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AllMusic[2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal6/10[3]

Warner Bros. Presents Montrose! is the third studio album by American hard rock band Montrose, released on Warner Bros. Records on 26 September 1975.

It is the first Montrose album released after the departure of singer Sammy Hagar and also the first not produced by Ted Templeman. Bob James, an unknown vocalist and songwriter from the South Bay area of Los Angeles who had been singing in a Montrose cover band, was chosen as Hagar's successor in early 1975. Another newcomer from Los Angeles, Jim Alcivar, joined the band on keyboards, making this the first Montrose album to feature a keyboardist as a full member of the band. At this juncture guitarist band leader Ronnie Montrose parted ways with Ted Templeman and chose to self-produce the album.

In 1971, singer-songwriter Kendell Kardt, formerly of the band Rig, recorded a solo album, Buddy Bolden,[4] featuring guests Jerry Garcia and Ronnie Montrose, both of whom played on the songs "Buddy Bolden" and "Black Train". "Black Train" was written by Kardt about the heroin-overdose death of an unnamed friend of Rig guitarist Arthur Richards.[5] The original Kendell Kardt version of the song has a Country & Western feel with Garcia on pedal steel guitar and Montrose on lead guitar and Hawaiian lap steel.[5] A shakeup at Capitol resulted in Kardt's contract being dropped and the album being shelved. Ronnie Montrose's motivation for choosing to unearth the unreleased track for a more aggressive reinterpretation may have stemmed from the guitarist's vehement personal anti-drug/anti-alcohol stance at the time, exemplified by his insistence that all Montrose band members abide by a strict policy of drug and alcohol-free performances.

The album achieved the second highest chart position of the four Montrose releases, reaching No. 79 in the Billboard 200.[6] It was critically praised and also noted for its movie-poster cover art, giving the impression that Warner Bros. Records was presenting a rock band like a big budget Hollywood production.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the album liner notes.[7]

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Matriarch"Jim Alcivar, Denny Carmassi, Alan Fitzgerald, Bob James, Ronnie Montrose4:33
2."All I Need"Alcivar, Carmassi, Fitzgerald, James, Montrose4:21
3."Twenty Flight Rock" (Eddie Cochran cover)Eddie Cochran, Ned Fairchild2:43
4."Whaler"Alcivar, Carmassi, Fitzgerald, James, Montrose6:54
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Dancin' Feet"Montrose, James4:05
6."O Lucky Man!"Alan Price3:11
7."One and a Half"Montrose1:36
8."Clown Woman"Montrose4:21
9."Black Train"Kendell Kardt, Arthur Richards, Martin Fried4:34

Personnel

Montrose
Additional musicians
Production
  • Charles Faris – engineer
  • John Henning – associate engineer

Charts

Chart (1975) Peak
position
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[8] 40
US Billboard 200[9] 79

References

  1. ^ "Great Rock discography". p. 559.
  2. ^ Book, John. "Montrose - Warner Bros. Presents Montrose! review". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 2021-08-22.
  3. ^ Popoff, Martin (October 2003). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 1: The Seventies. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 187. ISBN 978-1894959025.
  4. ^ "BUDDY BOLDEN '71". Kendellkardt.com. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Kendell Kardt with Jerry Garcia and Ronnie Montrose". Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2010-08-30.
  6. ^ "Montrose". Billboard. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  7. ^ Montrose (1975). Warner Bros. Presents Montrose! (LP sleeve). Warner Bros. Records. BS 2892.
  8. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Montrose – Warner Bros. Presents... Montrose!". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  9. ^ "Montrose Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 30, 2023.

Other sources

  • Montrose; "Warner Bros. Presents... Montrose!" liner notes; Warner Bros. Records 1975
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Bros._Presents_Montrose!