Tuesday, November 29: Rock Birthdays

Happy Birthday today (Nov. 29) to former Boston guitarist Barry Goudreau. He's 65. In remembrance, guitarist Ronnie Montrose would have been 69 today.

Barry Goudreau is best known as one of the original guitarists in the band Boston. He played on the debut album Boston (1976) and the second album Don’t Look Back (1978).

Ronnie Montrose performed with and did session work for many artists including Sammy Hagar, Van Morrison, Edgar and Johnny Winter, and many others. When the first Montrose album was released in 1973, it was often cited as ‘America’s answer to Led Zeppelin’, and also labeled ‘the first american heavy metal album’ by some critics. Ronnie Montrose mainly used a Gibson Les Paul, and has been highly regarded as one of the most influential guitarists in hard rock. Montrose died on March 12, 2012. It was initially thought that the cause of death was due to prostate cancer returning but it was later confirmed that the rocker had taken his own life after a lifetime of battling depression.