Ronnie Montrose - ...and on guitar (1989)

Ronald Douglas Montrose was born on 29 November 1947 in San Francisco, and when he was a toddler his parents moved back to his mother's home state of Colorado, where he spent most of his younger years in Denver. When he was about 16 years old he ran away from home to pursue his musical career, but he wouldn't join his first real band for another six years, when in 1969 he joined Sawbuck, with Mojo Collins (lead vocals, guitar), Starr Donaldson (guitar, vocals), Chuck Ruff (drums) and Bill Church (bass). They were signed to Fillmore Records, co-owned by producer David Rubinson and promoter Bill Graham, and they toured and opened for major acts, before recoding their only album at the beginning of 1971, and it was during this time that Rubinson arranged an audition for Montrose with Van Morrison. Morrison, having recently moved from New York to California, needed a new band to record his next album 'Tupelo Honey', and so both Montrose and Church left Sawbuck to join Morrison before the sessions had finished for the 'Sawbuck' album, and so they only appeared on two songs on the 1972 album from the band. As well as songs from 'Tupelo Honey', Montrose and Church also played on the song 'Listen To The Lion', which was recorded at the same time but not released until the following year, when it appeared on 1972's 'Saint. Dominic's Preview'. After that, Montrose played briefly with Boz Scaggs, and then added guitar to an unreleased album by Kendell Kardt, where he was so taken with Kardt's song 'Black Train' that he covered it on one of his later albums. In 1972 he joined The Edgar Winter Group, and when he recruited Chuck Ruff to join him it essentially spelled the end of Sawbuck. After playing electric guitar, 12 string acoustic and mandolin on Winter's third album 'They Only Come Out at Night', he left to form his own band, the eponymously named Montrose, in 1973. 

Featuring Sammy Hagar on vocals, they released two albums on Warner Bros. Records, 'Montrose' in 1973, and 'Paper Money' the following year, before Hagar left to pursue a solo career. With his work on Morrison's album having been noticed, he was asked to add his guitar work to 'Power Of Love' from former Spooky Tooth member Gary Wright's 1975 solo album 'The Dream Weaver', which kick-started a parallel career in session work, playing with Dan Hartman, The Beau Brummels, The Hoodoo Rhythm Devils, Tony Williams and Nicolette Larson over the next few years. With Bob James replacing Hagar on vocals and Jim Alcivar added on keyboards, two more Montrose albums were released, with 'Warner Bros. Presents Montrose!' coming out in 1975 and 'Jump On It' in 1976. Montrose then shifted direction and released a solo album, the all-instrumental 'Open Fire' in 1978, produced by former band-mate Edgar Winter. In 1979 he formed Gamma with vocalist Davey Pattison, bringing Jim Alcivar with him, and recruiting Alan Fitzgerald on bass and Skip Gillette on drums. Gamma had more of a progressive rock edge compared to the hard rock of Montrose, and produced three consecutively titled albums before splitting up. In 1983 Montrose played lead guitar on '(She Is A) Telepath' from Paul Kantner's album 'Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra', and a couple of years later he joined Seattle's Rail (winners of MTV's first Basement Tapes video competition), as he was looking for a new band and one of Rail's guitarists, Rick Knotts, had recently left. For the few months that he was with them, they were billed as 'Rail featuring Montrose' or 'Ronnie & Rail', and they played a set of half Rail favorites and half Montrose songs, before splitting amicably at the end of their tour. He continued to record through the 1980's and 1990's, releasing solo albums including 'The Speed Of Sound' in 1988 and 'Music From Here' in 1994, as well as reforming Gamma to record 'Gamma 4' in 2000. During his 2009 tour, Montrose revealed that he had fought prostate cancer for the previous two years but was healthy once again, and he continued to tour until, on 03 March 2012 he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His death was originally assumed to be the result of his prostate cancer, but the San Mateo County Coroner's Office confirmed the guitarist had taken his own life. It was a sad end to what most people would consider to be a rich and fulfilling life, but at least we have his many recordings as a reminder of what a great guitarist he was. 

Track listing 

Disc One
01 Wild Night (from 'Tupelo Honey' by Van Morrison 1971)
02 Saga Of The Blue Beaver (from 'Gandharva' by Beaver And Krause 1971)
03 We've Got Ways to Keep High (from 'Victoria' by Victoria Domoalgoski 1971)
04 Black Train (from 'Buddy Bolden' unreleased album by Kendell Kardt 1971)
05 Lovin' Man (from 'Sawbuck' by Sawbuck 1972)
06 Rock 'n' Roll Boogie Woogie Blues (from 'They Only Come Out At Night' by 

                                                                                              The Edgar Winter Group 1972)
07 If You Need Me (from 'Insane Asylum' by Kathi McDonald 1973)
08 Power Of Love (from 'Dream Weaver' by Gary Wright 1975)
09 Down To The Bottom (from 'The Beau Brummels' by The Beau Brummels 1975)
10 The Party's In The Back Room (from 'Images' by Dan Hartman 1976)

Disc Two
11 Teach Your Daughter (from 'Safe In Their Homes' by The Hoodoo Rhythm Devils 1976)
12 Open Fire (from 'The Joy Of Flying' by Tony Williams 1978)
13 Just In The Nick Of Time (from 'In The Nick Of Time' by Nicolette Larson 1979)
14 Trouble (from 'Two Years In A Padded Cell' by Earth Quake 1979)
15 Dirty Work (from 'Lauren Wood' by Lauren Wood 1979)
16 Soldier (from 'No Heroes' by Jamie Sheriff 1980)
17 (She Is A) Telepath (from 'Planet Earth Rock And Roll Orchestra' by Paul Kantner 1983)
18 Whatever It Takes (from 'Uptown' by The Neville Brothers 1987)
19 Blood Alley 152 (from 'Guitar Speak II' by Various Artists 1988)
20 Tighter (from 'High Heel Heaven' by Heist 1989)

For MAC users

Press command+shift+period (to show hidden files) and a grayed out folder '...and on guitar" will appear and the mp3s will be inside. Either drag those to another folder OR rename the folder without any periods at the beginning. Press command+shift+period to once again hide the hidden files.

Mark Knopfler - ...and on guitar (1985)

Mark Freuder Knopfler was born on 12 August 1949 in Glasgow, the middle child of three, with an older sister Ruth, and a younger brother David, who is also a musician. During the 60's he formed and joined several bands and listened to singers like Elvis Presley and guitarists Chet Atkins, Scotty Moore, B.B King, and Hank Marvin, and at sixteen years of age he made a local television appearance as part of a harmony duo, with his classmate Sue Hercombe. In 1968, after studying journalism for a year at Harlow College, Knopfler was hired as a junior reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Post, and during this time he made the acquaintance of local furniture restorer, country blues enthusiast and part-time performer Steve Phillips, from whose record collection and guitar style Knopfler acquired a good knowledge of early blues artists. The pair subsequently formed a duo called The Duolian String Pickers, and performed in local folk and acoustic blues venues, but two years later he decided to further his education, later graduating with a degree in English at the University of Leeds. In April 1970 he recorded a demo of an original song he'd written called 'Summer's Coming My Way'. enlisting Steve Phillips to help out on second guitar, along with Dave Johnson on bass, and Paul Granger on percussion. In 1973, Knopfler moved to London and joined a band based in High Wycombe called Brewers Droop, appearing on their 'The Booze Brothers' album, after which he took a job as a lecturer at Loughton College in Essex, and stayed there for three years while continuing to perform with local pub bands, including the Café Racers. 
By the mid-70's his brother David had moved to London, where he shared a flat with bass guitarist John Illsley, and in 1977, Mark moved in with David and John and all three began playing music together, forming a new band called Dire Straits. The group's first demos were recorded in three sessions in 1977, with David Knopfler as rhythm guitarist, John Illsley as bass guitarist, and Pick Withers as drummer. After signing to Vertigo Records, their debut album was released in 1977 to little fanfare in the UK, but when 'Sultans Of Swing' was released as a single, it became a chart hit in the Netherlands and album sales took off – first across Europe, and then in the United States and Canada, and finally in the UK. The group's second album 'Communiqué' was produced by Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett and was issued in 1979, reaching number one in France, and 'Making Movies' quickly followed the next year. This album moved towards more complex arrangements and production, which continued for the remainder of the group's career, resulting in my favourite of their albums, 1982's 'Love Over Gold'. By the time 'Brothers In Arms' came out in 1985, the band were a world-wide phenomenon, with Knopfler also making a name for himself composing film music scores, and writing songs for other artists, including 'Private Dancer' for Tina Turner's comeback album of the same name. 
After his guitar style became noticed following the 'Sultans Of Swing' single, he was often asked to play on other artist's records, including such global superstars as Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, and Steely Dan. He played on Phil Lynott's first solo album 'Solo In Soho' in 1980, and was invited back to help out on the follow-up 'The Philip Lynott Album' two years later. After helping out on Kate & Anna McGarrigle's first album in 1983, he joined family and friends by appearing on albums by his bother David and former band-mate John Illsley. In 1985 he got to play with one of his earliest heroes Chet Atkins, contributing some superb guitar to 'Cosmic Square Dance'. Although this album ends in 1985, Knopfler continued to play on records from artists such as Sting, Randy Newman, Joan Armatrading, Jeff Healey and Hank Marvin up to 1997, adding his instantly recognisable guitar-playing to over 40 releases during that time. For this album, though, enjoy his earliest appearances on some classic albums of the 80's.    

Track listing

01 Gotta Serve Somebody (from 'Slow Train Coming' by Bob Dylan 1979)
02 Loving You (from 'Oh! What A Feeling' by Mavis Staples 1979)
03 Time Out Of Mind (from 'Gaucho' by Steely Dan 1980)
04 Ode To Liberty (The Protest Song) (from 'The Philip Lynott Album' by Phil Lynott 1982)
05 Cleaning Windows (from 'Beautiful Vision' by Van Morrison 1982)
06 Love Over And Over (from 'Love Over And Over' by Kate & Anna McGarrigle 1982)
07 Blanket Roll Blues (from 'Climate Of Hunter' by Scott Walker 1983)
08 Madonna's Daughter (from 'Release' by David Knopfler 1983)
09 Never Told A Soul (from 'Never Told A Soul' by John Illsley 1984)
10 Cosmic Square Dance (from 'Stay Tuned' by Chet Atkins 1985)

Van Morrison and Linda Gail Lewis - Choppin' Wood (2000)

In 2000 Van Morrison released 'You Win Again', an album of mostly covers recorded with Jerry Lee Lewis's sister Linda Gail Lewis, and foIlowing on from the success of that record they began work on a second collaboration in October of that year. The new album was provisionally entitled 'Choppin’ Wood', and this time contained more Morrison originals than previously, with Linda Gail Lewis’s vocals and piano parts overdubbed on all but one track. For reasons not fully known, the working relationship between the two suddenly soured during the tour in support of 'You Win Again', with Lewis making certain claims about Morrison, including harassment, none of which were ever proven one way or the other. Morrison completely stopped Lewis's involvement in the new project and refused to let her hear any of the new songs, and after she quit the tour the album was eventually discarded.  In 2002 Morrison released 'Down The Road', which contained some of the 'Choppin' Wood' songs, but with Lewis's contributions totally erased from all the tracks, and the general opinion from people who have heard 'Choppin' Wood' is that 'Down The Road' is a  poor substitute for what could have been a much superior album had it been released. Luckily, bootlegs of the original recordings have leaked out over the years, and so here is the original album as it would have sounded had the two musicians not fallen out, and so we can decide for ourselves which would have been the better release.  

Track listing

01 Choppin' Wood
02 Hey Mr. DJ
03 The Beauty Of The Days Gone By
04 Down The Road
05 Princess Of Darkness
06 Just Like Greta
07 For A While
08 Mama Don't Allow
09 Meet Me In The Indian Summer
10 All Work And No Play

Happy New Year

Best wishes to everyone for 2020

Track listing

01 Happy New Year - ABBA

02 Funky New Year - The Eagles

03 Our New Year - Tori Amos

04 New Year's Prayer - Jeff Buckley

05 New Years Day - U2

06 New Year's Greetings - The Triffids

07 This Will Be Our Year - The Zombies

08 Celtic New Year - Van Morrison

09 Next Year - Foo Fighters

10 Same Old Lang Syne - Dan Fogelberg

11 New Year - Sugababes

12 New Year's Eve (Bad As Me) - Tom Waits

13 New Year's Eve's The Loneliest Night Of The Year - Trembling Bells

14 New Year's Eve - Snoop Dogg feat. Marty James

Happy New Year

Van Morrison - Mechanical Bliss (1975)

I've seen quite a few requests for this album online, and to be honest, not being the greatest Van fan, I'd never heard of it. In 1975 Van Morrison was recording songs intended for the follow-up to 1974's 'Veedon Fleece', to be called either 'Stiff Upper Lip', 'Naked In The Jungle', 'Not Working For You', or the eventual winner with the fans 'Mechanical Bliss'. About a dozen and a half songs were taped, but the album was abandoned somewhere along the line, and the actual follow-up was released two years later in the form of 'A Period Of Transition'. We've taken the songs which were generally agreed to be likely contenders for inclusion, to give a standard length vinyl album of the time. And no, you're not seeing things with the cover art, as this picture was first offered to Morrison for the sleeve of 'Mechanical Bliss', but when he turned it down it went to Steely Dan for use with their 'Royal Scam' album. The man sleeping on the bench, which you're used to seeing on 'The Royal Scam' cover, was added later for that album, but this is the original painting before the alteration, and so this is what the sleeve could have looked like if this album had ever been officially issued. I've left the original textured artwork that I posted in the download folder, and you can save this new cover from this page.

Track listing

01 Joyous Sound
02 Mechanical Bliss
03 The Street Only Knew Your Name
04 This Is Not The Twilight Zone
05 Naked In The Jungle
06 Flamingos Fly
07 Foggy Mountain Top
08 When I Deliver
09 I Have Finally Come To Realise

This track listing has been put together by David Chance over at the van-the-man.info site. I wanted to include the instrumental 'Much Binding In The March' but the only version I could find was decidedly lo-fi, so I've substituted 'The Street Only Knew Your Name' from the same sessions. I must admit that apart from the very weird title track, I'm quite impressed with this album and I might become a bit more of a fan.