Ralph Gleason was an American music critic and columnist who for many years contributed to the San Francisco Chronicle before he became a founding editor of Rolling Stone. A pioneering jazz critic, Gleason cofounded the Monterey Jazz Festival, but by the late 1960s began to write about the rock scene emerging in San Francisco, during which time he led the Chronicle’s move into covering the rock era. He contributed an interview with jazz guitarist Wes Montgomery to Guitar Player’s pages in the July/August 1973 issue. Conducted around 1960, it was one of a few interviews the guitarist sat for in his life.
