MOUNTAIN
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Kevin Baker <bakerspread@computron.net> (17.03.2001)
Why has this band been forgotten? You NEVER hear them on the radio, barring maybe 'Mississippi Queen'. No one ever knows who they are. They played for half a bloody MILLION people at Woodstock, and you'd sooner find a collection of outtakes by Toad The Wet Sprocket than a single best-of by Mountain. They appear on the Woodstock once or twice. That reminds me to say that I think Sweetwater, another great band at Woodstock, deserves some friggin' recognition, too, but that's a different story. Why have they been overlooked? They rocked out hard, sang some cool songs, jammed better than anyone except possibly the Allman Bros., and had a very unique sound and vibe. I just don't get it. I love these dudes, and would put 'em even above the Zepsters and Black Sabbath anyday. They rock almost as hard, and they didn't try to have that fakey, evil feel.
Darrell Jónsson <jonsson@well.com> (01.12.2001)
Part of me is a bit embarrassed to admit I like Mountain, but there is some magic there that catches me unlike any other hard-rock band. I just bought Climbing and am trying to decide what on my limited income to get next. I would buy all their CD's but can't manage that at the moment. Was curious what people had to say about Over the Top as opposed to just buying their first 3 Albums (or 2 of their first 3 albums) Climbing/Nantucket/Flowers of Evil?
<Slantman73@aol.com> (13.01.2002)
I always felt Mountain was to Cream what Faces was to the Rolling Stones...and although I am not a "fan" of Mountain, i often found them to be highly listenable.
You might be interested to know that the Cream/Mountain comparison became even personified as i was witness to an amalgamated version of both bands..the highly touted band known as "West, Bruce and Laing", made up of Mountain's Leslie West and Corky Laing and Cream's Jack Bruce. I had the fun and good fortune to see this band in the spring of 1972, twice in fact, as they passed through Chicago. Once they were the opening act for Rod Stewart and Faces, the second time, at Northwestern University, they managed to be the main show. It was quite entertaining and quite fun as not one "new " song was performed. Rather, they relied on a blend of Cream and Mountain tunes, playing such crowd favorites as 'Politician', 'Nantucket Sleighride', 'Ulsysses', 'Mississippi Queen' and the like. It was the only time I ever saw Jack Bruce play and I was not disappointed. Leslie West was more bombast than music, but it was a sweaty gritty performance nonetheless.<Walter_Williams@ReadersDigest.com> (18.03.2003)
I agree with the previous poster that Mountain is way overlooked. No-one knows or remembers who they were or how good they were. I saw Mountain back in 1969 & 1970 @ The Capital Theatre in Port Chester, NY. When I walked out of those concerts my ears were ringing for a week. Nobody played louder.
I just saw Leslie West & Corky Laing play together this past Oct. @ The Turning Point in Piermont, NY. If you get the chance to see them DON'T MISS THEM!!! They can still crank it up and play. They played all the old favorites, it was a great show.Curt Miller <Curt_Miller@doh.state.fl.us> (10.08.2004)
Mountain was one of the greats from the rock hay-day of the late 60s and early 70s. I love their songwriting and performing. 'Mississippi Queen' is the song that everyone has heard on the radio. And 'Nantucket Sleighride' and 'Theme from an Imaginary Western' are the two songs that many people rave about -- and with good reason -- those are excellent songs. However, I'd like to mention one of their masterpieces that often goes overlooked during conversation even by the most avid Mountain fans. The song 'Tired Angels' is one of my favorites. The rhythm guitar part during the verse is one-of-a-kind. Plus, the way they arranged the vocal line over the guitar part is really wonderful and quite interesting to listen to. But then the chorus is gorgeous!!! It's that ultra pretty melodic style that we fans of 'Sleighride' and 'Western' are so taken by. Also, I saw Mountain play live back in the early 70s in Orlando at a place called the Orlando Sports Stadium. They were a trio. I recall that Felix was the skinniest dude I'd ever seen in a band; and Leslie was the fattest!!! They were really loud, too. They sounded great and they jammed like monsters. Leslie did a stand alone solo. I recall that one of the riffs he played during his solo was Zeppelin's 'Babe I'm Gonna Leave You'. He also toyed around with a Maestro Echo-plex, to the point where the echo sounded like a friggin' spaceship landing. I imagine it was impressive to those in the audience who were stoned or trippin for its sounding so spaced-out. But, I was more impressed with Leslie's solo's with the band, which were very well crafted melodies set amidst some of the finest, most melodic hard and heavy LOUD rock music ever recorded. Sad about Felix! Leslie stills plays live sometimes. He has a website http://www.lesliewest.cjb.net/ Check it out. Also, do a web search under Leslie west, you'll come up with lots of Mountain/Leslie West sites. Happy Climbing...!
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Fredrik Tydal <f_tydal@hotmail.com> (03.12.2000)
These guys are really unjustly forgotten. Oh, sure; VH1 included them in the very lowest regions of their "Top 100 Hard-Rock Acts" list, but that's about it. As you said, they were the respectful heir to the Cream legacy. In a way, I also feel they're the successful hybrid of Cream and early Led Zeppelin - in fact, "To A Friend" sounds like something off Zep's III. Tracks like "Theme From An Imagninary Western" and "To Yasgur's Farm" obviously taste like Cream - but Cream never rocked out as hard in the studio as Mountain did on "Mississippi Queen". Hmm, and what about that name - "Mountain"? Sounds a bit proggish to me. Ah, well - too bad they never got their big break. Perhaps if Leslie and the boys had been featured in the Woodstock movie? Come to think of it, Santana built their/his whole career on the famous "Soul Sacrifice" performance...
Rick Brown <wbrown@eds.com> (15.06.2004)
To my jaded ears, 'Theme From An Imaginary Western' is one of the greatest rock performances in history. Felix Papilardi sings with such earnesty and conviction, perilously close to sounding like Vic Damone or some other MOR crooner. His lead vocal left such an impression that they noted the date it was laid down right on the sleeve. Corky Laing carefully propels the beat forward with just the right amount of intensity. And Leslie West's two solos are stirring, classic examples of the "thought-out" guitar solo - he knows the notes he's going to play, but pulls them out of his guitar as if he was channeling them from God himself. I loved it when it was first released, and I still love it now.
Brad Smith <cbsmithgarden@snet.net> (01.03.2006)
Of all the concerts I attended in my youth as a teenager back in the early '70s, the one highlight I will never forget is Felix Papilardi's soaring vocals on "Theme from an Imaginary Western" done at the Fillmore East in NYC. Sitting in the balcony, his voice just sent shivers down my back. I can still hear it today. I saw them twice at the Fillmore, once at The Capital Theatre in Port Chester, NY and I remember traveling to somewhere in NJ to hear West, Bruce and Lang. Mountain was a great band that I just recently started thinking about after all these years. Nantucket Sleighride, Climbing... ah, that was some awesomely great music. Still have and play the LPs on occasion.
INTRAFIL <intrafil@groovy.gr> (21.08.2002)
nantucket sleighride is the first mountain lp i have ever heard in the age of 10. i still consider it one of the best hard rock works ever existed. together with climbing these are the best mountain lps.
A must have recordGuillermo F. Vazquez Malagamba <psicgmo@netscape.net> (05.10.2002)
I listened to this album for the first time when I was 7-8 years old (1972-73), when one friend of one of my brothers lent him the British version (with gatefold cover). After years of looking for it on C.D., I finally found it on C.D. 5 years ago. I was disappointed by the sound of the C.D. I thought that the C.D. was better in sound than the L.P., but it wasn´t. Being a recording from the early 70´s is the reason (maybe). I like the combination of heavy songs with some more or less "quiet" songs. Also there is a clear difference between West´s and Pappalardi´s voices and styles. This is the only Mountain´s album that I have listened to, but I like it. I also like the cover, which was painted by Gail Collins, Pappalardi´s wife. One thing that I found bitter is that Gail killed Pappalardi in 1983 because Felix had a lover and wanted to leave Gail to go "full time" with his lover. I read this information in one website dedicated to Mountain. Gail Collins also worked with the! band in the writing of many songs in the albums, and also painted other album covers for Mountain. She went to jail and it seems that she is out of jail now, but nobody knows where is she now.
Tagbo Munonyedi <grimtraveller@hotmail.com> (17.02.2006)
In the '74 - '76 period when I was becoming a little more musically conscious and owning records { either literally or in my mind } and making my own decisions about which songs and groups I liked, a number of TV programmes had theme tunes that I later discovered were actually songs by famous { and sometimes not so famous } bands / artists. So " Read all about it " { a programme that discussed the latest books } had PAPERBACK WRITER by the Beatles, " Ask the family " { a quiz show in which one family competed against another family } had ACKA RAGA { it was either that or RAGA PILOO } which anyone growing up in England at the time would recognize but probably know nothing about { I was the same until about 23 years ago I got hold of a revolutionary album called INDO JAZZ FUSIONS by Indian musician John Mayer and jazz saxophonist Joe Harriott and lo ! I discovered they'd done it }, " Don't ask me " { a sort of family science programme that had this eccentric professor on it called Dr Magnus Pike, and the famous botanist, David Bellamy } had HOUSE OF THE KING by Focus, " Top of the pops " { the weekly chart show } had WHOLE LOTTA LOVE by CCS { which of course was penned by LED ZEPPELIN } and it's sunday radio equivalent had LADY MADONNA by the Beatles.......interestingly, I was into all these programmes even though I was 10 - 13 in those years. While I'd be waiting for the football highlights to come on on a sunday afternoon, I'd sit through a programme I never understood called " Weekend World " - it was a political programme hosted by this left wing journalist who couldn't pronounce his R's, and were I not a soccer fanatic I would never have sat through it. I would also have missed it's heavy rocking theme tune which I really liked, indeed it was probably the first piece of heavy rock that ever grabbed my attention. I say this because 20 or so years later I discovered it was " Nantucket Sleighride " by Mountain. What an inspired choice !! My sister bought me the album of the same name for my 33rd birthday and I loved it. The funny thing is that I'd been very familiar with Mountain for about 16 years at the time because I'd done alot of reading about them and I'd taken note that they were regarded as little more than Cream copyists, one publication even pouring sarcastic scorn on the fact that Leslie West and Corky Laing ended up in a 3 piece band with Jack Bruce { West, Bruce & Laing } . Perhaps this put me off checking them out .....until I discovered who was behind that " Weekend world " theme !
And I have to say that apart from 2 songs [ the atrocious " animal trainer " and " great train robbery " ] this is a blasted good album. Personally, I think the Cream comparison is overblown because they have their own identity. I'd heard alot about " the great fatsby " Leslie West, and he so makes me laugh on the opening track - as a singer / shouter / screamer, Ian Gillan he ain't ! Even now some 10 years after first hearing " Don't look around " I still laugh. The instrumentation is heavy yet curiously thin but I dig the riff. I can't quite put my finger on what is that certain something about heavy bands from the US of A....it's not that they're less heavy, just so in a different way and Mountain epitomize this. " Taunta " { what an unusual name } is lovely and the way it segues into the title track makes it seem like it is part of the same song. And what can I say about " Nantucket " ? It's simply a fantastic song that takes you through 3 or 4 different moods with such an array of gorgeous melodies, and also blitzes you into next week with that immortal {but not invisible } riff. Steve Knight is always treated as an adjunct to the Mountain story but I find his keyboard work throughout this album adds an inventive and supportive edge that would render these songs as poorer had it not been there." You can't get away " is perhaps a bit of filler but it's good solid filler. It reminds me of some of the stuff Trapeze put out on the last LP they did before Glenn Hughes left for Deep Purple. To be fair to Leslie, singing was not his forte but he has his own voice and style. The best track on the album for me is side one's closer, a beautiful tribute to Hendrix called " Tired Angels ". The riff is exquisite and Laing's drumming brilliant and deceptively complex. The whole song is so funky it's virtually impossible for me not to groove to this whatever I'm doing and the lyrics and the melodies are excellent. To top off a great tune, Leslie West contributes what is for me his classic contribution to popular music per se.......superb soloing and spare, supportive rhythm playing. The way I have the tracks on my tape, this one is always the closer. As I said earlier, 2 of the songs on side 2 are IMHO such turkeys. I tried, a few years after I'd abandoned them as a lost cause, to see if time and maturity had made them any better and guess what ? I still think they're turkeys ! But " My Lady " is a beautifully expressive number with once again lovely melodies and really nicely sung and " Travelling in the dark " is one of the best tracks by an American heavy rock band of this era. The lyrics are eerilly prophetic, given what was to happen to Felix Pappalardi and the tension of the music is tangible. Next time I listen to this LP, I'm going to pay close attention to Felix's bass playing because that's the one feature of this album that has never stood out for me. His writing is something else though and the fact that he and Leslie West have such different approaches is a major strength even if 2 of Leslie's cuts don't do it.Tagbo Munonyedi <grimtraveller@hotmail.com> (02.03.2006)
In the '74 - '76 period when I was becoming a little more musically conscious and owning records { either literally or in my mind } and making my own decisions about which songs and groups I liked, a number of TV programmes had theme tunes that I later discovered were actually songs by famous { and sometimes not so famous } bands / artists. So " Read all about it " { a programme that discussed the latest books } had PAPERBACK WRITER by the Beatles, " Ask the family " { a quiz show in which one family competed against another family } had ACKA RAGA { it was either that or RAGA PILOO } which anyone growing up in England at the time would recognize but probably know nothing about { I was the same until about 23 years ago I got hold of a revolutionary album called INDO JAZZ FUSIONS by Indian musician John Mayer and jazz saxophonist Joe Harriott and lo ! I discovered they'd done it }, " Don't ask me " { a sort of family science programme that had this eccentric professor on it called Dr Magnus Pike, and the famous botanist, David Bellamy } had HOUSE OF THE KING by Focus, " Top of the pops " { the weekly chart show } had WHOLE LOTTA LOVE by CCS { which of course was penned by LED ZEPPELIN } and it's sunday radio equivalent had LADY MADONNA by the Beatles.......interestingly, I was into all these programmes even though I was 10 - 13 in those years. While I'd be waiting for the football highlights to come on on a sunday afternoon, I'd sit through a programme I never understood called " Weekend World " - it was a political programme hosted by this left wing journalist who couldn't pronounce his R's, and were I not a soccer fanatic I would never have sat through it. I would also have missed it's heavy rocking theme tune which I really liked, indeed it was probably the first piece of heavy rock that ever grabbed my attention. I say this because 20 or so years later I discovered it was " Nantucket Sleighride " by Mountain. What an inspired choice !! My sister bought me the album of the same name for my 33rd birthday and I loved it. The funny thing is that I'd been very familiar with Mountain for about 16 years at the time because I'd done alot of reading about them and I'd taken note that they were regarded as little more than Cream copyists, one publication even pouring sarcastic scorn on the fact that Leslie West and Corky Laing ended up in a 3 piece band with Jack Bruce { West, Bruce & Laing } . Perhaps this put me off checking them out .....until I discovered who was behind that " Weekend world " theme !
And I have to say that apart from 2 songs [ the atrocious " animal trainer " and " great train robbery " ] this is a blasted good album. Personally, I think the Cream comparison is overblown because they have their own identity. I'd heard alot about " the great fatsby " Leslie West, and he so makes me laugh on the opening track - as a singer / shouter / screamer, Ian Gillan he ain't ! Even now some 10 years after first hearing " Don't look around " I still laugh. The instrumentation is heavy yet curiously thin but I dig the riff. I can't quite put my finger on what is that certain something about heavy bands from the US of A....it's not that they're less heavy, just so in a different way and Mountain epitomize this. " Taunta " { what an unusual name } is lovely and the way it segues into the title track makes it seem like it is part of the same song. And what can I say about " Nantucket " ? It's simply a fantastic song that takes you through 3 or 4 different moods with such an array of gorgeous melodies, and also blitzes you into next week with that immortal {but not invisible } riff. Steve Knight is always treated as an adjunct to the Mountain story but I find his keyboard work throughout this album adds an inventive and supportive edge that would render these songs as poorer had it not been there." You can't get away " is perhaps a bit of filler but it's good solid filler. It reminds me of some of the stuff Trapeze put out on the last LP they did before Glenn Hughes left for Deep Purple. To be fair to Leslie, singing was not his forte but he has his own voice and style. The best track on the album for me is side one's closer, a beautiful tribute to Hendrix called " Tired Angels ". The riff is exquisite and Laing's drumming brilliant and deceptively complex. The whole song is so funky it's virtually impossible for me not to groove to this whatever I'm doing and the lyrics and the melodies are excellent. To top off a great tune, Leslie West contributes what is for me his classic contribution to popular music per se.......superb soloing and spare, supportive rhythm playing. The way I have the tracks on my tape, this one is always the closer. As I said earlier, 2 of the songs on side 2 are IMHO such turkeys. I tried, a few years after I'd abandoned them as a lost cause, to see if time and maturity had made them any better and guess what ? I still think they're turkeys ! But " My Lady " is a beautifully expressive number with once again lovely melodies and really nicely sung and " Travelling in the dark " is one of the best tracks by an American heavy rock band of this era. The lyrics are eerilly prophetic, given what was to happen to Felix Pappalardi and the tension of the music is tangible. Next time I listen to this LP, I'm going to pay close attention to Felix's bass playing because that's the one feature of this album that has never stood out for me. His writing is something else though and the fact that he and Leslie West have such different approaches is a major strength even if 2 of Leslie's cuts don't do it.
<Tally05@aol.com> (08.08.2000)
Wish I had said that part about live at leeds and this one being the best live records hey, dont forget get yer yayasout!
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Spyridon Kaprinis <spykap@med.auth.gr> (18.05.2003)
HI THERE!
MY NAME IS SPYROS AND I'M SENDING YOU THIS E-MAIL FROM THESSALONIKI,GREECE. I THINK THAT "YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT" IS AN ELECTRIFYING SONG!!! I AM 25 YEARS OLD(+ A GREAT FAN OF BLACK SABBATH, KYUSS, LEAF HOUND, RUSH, CREAM,JETHRO TULL, ETC.), AND I MUST ADMIT THAT THIS SONG HAS ONE OF THE MOST EXPLOSIVE BEGINNINGS!...I REALLY LIKE THAT FAT+HEAVY, DOUBLE-GUITAR SOUND!TOO BAD THAT THE SONG LASTS FOR ONLY 5MINS AND 49 SECS...!(the only part I don't quite like is the way it ends...too abruptly, in my opinion) p.s.I AM A RELATIVELY NEW FAN OF "MOUNTAIN", AND I ALSO LOVE "SISTER JUSTICE" AND "NANTUCKET SLEIGHRIDE"... Keep up the good work! Regards, Spyros Kaprinis.
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