| Mountain | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | July 1969 | |||
| Studio | Gotham Recording Studios, New York City | |||
| Genre | Hard rock [1] | |||
| Length | 35:27 | |||
| Label | Windfall | |||
| Producer | Felix Pappalardi | |||
| Leslie West chronology | ||||
| ||||
Mountain is the debut album by American rock guitarist and vocalist Leslie West, released in July 1969 by Windfall Records.
Mountain is West's first solo album after several years spent as a member of the Vagrants. The album was recorded with bassist and producer Felix Pappalardi, who shortly after formed the band Mountain (named after the album) with West. As at least 5 of the tracks were subsequently played live by Mountain, this has mistakenly given it the reputation of being the band's first album. [2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| The Village Voice | B [3] |
The album was released on LP in July 1969 by Windfall Records and in the UK on Bell Records. [2] Reviewing for The Village Voice in September of that year, Robert Christgau wrote: "With Felix Pappalardi singing and playing bass regularly this could be New York's third supergroup. (The Rascals and the Spoonful got there first.) The visual possibilities alone—with West, the enormous ex-Vagrant guitarist, set against the hyperactive Pappalardi, are fantastic. West plays good guitar and is a good roarer, and Pappalardi is not only first-rate on several instruments but has a wonderful singing voice, sweet and mellow. Unfortunately, he hadn't decided to join the group when this was recorded, and so participates only as bassist and producer. West alone can't quite carry it. More like early Cream than Blind Faith." [3]
On April 16, 1996, Columbia/Legacy reissued Mountain on CD. In a retrospective review, AllMusic's William Ruhlmann regarded it as a rock album "dominated by West's throaty roar of a voice and inventive blues-rock guitar playing", as well as "an auspicious debut, instantly establishing him as a guitar hero and setting the style of Mountain's subsequent recordings." [2]
with:
Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bassist. He is best known as the bassist and co-lead vocalist of the band Mountain, whose song "Mississippi Queen" peaked at number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has become a classic rock radio staple. Originating in the eclectic music scene in New York's Greenwich Village, he became closely attached to the British power trio Cream, writing, arranging, and producing for their second album Disraeli Gears. As a producer for Atlantic Records, he worked on several projects with guitarist Leslie West; in 1969 their partnership evolved into the band Mountain. The band lasted less than five years, but their work influenced the first generation of heavy metal and hard rock music. Pappalardi continued to work as a producer, session musician, and songwriter until he was shot and killed by his wife Gail Collins in 1983.
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 and has reunited frequently since 1973. 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 & Laing (WBL) 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 West was an American rock guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He was best known as a founding member and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Mountain.
Strange Brew: The Very Best of Cream is a 1983 compilation album by the British rock band Cream.
Blues Creation is a Japanese rock band formed in Tokyo in 1969. Led by guitarist/singer Kazuo Takeda, they were known as Blues Creation from 1969 to 1972 and after a three-year hiatus returned as simply Creation in 1975.
Elephant Mountain is an album by the American rock band The Youngbloods, released in 1969. It reached number 118 on the Billboard 200 chart.
"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. "Mississippi Queen" has been recorded by several artists, including W.A.S.P., Sam Kinison, Amanda Ayala, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, and Ozzy Osbourne, who had a hit with the song in 2005.
Climbing! is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Mountain, released in 1970 by Windfall Records.
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.
Stephen Sanders "Steve" Knight was an American musician best known as the keyboardist for Mountain, a rock band of the early 1970s.
The Vagrants were an American, Long Island-based rock and blue-eyed soul group from the 1960s. The group was composed of Peter Sabatino on vocals, harmonica, and tambourine, Leslie West on vocals and guitar, Larry West on vocals and bass guitar, Jerry Storch on organ, and Roger Mansour on drums.
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.