Keith Noel Emerson was an English keyboardist, songwriter, composer and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became internationally famous for his work with the Nice, which included writing rock arrangements of classical music. After leaving the Nice in 1970, he was a founding member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), one of the early progressive rock supergroups.
David Coverdale is an English singer and songwriter best known as the founder and lead singer of the hard rock band Whitesnake. He was also the lead singer of Deep Purple from 1973 to 1976, after which he released two solo studio albums, White Snake (1977) and Northwinds (1978), before forming Whitesnake in 1978.
Edwin Jobson is an English musician noted for his use of synthesizers. He has been a member of several progressive rock bands, including Curved Air, Roxy Music, U.K. and Jethro Tull. He was also part of Frank Zappa's band in 1976–77. Aside from his keyboard work Jobson has also gained acclaim for his violin playing. He won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2017 Progressive Music Awards. In March 2019 Jobson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Roxy Music.
Kevin Matthew Gilbert was an American singer, songwriter, musician, composer and producer. He was best known for his solo progressive rock projects, Toy Matinee and his contributions to Tuesday Night Music Club (1993), the debut studio album by Sheryl Crow.
Montrose was an American hard rock band formed in 1973 and named after guitarist and founder Ronnie Montrose. The band's original lineup featured lead vocalist and frontman Sammy Hagar, who later found greater success as a solo artist and as a member of Van Halen. Rounding out the original foursome were bassist Bill Church and drummer Denny Carmassi. The band experienced moderate success before disbanding in early 1977. The 1973 debut album Montrose eventually proved to be an international sleeper hit, selling in excess of one million copies and attaining platinum status in 1986.
Ronald Douglas Montrose was an American musician and guitarist who founded and led the rock bands Montrose and Gamma. He also performed and did session work with a variety of musicians, including Van Morrison, Herbie Hancock, Beaver & Krause, Boz Scaggs, Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, The Beau Brummels, Dan Hartman, Tony Williams, The Neville Brothers, Marc Bonilla and Sammy Hagar.
Vivian Patrick Campbell is a Northern Irish musician. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as the guitarist of Dio. He has also been the guitarist of Def Leppard since 1992. Campbell has also worked with Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Sweet Savage, Trinity, Riverdogs and Shadow King.
"Tarkus" is the title track of Emerson, Lake & Palmer's second album. The progressive rock epic lasts 20:35. It was the longest studio suite by the band until the three impressions of "Karn Evil 9". The name "Tarkus" refers to the armadillo-tank from the William Neal paintings on the album cover. The artist has explained that the name is an amalgamation between 'Tartarus' and 'carcass'. Consequently, the name refers to the "futility of war, a man made mess with symbols of mutated destruction." The song "Tarkus" supposedly follows the adventures of Tarkus from his birth, through a fight with a manticore, which he loses and concludes with an aquatic version of Tarkus named "Aquatarkus". Keith Emerson, when asked what work he is proudest of, named his "Piano Concerto" and "Tarkus".
Richard Earl "Reb" Beach Jr. is an American rock guitarist. He is a member of the bands Winger and Whitesnake.
Toy Matinee was a short-lived American rock band, which released one eponymous album. Their sound featured an array of influences, including progressive rock, album-oriented rock and pop reminiscent of both the Beatles and the Beach Boys.
Gamma was an American hard rock band formed by guitarist Ronnie Montrose and singer Davey Pattison in San Francisco in 1979. They released four albums: Gamma 1 (1979), Gamma 2 (1980), Gamma 3 (1982) and Gamma 4 (2000). Their biggest hit was 1982's "Right the First Time", which was a minor chart entry in the US, but a top 40 hit in Canada. Some of their other best known songs include "Fight to the Finish" from their first album, and "Meanstreak" and "Voyager" from the second album.
The Speed of Sound is a 1988 all-instrumental album by American rock guitarist Ronnie Montrose, who led the bands Montrose and Gamma and also performed and did session work with a variety of musicians, including Van Morrison (1971–72), Herbie Hancock (1971), Beaver & Krause (1971), Boz Scaggs (1971), Edgar Winter, Gary Wright (1975), The Beau Brummels (1975), Dan Hartman (1976), Tony Williams (1978), The Neville Brothers (1987), Marc Bonilla, Sammy Hagar (1997), and Johnny Winter. In 1997, Ronnie stated that this album was his favorite instrumental record he had done so far. The track titles are words and phrases referencing aviation themes.
Robert Wayne Birch was an American session musician, playing bass guitar as a sideman to a variety of notable artists.
Robert Berry is an American guitarist, bassist, vocalist and record producer, best known for his work with Hush, 3 with Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer, Ambrosia, Alliance, and Los Tres Gusanos. He was previously with The Greg Kihn Band, and as of 2022, he is with progressive band Six By Six on bass, vocals and keyboards, a supergroup with guitarist Ian Crichton (Saga) and drummer Nigel Glockler.
Addiction is a studio album by former Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and Trapeze vocalist/bassist Glenn Hughes. It was released in 1996 on Zero Corporation, SPV and Shrapnel records and was Hughes’ fifth solo studio album.
"Metal" Mike Chlasciak is a Polish-American musician, best known as the guitarist for heavy metal band Halford, led by Rob Halford.
EE Ticket is the first studio album by guitarist Marc Bonilla, released in June 1991 through Reprise Records.
Anastasios (Toss) Panos is a Greek-American drummer who has played or recorded with Dweezil Zappa, Sting, Steven Stills, Paul Rodgers, Michael Landau, Robben Ford, Toy Matinee, Jude Cole, Mike Keneally, John Goodsall, Steve Vai, Mark Hart, Mel Torme, Peter Himmelman, Andy Summers, Cliff Richard, Vonda Shepard and Eric Burdon. He is also the owner of Tossimos Recording Studio.
Keith St. John is an American rock singer, songwriter, composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his work as the frontman for the hard rock bands Montrose and Burning Rain.
10x10 is a posthumous solo album by Ronnie Montrose. Ronnie had been touring with bassist Ricky Phillips and Eric Singer (Kiss) in the early 2000s. Over three days in 2003 at Doug Messenger's studio in North Hollywood, the sessions produced 10 strong tracks of rhythm guitar, bass and drums with the intention to get a singer for the vocals. Eventually Ronnie decided on the 10x10 concept, 10 tracks and 10 different singers. Early on, he was able to secure contributions from close friends and collaborators like Sammy Hagar, Edgar Winter and Davey Pattison. In the intervening years Ronnie battled prostate cancer and, at one point, hadn't touched a guitar for 2 years. Conflicts in scheduling led to the record remaining unfinished for years up until Montrose's passing in 2012. Along with completion of the vocals, the songs also needed lead guitar as well. Rickey Phillips, with the blessing of Ronnie's wife Leighsa and assistance of Eric Singer, picked up the reigns and completed the album. "After he passed, I had to carry on with what Ronnie wanted, because he was such a purist. The songs were cut to 2-inch tape and then transferred to digital, but I really needed it to be a cohesive record. I've done enough records to know how easily the levels of 10 different singers can sound disjointed if you don't stay on top of the production." As per Singer, "I have to give a lot of credit to Ricky Phillips. Ricky really wanted to see this thing through. It was more for Ronnie than just for himself, or for ourselves. We really believed what we had originally captured had a certain vibe and a certain magic to the people in that room when it was created. We felt like, 'Hey, this thing needs to get done. We need to see this thing through, for every good reason.'"
