The first member to leave was Bill Church, who was later replaced by Alan Fitzgerald for the band's second (and final album) with Hagar on vocals that they titled 'Paper Money' (Warner Bros., 1974). After departing, Hagar released a succession of solo albums in the mid-to-late 70s and early 80s (often with the remaining members of Montrose) as well as a one-off live album with the band Hagar Schon Aaronson Shrieve. He joined Van Halen in the mid 1980s. As a band Montrose released a further two albums on Warner Brothers, Warner Brothers Presents ...Montrose (1975) and Jump on It, both featuring Bob James on vocals, and new member Jim Alcivar on keyboards. On Jump On It Fitzgerald was replaced on bass by Randy Jo Hobbs.
Whilst Montrose failed to make the kind of impact their pioneering early work merited, they have nonetheless influenced a whole generation of hard rock and metal bands. A rare snatch of their brilliance as a stage band can be heard in the Barbara Striesand film 'A Star is Born' (1976), which features an unseen Montrose hammering out a scintillating version of one of their greatest songs, Rock Candy, as Streisand arrives backstage.
Prior to forming the band Ronnie Montrose, had been a successful session musician (playing, along with Bill Church on Van Morrison's 1971 Tupelo Honey album, also produced by Ted Templeman, and on albums by Beaver & Krause and Herbie Hancock). He was also a member of The Edgar Winter Band, playing on such hit singles as 'Free Ride', which was from the best-selling album 'They Only Come Out at Night' (1972). The guitarist later formed another band in the hard rock mould in the early 1980s, named Gamma, who featured Denny Carmassi, of the original Montrose band and late of Sammy Hagar's band, Jim Alcivar from Montrose, and a Scottish singer named Davey Pattison.
In its original incarnation, Gamma released several albums on Elektra records ('Gamma 1', 'Gamma 2', and 'Gamma 3') before splitting.
The original Montrose line-up reuinited on Sammy Hagar's Marching to Mars (1997) performing "Leaving the Warmth of the Womb" and on stage as an encore at a few Sammy concerts in 2003 and 2005.
Those with sharp ears heard the FM rock radio staple "Rock Candy" on an episode of "My Name Is Earl" in 2008 on NBC.
Paper Money
Montrose Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I buy everything I can.
My bankroll is a foot thick,
I'm a wealthy man.
A million dollar reserve note is right there in my hand
And I can't stand to think it's all that I've got.
Take away all my silver
Take away all my gold
Paper money don't hold. Paper money don't hold.
Well, you act as though you don't remember
The way it all used to be.
Now one man, he locks up the money
Another man holds the key.
My car cost me fifteen grand,
Some say I got a deal.
Melt it down, I've got a thousand pounds of junk
And ten dollars worth of steel.
The lyrics to the song “Paper Money” by Montrose explore the idea of the value of material possessions and the worthlessness of money, specifically paper money. The opening verse describes the singer’s luxuries, highlighting his ownership of everything he can afford with his immense wealth. The second line reveals his foot-thick bankroll that boasts a million-dollar reserve note in his hand. However, despite his ostentatious show of wealth, the singer cannot stand to think that it is all he has. The chorus echoes this sentiment, emphasizing that paper money does not hold worth and is dispensable.
The subsequent verses reflect a sense of nostalgia for the past when the singer believes people cherished their possessions and money was not as easily manipulated. The third verse acknowledges that people forget how it used to be, and the current state is that one person locks up the money while another holds the key. The fourth verse challenges the worth of the singer’s fifteen grand car by suggesting that it can be melted down into a mere ten dollars worth of steel.
Overall, the song evokes a sense of disillusionment with material possessions and the devaluation of money. The lyrics suggest that people should assign worth to their possessions based on sentimental value rather than monetary value, as paper money does not hold.
Line by Line Meaning
I play the game of a rich boy,
I'm pretending to be rich by spending money on whatever I want.
I buy everything I can.
I buy anything that catches my eye, regardless of its value.
My bankroll is a foot thick,
I have a lot of money in my bank account.
I'm a wealthy man.
I feel rich and successful because of my many possessions.
A million dollar reserve note is right there in my hand
I have a symbolic representation of my wealth in the form of a million dollar bill.
And I can't stand to think it's all that I've got.
I worry that my possessions and money are not enough to make me truly happy and fulfilled.
Take away all my silver
If you were to take away all of my material wealth.
Take away all my gold
If you were to take away all of my material wealth.
And hand me a stack of paper
And give me a stack of one dollar bills in exchange.
Paper money don't hold. Paper money don't hold.
Paper money has no real value or worth and does not bring true happiness, fulfillment or success. This line is repeated to emphasize the message.
Well, you act as though you don't remember
It seems like you have forgotten the way things used to be.
The way it all used to be.
The way things were before money and material wealth took over our lives.
Now one man, he locks up the money
Now our society is controlled by the people who hold the wealth.
Another man holds the key.
Their power lies in controlling the money supply, which gives them control over the working man.
My car cost me fifteen grand,
I spent $15,000 on my car.
Some say I got a deal.
Some people think I got a good price on my car.
Melt it down, I've got a thousand pounds of junk
If you were to take away the value that people have ascribed to my possessions, I would just have a bunch of worthless objects.
And ten dollars worth of steel.
The actual value of many of my possessions is much less than what I paid for them - this line emphasizes that my $15,000 car may only actually be worth $10.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: RONNIE MONTROSE, SAMMY HAGAR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind