Ronnie Montrose has passed away.

[bluesbassman]

Ronnie Montrose, who is best known for his fiery guitar work as a member of the band Montrose, died Saturday. It is believed that the cause of death was prostate cancer, which he had been battling for the past few years.

"A few months ago, we held a surprise party for Ronnie Montrose's 64th birthday," a statement said on Montrose's official website. "He gave an impromptu speech, and told us that after a long life, filled with joy and hardship, he didn't take any of our love for granted. He passed today. He'd battled cancer, and staved off old age for long enough. And true to form, he chose his own exit the way he chose his own life. We miss him already, but we're glad to have shared with him while we could."
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/guitarist-ronnie-montrose-dead-at-64-20120304#ixzz1oAkMjP46

Ronnie was one of my favorite guitarists. I saw him countless times at Winterland and other venues around the Bay Area. Truly a gifted player, although somewhat overlooked in the "greatest" discussions. One thing he always did was take chances and stretch for new sounds.

RIP Ronnie, you'll be missed. I'll clap my hands and stomp my feet, get myself up off my seat one more time in your memory.

[bluesbassman]

1. Kick for the evening crowd.

[OriginalGeek]

2. Well that is a damn shame

Montrose was a great band - I wish I had gotten to see them live.

Ride on Ronnie...

[pokerfan]

3. Damn, I hadn't heard

(Jim) Douglas (his agent) described Montrose as "one of the founding farmers of rock and roll," while Montrose's wife, Leighsa, noted his work ethic. "He was very hard on himself," she told the San Francisco Chronicle. "He would play shows where there would be three standing ovations, and all he would talk about on the drive home is what he didn't do right."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/03/04/state/n122308S01.DTL&type=health

[ms liberty]

4. My favorite Ronnie Montrose album:

I saw Gamma in concert after this album came out; because I worked in a record store, I got one of the posters and it now hangs in my garage. One of my favorite albums, and one of my top 10 favorite album covers ever.

RIP, Ronnie.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. Safe passage to him, my dear bluesbassman...

Another good artist gone too soon...

[Amerigo Vespucci]

6. He was scheduled to perform at a club 2 miles away from me in TWO WEEKS.

It's still on the club's Website. He's performed there a number of times. Every time I've driven by the club and seen his name on the marquee I thought "next time..."

Now there is no "next time."

I posted this in GD this morning, after I found out. One more piece of my youth, one more guy who inspired me to play the guitar. I was jamming with some friends from work one time, and we had all been indoctrinated in the joys of that first Montrose album. We often played Gamma's "Voyager," but on one night, I started playing the opening riff to "Make It Last," just goofing, and one by one, the other guys joined in and we were HAMMERING the HELL out of it, just sheer joy, and we'd never played it together before. We didn't miss a note. I thought about that this morning and it broke my heart for a bit, then I remembered the joy.

R.I.P., Ronnie.

[Grantuspeace]

7. I got to meet him in Kaukauna Wisconsin in about '86

Bummer.

[Grantuspeace]

8. Town Without Pity Live

Something for the more casual Montrose fans to experience.

[bluesbassman]

9. Casual or longtime fan, that's some serious guitar work.

One of the things that always impressed me about Ronnie was that he always seemed to enjoyed every note he played, and wanted his audience to do the same.

I remember one show at Winterland where my buddy and I somehow managed to sit on the edge of the stage right by the subs. Security never hassled us, so we just kept sitting there while Ronnie played. At one point they played Space Station #5 and Ronnie had this Van de Graaff generator that he fed his guitar signal through. The guitar would feed back according to how he manipulated the field. Anyway, right in the middle of the song and while he was making the generator sing, he looked right at me and got the biggest grin on his face. He could see on my face that he was blowing me away and it made him happy.

[Iggo]

10. Wow!

I could've listened to another half hour of that song, easy.

[Grantuspeace]

11. It kinda stays with you too. Doesn't it?

A pleasurable earworm.

[Tom Ripley]

12. I saw him twice back in the 70s. An incredible player.

Rest In Peace