Nine on a Ten Scale

Nine on a Ten Scale is the debut studio album by American musician and songwriter Sammy Hagar, released in May 1976 by Capitol Records. It was his first release as a solo artist after his departure from Montrose in 1975. It was announced in Billboard magazine that Hagar was signed to Capitol Records in January 1976. Nine on a Ten Scale was slated for a February 9 release date.

The album sold poorly and was not successful.

Song information

 * "Keep On Rockin'", a Hagar original, was covered by Bette Midler on the classic soundtrack to The Rose, albeit with a different arrangement.
 * The track written by Van Morrison, "Flamingos Fly", was not released by Morrison until a year later on his 1977 album A Period of Transition. He gave the song to Hagar after they met at The Record Plant during the recording of the album. Morrison recorded a demo for Hagar which producer John S. Carter, Jr. and Hagar intended to produce as a duet with Morrison, a move which Morrison later rejected. Hagar then re-recorded the song from scratch.
 * "China", a track written by the former Fleetwood Mac member Bob Welch, was not released by Welch until after this release. Welch included his version on the 1979 album Three Hearts.
 * Ron Nagle's "Please Come Back" was originally included in the film, The Last Detail.
 * "Young Girl Blues" is a Donovan cover.
 * A demo version of "Rock 'n' Roll Romeo" was released as "Thinking of You" on The Essential Red Collection in 2004.

Personnel

 * Sammy Hagar – lead vocals, guitar
 * Bill Church – bass guitar
 * Scott Quick – guitars
 * John Blakely – guitars
 * Alan Fitzgerald – keyboards
 * Joe Crane – keyboards
 * Stan – keyboards
 * Wizard – keyboards
 * Aynsley Dunbar – drums
 * Jim Hodder – drums
 * Jerry Shirley – drums
 * Dallas Taylor – drums
 * Venetta Fields – backing vocals
 * Maxayn Lewis – backing vocals
 * Sherlie Matthews – backing vocals
 * Bob Welch – backing vocals
 * Greg Adams – horns
 * Emilio Castillo – horns
 * Mic Gillette – horns
 * Steve Kupka – horns
 * Lenny Pickett – horns
 * Technical
 * Rich E. – engineer
 * Tom Flye – engineer
 * John Henning – engineer
 * Gary Kellgren – engineer
 * Cris Morris – engineer
 * Deke Richards – engineer
 * Jimmy Robinson – engineer
 * John Stronack – engineer
 * Roy Kohara – original art direction
 * David Alexander – photography

Versions

 * Capitol (US): SN-16049
 * Fame (UK): FA 3068
 * Capitol (Germany): 1C 038-82 216 (released with the title "Collection")
 * BGO (1993 UK reissue): BGOCD182
 * One Way Records (1996 US reissue): BGOCD18272438 19095 22
 * Repertoire (2000 German reissue): REP 4869