Good Rockin’ Tonight
Music used to be regional. And despite being featured in all the Warner Brothers hype, nowhere I lived ever played Montrose on the radio.
But now the satellite’s got a national footprint.
Which is how I ended up hearing "Good Rockin’ Tonight".
I was driving up a leafy boulevard, the kind upon which XM maintains a signal and Sirius loses it, and this song came over the radio. A cover of Roy Brown’s classic "Good Rockin’ Tonight". Do we need another cover? By Montrose?
Now I know Sammy Hagar got his start with Ronnie. But this didn’t sound quite like him. The vocal wasn’t quite full-bodied enough. And I don’t know why I didn’t push the button on this lame remake by a latter-day incarnation of the band when suddenly the guitar started to SOAR!
Go to the NAMM show. It’s in Anaheim next week. You’ll see tatted up dudes with hair piled up high tapping their axes in imitation of Eddie Van Halen. You’ll see wannabes with a lot of technique, but very little style. This does not describe Ronnie Montrose. Sure, he’s practiced. But it’s when he chooses to play, and when not. But, even more, it’s the lyrical sound of his picking, sometimes fast, sometimes sustained. It’s like he’s dancing all over the fretboard, all over the track. And sure, he can play fast, but it’s the way he puts the notes together, in a fashion that’s positively melodic!
I thought Ronnie was retired. But Wikipedia tells me he’s still out there, after battling prostate cancer.
And I also learned "Good Rockin’ Tonight" comes from the band’s debut.  The 1973 album with "Bad Motor Scooter", "Space Station No. 5" and "Rock Candy". All of which have infiltrated my brain over the decades. They’ve survived, via play in bars, at house parties, occasionally on the radio. Montrose may have made no initial impact in my neck of the woods, but their sound is living on.
And it is Sammy Hagar vocalizing. He hasn’t fully developed his sound yet, it’s not quite as full-bodied, not as rich as "Eagles Fly".
How to explain this.
The way you go to the bar today, to move to the bass-heavy productions of studio wizards… We used to go to the gig. For three, four or five dollars. And these skinny guys used to stand on stage and wring this sound out of their instruments that made us shimmy and shake, writhe like bugs. "Good Rockin’ Tonight" is positively seventies.
But listen today and you’ll find it’s not even dated. It’s like a rocket ship from outer space has entered our atmosphere. You’re wide-eyed, you’re dazzled, you want MORE!
Hang in there until 41 seconds in, that’s when Ronnie Montrose starts getting under your skin. But it’s only for a moment. Stick with the track and he’ll pull you by the collar, jerk you out of you chair, make you stand up and exult! By time you’re at 1:30, at the solo, you’ll be stunned!
And every time you play the track thereafter you’ll hear more.
And you can’t but help but play it again. And again.
