An Interview with Jim Alcivar
by John Wardlaw

Wedge: Where were you born and where did you grow up?

Jim: I was born in Renton, WA, but my parents were traveling jazz musicians so I sort of grew up on the road with them! The first place we sort of settled down in was Las Vegas, where I've recently moved back to!! Rock and roll music put the damper on my parents jazz music career so Vegas seemed right for my dad as he was a very good vocal arranger and there were a lot of groups there that used his skills.

Wedge: When did you first become interested in playing keyboards? And do you play any other instruments?

Jim: My first instrument was the trumpet as there were tv theme songs that I loved and learned how to play. That instrument was so loud that I only played/practiced it in my bedroom closet. That lasted for about three months. Then the Beatles and Elvis Presley had made a big impression on me... both on the Ed Sullivan shows. Surf music was also in style and as I didn't sing, the guitar was the instrument for me. That put me into a couple of bands in Vegas. Then we moved to North Hollywood, CA. I continued guitar in a high school band until the Vanilla Fudge and the Iron Butterfly came out. At that time, our other guitar player was getting so good, I decided to switch to keyboards. But I still loved the guitar and some years later bought a 1957 Fender Strat for about $150!!! I still have it and am considering having it buried with me! ;)

Wedge: WOW! A '57 Strat! Very Cool! What was the first keyboard you owned?

Jim: My first was the Vox Continental... an Iron Butterfly influence. Later on was a Hammond M3... Vanilla Fudge influence for sure.

Wedge: Your father (Bob Alcivar) worked as composer, producer and arranger, what can you tell me about him and did his work influence your interest in music?

Jim: His love of jazz and my love of rock and roll kept us worlds apart until he began arranging vocals for the Fifth Dimension, The Association, and others. That put him into the popular radio world of music which I enjoyed a lot... though I was bent more toward Led Zeppelin, The Who, Pink Floyd, etc. His jazz skills and precision made me work hard to live up to that level even though I didn't play in that style.

Wedge: Who were some of your favorite and most influential bands? (and keyboardists)

Jim: As a kid under my dad's influence, Count Basie's The Kid From Red Bank blew my mind... and to this day still! Vanilla Fudge was a killer band and the organ sound was incredible! However, Garth Hudson (of The Band) still had one of the most intense organs sound out there on Chest Fever. Then along comes Led Zeppelin and songs like Kashmir! Great keys against a seriously hard rock band!!

Wedge: What kind of bands did you play in?

Jim: Very first band was here in Las Vegas as a kid. We were mostly an instrumental surf band though our other guitar player could sing a bit. Funny though, we never had a bass player!! Just two guitars and a drummer. After my family moved to Los Angeles, I joined a local band of schoolmates and we learned whatever rock songs that were popular. We played school dances and a handful of local nightclubs. This is when the Iron Butterfly and Vanilla Fudge were popular and I made the switch to keys.

Eventually I graduated high school and wound up moving to the San Francisco area playing in a different band I ran into in LA. It was heavily influenced by the guitar player's love of Procol Harum. He/we had a manger there that also promoted rock concerts and she had us practice a lot and opened a few shows for Ike and Tina Turner and a few other odd shows. That band eventually failed but the drummer (Denny Carmassi), bass player (Jim Keylor), and I got into a local club band fronted by Wayne Ceballos who was briefly managed by Bill Graham. That didn't last and Keylor, Carmassi, and a guitar player Denny knew, Steve Tracy, started writing and recording songs. We called ourselves, Thunderstick. We needed a good singer and Carmassi and/or Keylor found a good singer in a club in San Francisco. He was invited to sing on a few of our songs and he said sure. He recorded vocals and it sounded great to us. Funny thing was, his name was Sammy Hagar and had also been approached by one Ronnie Montrose to start a band!! We couldn't sell our demo so off Sammy went with Montrose taking our drummer, Denny, with them! Several years pass and I'm back in LA experimenting with a couple of other bands and then I get a call from Denny: “Jim, do you want to join our band?”!!! Ronnie flew Bob James and I up from LA and we auditioned for the Montrose band at the same time. After we recorded a few songs at the Wally Heider studios, Ronnie just asked me if I could travel. I said yes and that was it... I'm in the band!

Wild part of it all is Jim Keylor kept the Thunderstick recordings and later sent them to me! I made simple videos of them and posted to youtube. I should add: I wrote the music and lyrics to these songs and it always tickles me to hear Sammy singing my songs! And to this day, I'm convinced that it was Denny and Sammy that talked Ronnie into getting me into his band! Click the image to listen on youtube

Here's a song we did (Music Man) which I was was so fearful of recording that I brushed up practicing the Hanon scales to get my fingers strong. It worked and I'm proud of how I played on this song! My dad did the orchestra arrangements and conducting for the record... beautiful!!! Click the image to listen on youtube

Wedge: So you and Bob James joined Montrose at the same time. Bob expressed to me that working with Ronnie could be very difficult at times. It seemed that they had a strained relationship. What was the band chemistry like during your time with Montrose?

Jim: Tough question! My best guess is Ronnie was the star of the band Montrose (makes sense) and it was always difficult for him to share the spotlight. Hagar was strong on stage and then Bob did well also. Singers of the song always got more spotlights than the guitar player! The rest of us never had a problem as our spots on stage were few and brief.

Wedge: Was it difficult being a keyboard player in an era when keyboards were big, heavy and expensive?

Jim: I got a bunch of guys together in high school and after we all got together they formed a band without a keys player) My first keyboard was a Vox Continental... very light and disassembled easily. Later on, I fell in love with the Hammond sound and got an M3, a much smaller version of the B3. It was still heavy so I figured out how cut it down to just the upper keyboards and replaced the bottom half of the cabinet with fold-able legs.

Wedge: Ronnie chose to part ways with producer Ted Templeman and produce Warner Bros. Presents himself. Considering Ronnie was a bit of a control freak and perfectionist how did he handle the producer duties?

Jim: Ronnie always had a good ear for music and he knew what he wanted! Since he was a musician, we could all relate to what he was trying to get us to do. Nice part is he allowed us a lot of room to play what we each felt was right. I can't remember if he ever told me to play something different, but if he did, it didn't bother me it never stuck in my head. We were all simply trying to create great music and we all had a lot of respect for Ronnie's directions.

Wedge: Were the arrangements of Hagar era songs changed to include keyboards on tour?

Jim: Not that I can remember. Those songs were simply guitar based and Ronnie was the original there! I just added what felt like appropriate additions to back Ronnie's playing.

Wedge: The lineup changed again for Jump on It with Alan Fitzgerald no longer in the band and, other than Randy Jo Hobbs on 3 songs, no bass player. How did Alan come to leave the band and how did you fill in for the missing bass player on the album and tour?

Jim: Alan's time with Ronnie had just run it's course. Ronnie had a habit (or need) to keep changing the band's lineup. I believe Ronnie felt the band would fall into the same old rut and he needed to change player(s) to keep things fresh sounding.

Wedge: What were the bands feelings about the Jump on It album cover?

Jim: I still remember that one!! We were in the Midwest somewhere having dinner on a night off. We got a mailed envelope from someone at our record label (most likely) and we were shocked! Ronnie had requested that someone create an image that had a French impressionist look about it. Then, if you studied it enough, you would begin to realize it might be a woman's crotch! What we got was so blatant, we couldn't believe it!! But I also know the bad news was that the label had already begun printing the covers and it was too late to stop and do something different. Oh well!! ;)

Wedge: With Montrose you shared the stage as headliner and supporting act with many other legendary bands. Kiss, Yes, Journey, Rush and Aerosmith just to name a few. Is there any one story that stands from those tours you’d like to share?

Jim: The first one that pops to mind is playing with ZZ Top. Most other headlining groups we played with limited the lights and sound system so that the headliner looked and sounded the best! But ZZ Top said take what you want and our light and sound guys had no restrictions!! I always remember that as ZZ Top had the ultimate faith in their performance and never needed to limit the opening acts to insure their power on stage.

Wedge: I have heard Ronnie had a no tolerance for drugs or alcohol for performances.
Is that true?

Jim: That's very true! I always found that as a good thing as one needed to be in top form when you hit those stages! The only exception I remember is Davey Pattison usually had a bottle of beer before a show. A bottle of beer was light-weight in those days and it just seemed to loosen him up and he always came off great on stage.