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| When I left the Edgar Winter Group, in early 1973, I came back to California and began looking for players to start my own outfit... I made lots of calls, went to lots of clubs, and put the word out. I get a call from this guy named Sammy Hagar saying he'd heard I was lookin |
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| Open Fire
by Montrose
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Label: Wounded Bird Records
2002-09-17
Media: Audio CD
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Tracklisting:
1. Openers
2. Open Fire
3. Mandolinia
4. Town Without Pity
5. Leo Rising
6. Heads Up
7. Rocky Road
8. My Little Mystery
9. No Beginning No End
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When I left the Edgar Winter Group, in early 1973, I came back to California and began looking for players to start my own outfit... I made lots of calls, went to lots of clubs, and put the word out. I get a call from this guy named Sammy Hagar saying he'd heard I was looking for a singer, and in his words said, "I'm your man!"... I went to see him in a cover band he was in at a club in San Francisco, and invited him out to my house the next day to go over songwriting... we hit it off, the energy was right, and that was that.
Sam had done a demo with Denny Carmassi, and highly recommended him as the right drummer. Right he was! I asked Denny to join the band during a break he was taking the first night I saw him in the club he was playing... we shook on it right then and there!
I had worked with Bill Church in Van Morrison's band, we were also camping and fishing buddies... I wanted to make sure we had the right bass player in Bill, and held auditions so that we'd all be convinced... Other auditioned players: Ross Valory (who later joined Journey), Pete Sears (who later joined Jefferson Starship), and others... no shortage of bass talent around town... We ultimately decided on Bill to play bass, and it was definitely the right one for the band at the time!
Our songwriting sessions were very intense, loud,and productive... (in between trips to "The Sultan's" BBQ in San Francisco)... Sam had a large book of lyrics... some songs, some choruses, and some simple phrases... It was very easy to "cut and paste" lyrics sometimes to cause a verse of one song and bridge of another, etc.to all fit together right... Denny and Bill were strong... Songs just flowed out like they're supposed to!
We rehearsed for a month or so, and I started calling around looking for management to help us out. We were faced with the same kind of rejections that many young bands have to learn to deal with... One management team actually said after hearing our songs like "Rock Candy," Rock the Nation," "Space Station # 5", etc., "Gee guys! We're really sorry! If this was 5 years ago, this music might work, but we just can't help you now!"
We of course took that as an affront and a challenge, and plowed ahead like any young dedicated band would!
After I'd been rehearsing with the guys for a month or so, I got a call from Edgar Winter's road manager telling me they had an emergency - "Frankenstein" was flying up the charts, and they had a few sold out Coliseum shows left and need me to play before they regrouped... I flew back and played the shows... during one meeting backstage with some of Edgar's record label guys, I informed them that I wasn't actually back in the band, and had my own band started in California... that put me and my new band in a great position... executives from two labels, (Epic and Warner Brothers) had seen me live and on fire with energy in Edgar's band... I listened to both labels, and ultimately went with Warner Brothers since I had worked with Ted Templeman on Van Morrison's records, and liked him and wanted him to produce the record with me. Also, it was simply logistically easier since we were California-based, as was WB. We flew down to cut a demo, four songs, and signed the deal! I still have the original demo disc with a song that never made it to the record!
Recording of the album actually only took a month or so, and mixing/mastering even less... one of my obversations about that was how simple the material was... uncluttered, easy to produce/record... We finished, the record went to print, and we began looking again for management...I went through a couple of managers in those times, and ultimately ended up with Bill Graham Management...
Our first sets of tours were wild and fun! Back in those days, many different types of groups often played on the same bill together, and the Stadium/Coliseum shows were still in full force - everyone went to shows! (Keep in mind, there was no MTV! Only radio and the beginnings of shows like "In Concert" and "Midnight Special.")
Source: http://www.ronniemontrose.com/mainframeset.htm |
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