| Climbing! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 7, 1970 | |||
| Recorded | 1969–1970 | |||
| Studio | Record Plant, New York City | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 32:38 | |||
| Label | Windfall | |||
| Producer | Felix Pappalardi | |||
| Mountain chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Climbing! | ||||
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Climbing! (also known as Mountain Climbing!) is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Mountain. It was released on March 7, 1970, by Windfall Records.
In 1969, Leslie West recorded his debut solo album, titled Mountain , with Felix Pappalardi on bass and drummer Norman Smart. [1] Smart was replaced by Corky Laing on drums and percussion, and keyboardist Steve Knight was added to form the classic Mountain lineup, with Pappalardi as producer.
Windfall Records released Climbing! on March 7, 1970, [2] and it reached number 17 on the American Billboard Top Albums chart. [1] It included the group's best-known song, "Mississippi Queen", which became a hit, and "Never in My Life", which was regularly aired on contemporary FM radio. [3] Both were sung by West, while Pappalardi supplied the vocal on another radio favorite, "Theme for an Imaginary Western". [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | C+ [4] |
Matthew Greenwald, in a review for AllMusic, gave the album four and a half out of five stars. In Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote:
We all know they're the original Cremora—what this makes clearer is that they're Jack Bruce's third of the jar. On "For Yasgur's Farm" Felix Pappalardi emulates JB's self-dramatizing vocal propriety as well as his bass lines, but when Leslie West runs an acoustic guitar solo from raga to flamenco without ever touching the blues you know he's not doing an Eric Clapton tribute. Can't fit the humongous "Mississippi Queen" into this theory, but I can tell you who wrote "Theme for an Imaginary Western": Jack Bruce and Pete Brown. [4]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Vocal(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mississippi Queen" | Leslie West, Corky Laing, Felix Pappalardi, David Rea | West | 2:31 |
| 2. | "Theme for an Imaginary Western" | Pete Brown, Jack Bruce | Pappalardi | 5:06 |
| 3. | "Never in My Life" | West, Laing, Pappalardi, Gail Collins | West | 3:51 |
| 4. | "Silver Paper" | West, Collins, Laing, Pappalardi, Steve Knight, George Gardos | Pappalardi, West | 3:19 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Vocal(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "For Yasgur's Farm" | Collins, Gardos, Laing, Pappalardi, Rea, Gary Ship | Pappalardi, West | 3:23 |
| 2. | "To My Friend" | West | Instrumental | 3:38 |
| 3. | "The Laird" | Collins, Pappalardi | Pappalardi | 4:39 |
| 4. | "Sittin' on a Rainbow" | West, Collins, Laing | West | 2:23 |
| 5. | "Boys in the Band" | Collins, Pappalardi | Pappalardi, West | 3:33 |
| Total length: | 32:38 | |||
On the 2003 Legacy Recordings CD, a live version of "For Yasgur's Farm" was added as a bonus track.
Band
Additional personnel
| Chart (1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Top Albums/CDs ( RPM ) [5] | 19 |
| US Billboard 200 [6] | 17 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA) [7] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Mountain was an American hard rock band formed in Long Island, New York, in 1969. Originally comprising vocalist and guitarist Leslie West, bassist and vocalist Felix Pappalardi, keyboardist Steve Knight, and drummer N. D. Smart, the band broke up in 1972, but reunited on several occasions prior to West's death in 2020. Best known for their cowbell-tinged song "Mississippi Queen", as well as the heavily sampled song "Long Red" and their performance at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, Mountain is one of many bands to be commonly credited as having influenced the development of heavy metal music in the 1970s. The group's musical style primarily consisted of hard rock, blues rock, and heavy metal.
West, Bruce and Laing were a Scottish–American blues rock power trio super-group formed in 1972 by Leslie West, Jack Bruce, and Corky Laing. The band released two studio albums, Why Dontcha (1972) and Whatever Turns You On (1973), during their active tenure. Their disbanding was officially announced in early 1974 prior to the release of their third and last album, Live 'n' Kickin'.
Leslie Abel West was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was the co-founder, guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Mountain.
Live Cream Volume II is the second live album by the British rock band Cream, released in March 1972 by Polydor Records. This album contains six tracks recorded at various performances from 9 March to 4 October 1968.
Woodstock Two is the second live album released of the 1969 Woodstock Festival concert. The two-LP set contains more material from many acts featured on the first Woodstock album with additional performances from Mountain and Melanie. The tracks by Mountain were in fact not from their Woodstock performance but rather a show recorded at New York's Fillmore East. Unlike the first Woodstock soundtrack LP, this LP does not contain any ancillary stage announcements. Like the previous album this was also packaged in a triple gatefold sleeve.
Laurence Gordon "Corky" Laing is a Canadian rock drummer, best known as a longtime member of the pioneering American hard rock band Mountain.
"Mississippi Queen" is a song by the American rock band Mountain. Considered a rock classic, it was their most successful single, reaching number 21 in the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970. The song is included on the group's debut album and several live recordings have been issued.
Why Dontcha is the first studio album by power trio West, Bruce and Laing.
Nantucket Sleighride is the second studio album by American hard rock band Mountain, released in January 1971 by Windfall Records in the US and by Island in the UK.
Flowers of Evil is the third studio album and first live album by American hard rock band Mountain. The title track concerns drug abuse in Vietnam. The first side of the album includes new studio material, while the second consists of live material recorded on 27 June 1971 at the Fillmore East in New York City. It was released in November 1971 by Windfall.
Live: The Road Goes Ever On is the second live album by American hard rock band Mountain, released on 24 April 1972 by Windfall Records. It contains four songs recorded at three shows in August 1969, December 1971, and January 1972. The album was produced by the band's bassist and second vocalist Felix Pappalardi, while the artwork was created by his wife and collaborator Gail Collins. The Road Goes Ever On takes its name from J. R. R. Tolkien's 1937 novel The Hobbit.
Twin Peaks is the third live album by American hard rock band Mountain, released in February 1974 by Columbia and Windfall Records. It contains recordings from the band's performance at Koseinenkin Hall in Osaka, Japan on August 30, 1973. The album was produced by the band's bassist and second vocalist Felix Pappalardi, while the artwork was created by his wife and collaborator Gail Collins. It was Mountain's first release since returning after a year-long hiatus.
The Best of Mountain is the only compilation album by American hard rock band Mountain. It consists of material recorded throughout 1970-1971, culled from their first three LPs. On 15 April 2003, the album was remastered and reissued in an expanded edition with new liner notes and four bonus tracks, two of which are taken from Leslie West's first solo album, 1969's Felix Pappalardi-produced Mountain, the project which eventually led to the formation of the band.
Mountain is the debut album by American rock guitarist and vocalist Leslie West, released in July 1969 by Windfall Records.
Go for Your Life is the fifth studio album by American hard rock band Mountain, released on March 9, 1985. It was their first studio album since 1974's Avalanche.
Avalanche is the fourth studio album by American hard rock band Mountain, released in July 1974. It featured the return of drummer Corky Laing and was the band's only recording with second guitarist David Perry. It was their final album of the 1970s and the last to feature bassist/producer Felix Pappalardi.
Mystic Fire is the seventh studio album by American hard rock band Mountain, released in 2002. It is their final album of original material, as their following album, Masters of War, would consist solely of covers.
Theme is a 1988 album by Leslie West. It features Jack Bruce and Joe Franco. It takes its title from the track "Theme for an Imaginary Western", first recorded by Jack Bruce on Songs for a Tailor and subsequently featured on Mountain's debut album Climbing!.
The Great Fatsby is the second album by American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter Leslie West. It was released on Bud Prager's Phantom Records in March 1975 and distributed by RCA Records. The album features Mick Jagger on rhythm guitar. The album features four original tracks alongside West's interpretation of six other songs: covers of tracks by Paul Kelly, the Animals, the Rolling Stones, Sharks, Tim Hardin and Free.
