Warner Bros. Presents (Montrose album)

Warner Bros. Presents is the third album by the California-based hard rock band Montrose. It was released on Warner Bros. Records in September 1975.

Warner Bros. Presents
Studio album by
Montrose
ReleasedSeptember 1975
RecordedThe Record Plant, Los Angeles and Sausalito, California
GenreHard rock, Heavy metal
LabelWarner Bros. Records
ProducerRonnie Montrose
Montrose chronology
Paper Money
(1974)		 Warner Bros. Presents
(1975)		 Jump on It
(1976)
Ronnie Montrose chronology
Paper Money
(1974)		 Warner Bros. Presents
(1975)		 Jump on It
(1976)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

It is the first Montrose album released after the departure of singer Sammy Hagar, the first Montrose album not produced by Ted Templeman, and the first Montrose album to feature a keyboardist as a full member of the band. 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. 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,[2] featuring guests Jerry Garcia and Ronnie Montrose, both of whom played on the songs "Buddy Bolden" and "Black Train". "Black Train"[3] was written by Kardt about the heroin-overdose death of an unnamed friend of Rig guitarist Arthur Richards. 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. 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.[4] 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
  1. "Matriarch" (Alcivar, Carmassi, Fitzgerald, James, Montrose) – 4:33
  2. "All I Need" (Alcivar, Carmassi, Fitzgerald, James, Montrose) – 4:21
  3. "Twenty Flight Rock" (Eddie Cochran, Ned Fairchild) – 2:43
  4. "Whaler" (Alcivar, Carmassi, Fitzgerald, James, Montrose) – 6:54
  5. "Dancin' Feet" (Montrose, James) – 4:05
  6. "O Lucky Man!" (Alan Price) – 3:11
  7. "One And a Half" (Montrose) – 1:36
  8. "Clown Woman" (Montrose) – 4:21
  9. "Black Train" (Kendall Kardt, Arthur Richards, Martin Fried) – 4:34

Personnel

Band

Additional musicians

Production
  • Produced by Ronnie Montrose
  • Engineered by Charles Faris
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References
  1. Warner Bros. Presents at AllMusic
  2. "BUDDY BOLDEN '71". Kendellkardt.com. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2010-08-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Montrose". Billboard. Retrieved 18 November 2017.

Other sources
  • Montrose; "Warner Bros. Presents... Montrose!" liner notes; Warner Bros. Records 1975
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