Ronnie Montrose “Color Blind” w/ Sammy Hagar, Steve Lukather Lyric Video Released
“Color Blind,” the new song from Ronnie Montrose’s posthumous 10×10 album, can be heard below. The track features vocals by Sammy Hagar and Toto guitarist Steve Lukather. Prior to a successful solo career and his stint fronting Van Halen, Hagar got his start singing with Montrose. Between 1973-75, he recorded two influential albums, the self-titled debut and Paper Money. “It’s valuable to have 10X10 be seen as Ronnie’s last work, rather than going and digging up some stuff from his past. This was something he truly had a vision for,” says Hagar.
The legendary guitarist’s final album features a different guitarist and vocalist on every song, with additional performances by Joe Bonamassa, Phil Collen, Rick Derringer, Glenn Hughes, Brad Whitford, Edgar Winter, and more.
Ronnie Montrose began recording an ambitious passion project with bassist Ricky Phillips (Styx, Bad English) and drummer Eric Singer (Kiss, Alice Cooper). The idea was to record 10 songs with 10 different singers and call the album 10X10. Sadly, Montrose was unable to see the album through, due to his death on March 3, 2012. Instead, Phillips made it his mission to finish the songs by enlisting a small army of Ronnie’s musician friends to record the vocals and the guitar solos for each song, completing the album in recent years.
Phillips says the songs represent some of Montrose’s best work. “His songs still have the fire and angst of a young rebel, but with some added wisdom and foresight voiced in his own unique language of ‘guitar-speak.’ On 10X10, we hear Ronnie at the top of his game, from the opening crunch guitar of “Heavy Traffic,” all the way to the closing song, “I’m Not Lying,” which was Ronnie’s tip of the hat to his friend Robin Trower.”
On September 29th, Rhino Records released 10X10. The album features inspired pairings, like Glenn Hughes with Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen (“Still Singin’ With The Band”). Legendary blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa also showcases his guitar talents on the track “The Kingdom’s Come Undone” with Ricky Phillips on vocals. A few artists both sing and play, like Edgar Winter (“Love Is An Art”) and Tommy Shaw (“Strong Enough”).
Tracklisting:
“Heavy Traffic” Feat. Eric Martin & Dave Meniketti
“Love Is An Art” Feat. Edgar Winter & Rick Derringer
“Color Blind” Feat. Sammy Hagar & Steve Lukather
“Still Singin’ With The Band” Feat. Glenn Hughes, Phil Collen & Jimmy “Z” Zavala
“Strong Enough” Feat. Tommy Shaw
“Any Minute” Feat. Mark Farner & Ricky Phillips
“The Kingdom’s Come Undone” Feat. Ricky Phillips & Joe Bonamassa
“One Good Reason” Feat. Bruce Turgon & Brad Whitford
“Head On Straight” Feat. Davey Pattison & Marc Bonilla
“I’m Not Lying” Feat. Gregg Rolie, Tom Gimbel & Lawrence Gowan
