Warner Brothers Presents... Montrose!
Encyclopedia
Warner Brothers Presents... Montrose! is the third album of the band Montrose
.
It is the first Montrose album to feature singer Bob James and keyboardist Jim Alcivar
. The album was critically praised and also noted for its movie-poster cover giving the impression that Warner Brothers was presenting a rock band like a big budget Hollywood production. Ronnie Montrose
produced the album.
The album starts off with the hard rocker "Matriarch" followed by "All I Need" which alternates between soft acoustic sounds and electric guitar crunch. A hard rock cover of Eddie Cochran
's rockabilly
"Twenty Flight Rock
" follows. Ronnie's acoustic guitar makes room for Novi Novog
's viola
on the track "Whaler" who a year earlier added the same on the Doobie Brothers hit, "Black Water".
The second half of the disc rounds out with rockers "Dancin' Feet" and "Clown Woman", Jim Alcivar’s keyboard driven cover of "O Lucky Man!
" and Ronnie’s acoustic solo "One and A Half". The final song is a cover of a song that was never released. In 1971, Kendall Kardt, late of the band Rig, recorded a solo album, Buddy Boldenhttp://www.kendellkardt.com/BUDDY%20BOLDEN%20%20group.html with guests Jerry Garcia
and Ronnie Montrose, both on the songs "Buddy Bolden" and "Black Train". "Black Train"http://www.boneyardmedia.com/?p=604 is written about a friend of Rig guitarist, Arthur Richards, who died of a heroin overdose. The original song has a country
sound with Garcia on pedal steel guitar and Montrose on lead guitar and Hawaiian lap steel. A shakeup at Capitol resulted in Kardt’s contract being dropped and the album abandoned. Montrose rescued the song from obscurity with a hard rock version with the best guitar solo on the album.
Montrose (band)
Montrose was a California-based hard rock band. The band originally featured Ronnie Montrose on guitar and future solo artist and former Van Halen frontman Sammy Hagar...
.
It is the first Montrose album to feature singer Bob James and keyboardist Jim Alcivar
Jim Alcivar
Jim Alcivar is an American keyboard and synthesizer player and sound engineer. He is most noted for his connection to guitarist Ronnie Montrose and appearing in his bands Montrose and Gamma and on his first solo album Open Fire. His father is composer, arranger and producer Bob Alcivar.-Discography...
. The album was critically praised and also noted for its movie-poster cover giving the impression that Warner Brothers was presenting a rock band like a big budget Hollywood production. Ronnie Montrose
Ronnie Montrose
Ronnie Montrose, is an Amercian 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...
produced the album.
The album starts off with the hard rocker "Matriarch" followed by "All I Need" which alternates between soft acoustic sounds and electric guitar crunch. A hard rock cover of Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran
Eddie Cochran , was an American rock and roll pioneer who in his brief career had a small but lasting influence on rock music through his guitar playing. Cochran's rockabilly songs, such as "C'mon Everybody", "Somethin' Else", and "Summertime Blues", captured teenage frustration and desire in the...
's rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
"Twenty Flight Rock
Twenty Flight Rock
"Twenty Flight Rock" is a song originally performed by Eddie Cochran in the 1956 film comedy The Girl Can't Help It, and released as a single in 1957. Cochran's biographer notes Cochran was granted a co-writer credit, but no royalties, a standard ego-salving arrangement between publishers and...
" follows. Ronnie's acoustic guitar makes room for Novi Novog
Novi Novog
Novi Novog, born in North Hollywood, California is an American viola player. She is sometimes simply credited as "Novi" and is the cousin of Lauren Wood .-Albums :...
's viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
on the track "Whaler" who a year earlier added the same on the Doobie Brothers hit, "Black Water".
The second half of the disc rounds out with rockers "Dancin' Feet" and "Clown Woman", Jim Alcivar’s keyboard driven cover of "O Lucky Man!
O Lucky Man!
O Lucky Man! is a 1973 British comedy-drama fantasy film, intended as an allegory on life in a capitalist society. Directed by Lindsay Anderson, it stars Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis, whom McDowell had first played as a disaffected public schoolboy in his first film performance in Anderson's...
" and Ronnie’s acoustic solo "One and A Half". The final song is a cover of a song that was never released. In 1971, Kendall Kardt, late of the band Rig, recorded a solo album, Buddy Boldenhttp://www.kendellkardt.com/BUDDY%20BOLDEN%20%20group.html with guests Jerry Garcia
Jerry Garcia
Jerome John "Jerry" Garcia was an American musician best known for his lead guitar work, singing and songwriting with the band the Grateful Dead...
and Ronnie Montrose, both on the songs "Buddy Bolden" and "Black Train". "Black Train"http://www.boneyardmedia.com/?p=604 is written about a friend of Rig guitarist, Arthur Richards, who died of a heroin overdose. The original song has a country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
sound with Garcia on pedal steel guitar and Montrose on lead guitar and Hawaiian lap steel. A shakeup at Capitol resulted in Kardt’s contract being dropped and the album abandoned. Montrose rescued the song from obscurity with a hard rock version with the best guitar solo on the album.
Track listing
- "Matriarch"(Alcivar/Carmassi/Fitzgerald/James/Montrose) 4:33
- "All I Need"(Alcivar/Carmassi/Fitzgerald/James/Montrose) 4:21
- "Twenty Flight Rock" (Ned FairchildNed FairchildNed Fairchild is the pen name of Nelda Fairchild an American songwriter. Her best known work is the hit rock'n'roll hit "Twenty Flight Rock"....
) 2:43 - "Whaler"(Alcivar/Carmassi/Fitzgerald/James/Montrose) 6:54
- "Dancin' Feet"(Montrose/James) 4:05
- "O Lucky Man" (Alan PriceAlan PriceAlan Price is an English musician, best known as the original keyboardist for the English band The Animals, and for his subsequent solo work....
) 3:11 - "One And a Half" (Montrose) 1:36
- "Clown Woman" (Montrose) 4:21
- "Black Train" (Kendall Kardt/Arthur Richards/Fried) 4:34
Band
- Bob James: Lead Vocals
- Ronnie MontroseRonnie MontroseRonnie Montrose, is an Amercian 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...
: Guitar - Jim AlcivarJim AlcivarJim Alcivar is an American keyboard and synthesizer player and sound engineer. He is most noted for his connection to guitarist Ronnie Montrose and appearing in his bands Montrose and Gamma and on his first solo album Open Fire. His father is composer, arranger and producer Bob Alcivar.-Discography...
: Keyboards - Alan FitzgeraldAlan FitzgeraldAlan Fitzgerald, U.S. musician , was a member of several U.S. bands.He played as a bassist in the bands Montrose and Gamma, both of which also featured guitarist Ronnie Montrose....
: Bass - Denny CarmassiDenny CarmassiDenny Carmassi is an American drummer.Carmassi was a member of the first four line-ups of the band Montrose. After Montrose, he played with his former Montrose bandmate Sammy Hagar as a solo artist, and with his former Montrose bandmates Ronnie Montrose and Jim Alcivar in the band Gamma.He also...
: Drums