I moved to San Francisco from Maryland in Sept of 1973. The first concert I saw once I came to town was a 3-band bill at 5500-seat Winterland. I think Wishbone Ash may have headlined, maybe supported by Bachman-Turner Overdrive (not sure about either of those), but the opener was somebody I’d never heard of before called Montrose. They blew the roof off the place, and I could have left happily right after their set. They were one of the best hard rock bands I’d ever seen, and I’d seen Led Zep and a good many others. 

A few months later, I was visiting some friends back East, and they were telling me about some shows they’d seen, and how one of them had this amazing band that opened a show but they couldn’t remember the name. I said ‘It wouldn’t be Montrose, would it?’. It was Montrose. 

I saw that lineup several more times, mostly at Winterland, but lost interest after Sammy left; the magic between them was gone. Had they not had those ego conflicts and remained together, I am convinced that they could have been the American Led Zeppelin and been just as popular.