Ronnie Montrose decided to leave the Edgar Winter Group. Both Hagar and Carmassi had previously worked together and were recruited from local San Francisco-area cover bands, while Bill Church and Ronnie Montrose were acquainted from their session work with singer Van Morrison and producer Ted Templeman. This prior connection provided the band with access to Templeman who heard their demos and helped the newly formed group secure a deal with Warner Bros. The band, as yet officially unnamed and billed as ‘Ronnie Montrose and Friends’, made their public debut on April 21, 1973 via a forty-five-minute radio broadcast aired on KSAN FM’s Tom Donahue show. The broadcast, never officially released but in circulation as a bootleg recording, featured the band's complete ten song performance recorded at the Record Plant in Sausalito, consisting of their entire first album (excluding "Space Station No. 5") as well as the unreleased tracks "Roll Me Nice", "You’re Out of Time", and "Roll Over Beethoven".