Gamma

Ronnie Montrose assembled Gamma as a more ambitious and wide-ranging endeavor than the group that bore his surname, yet the project remained eclipsed by the groundbreaking impact of the original Montrose debut. In the early seventies Ronnie Montrose relocated from Colorado to California, where session contributions with Van Morrison and Boz Scaggs first brought him notice. He soon attained wider recognition as Edgar Winter’s guitarist on the classic album They Only Come Out at Night.

Determined to exercise full artistic direction, Ronnie Montrose declined an offer from Mott the Hoople and instead formed Montrose. The self-titled debut album endures as a metal landmark, showcasing a young Sammy Hagar delivering powerful performances on “Bad Motor Scooter,” “Space Station No. 5,” and “Rock the Nation.” Although commercial success arrived slowly, the record quietly established a template that numerous hard-rock bands, especially Van Halen, would later pursue. After Hagar’s dismissal from the uneven follow-up Paper Money, the band gradually unraveled even as it issued two further unfocused LPs. Open Fire carried only Ronnie Montrose’s name, and the guitarist returned to freelance work, including the “agony of defeat” solo on the Wide World of Sports theme.

Gamma came together in 1979 when Ronnie Montrose reconvened with later Montrose members Jim Alcivar on keyboards and pre-Night Ranger Alan Fitzgerald on bass, joined by vocalist Davey Pattison and drummer Skip Gillette. Personnel shifts began at once on the debut release Gamma 1, with another former bandmate, Denny Carmassi, replacing Gillette and Glenn Letsch assuming bass duties. “Voyager” from Gamma 2 attracted attention, leading the band to tour across America and Europe. Mitchell Froom, late of Bruzer, supplanted Alcivar on the keyboard-centered Gamma 3, an arresting album whose tracks “No Destination” and especially “Right the First Time” earned FM airplay.

Ronnie Montrose abruptly left the group midway through a tour supporting Foreigner. Disheartened by label demands, he kept a low profile, occasionally recording and producing while mounting a brief reunion of the original Montrose lineup. His life ended by self-inflicted gunshot in 2012. Carmassi joined Heart in time for the Wilson sisters’ eighties resurgence and later drummed for Coverdale/Page.