Montrose, where Sammy Hagar got his start. Then he split and took Bill Church (Bass) and Denny Carmassi (Drums) with him when he became a solo act. This is an awesome album! Sammy is on the right. Ronnie Montrose is in the center. Bill Church is to the left of Ronnie and Carmassi is on the far left.
I remember seeing Sammy, right after he left Montorse, as the warm up band at a Ted Nugent concert. Sammy stole the show. I didn’t know that he could play lead guitar. He and his guitarist traded lead. This is in the early 70’s. Sammy split in the mid 70’s. I loved the 70’s!
The 70’s were a f’n blast Denny!!! I saw the same shows you did but in KCMO. M favorite band was REO Speedwagon but Hagar was tremendous. I got out of high school in 75, turned 21 in 78 and I have many, many great memories too.
The USA was still sane unlike today.
That early ’70s generation of rock guitarists really developed that canon of power chord riffs exploiting the characteristics of the guitar in standard tuning. They were born in the 1950s, so in the early ’70s they were in their prime. I just barely missed that bus; I was in the middle between that generation and the big-haired glam ’80s rockers. When I was performing back then the bar/club owners also wanted bands to play disco, punk, new wave, etc.
Montrose define classic American hard rock for me. Their debut is a full dose of cranked up, supercharged, no BS rock & roll. I consider it the best thing Sammy ever did. Even better than his Van Hagar period, and I love VH. Ronnie Montrose is totally underrated and doesn’t get enough credit for his playing. I put him on par with Ritchie Blackmore and Michael Schenker, two other great hard rock/metal players of that era.
The best part of Hagar, is he’s 68 and, hasn’t changed a damn bit. Check out his band, The Circle. The Red Rocker hasn’t lost a thing over the years.
And check out Chickenfoot as well doing Highway Star. Satriani even does the organ part on guitar.
Also check out Chickenfoot. Here they are doing Highway Star. Satriani does the organ part on his guitar! I saw Sammy many times in St. Louis. Always a great show!
Faaaawk. That was great! Hadn’t seen that before. It must be nice to be blessed with such talent.
I’ve never heard that before.
That’s rather good.
Lot’s of good stuff on the first Montrose Album: Bad Motor Scooter, Rock Candy, Rock the Nation, Make it Last. All the tracks are good.
That album by Montrose is one of the best ever IMHO.