Mountain

Mountain is an American rock band, popular in the early 1970s. The band broke up in 1972, reformed shortly thereafter, broke up soon after that, and now has begun touring again in recent years. Mountain remains popular in some circles despite having fallen out of the mainstream during the seventies. Mountain was influential during the development of hard rock, and their hit song "Mississippi Queen" became a radio hit and a hard rock classic. VH1 ranked Mountain as number 98 on its 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.

The band formed when guitarist Leslie West, having left the Long Island R&B band the Vagrants, recorded a solo album called Mountain with bassist and former Cream producer Felix Pappalardi producing. The album, Mountain, also featured former Remains drummer N.D. Smart and keyboard player Steve Knight[citation needed]. West's raw vocals and melodic, bluesy guitar style, and Pappalardi's heavy and elegant bass lines were the elements of Mountain's distinctive sound. The band was inspired by the power trio Cream, of which Pappalardi was an "unofficial" member: he featured heavily on Cream's third album, Wheels of Fire, contributing organ, viola, trumpet and handbells as well as producing.

Mountain played their fourth live gig at the Woodstock Festival, but the band did not appear in the film of the event nor was it included on the first album. Soon after, Smart was replaced by Laurence "Corky" Laing. The group's first album, Climbing!, was released in 1970 and featured the band's best-known song, "Mississippi Queen"; the song reached the middle of the top 40 charts and the album reached the top 20 on the US album charts.

The follow-up album Nantucket Sleighride (1971) also reached the top 20 on the US albums chart but failed to yield a hit single. The title track was used as the theme to ITV's Sunday political program Weekend World. After these early releases the band continued to receive a certain measure of critical acclaim but never achieved great commercial success.
After Nantucket Sleighride, the band produced the album "Flowers of Evil" consisting of one side of studio material and one live side. The band broke up in 1972. West and Laing later formed West, Bruce and Laing with Cream bassist Jack Bruce. They released three albums (two studio and one live).

In 1974 West and Pappalardi reformed Mountain with Allan Schwartzberg on drums and Bob Mann (of Dreams) on keyboards and guitar – a tour yielded the live double album Twin Peaks. The studio work Avalanche, with Laing on drums and rhythm guitarist David Perry, was the last heard from Mountain until the March 1985 release of the Go For Your Life album.
On April 17, 1983, Gail Collins Pappalardi, Felix's wife and songwriting partner who had designed many of the band's album covers, shot Pappalardi in the neck in their fifth-floor East Side Manhattan apartment. He was pronounced dead at the scene and Collins was charged with second-degree murder. She was cleared of that charge but convicted of the lesser criminally negligent homicide and sentenced to 16 months to four years in jail. After her release from jail, she vanished into private life.

The band has reformed with Richie Scarlet taking over bass duties on the band's recent tours. Scarlet is also known for his work with Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley, former Skid Row vocalist Sebastian Bach and for his multiple solo records.

In 2003 West and Laing produced a book of recollections called "Nantucket Sleighride" detailing their time with the band at its peak and their subsequent careers.
"Mississippi Queen" has been covered by W.A.S.P. and by Ozzy Osbourne on his album Under Cover. Not coincidentally, Mountain guitarist Leslie West was featured on that album. It has also appeared in in the 1971 road chase movie Vanishing Point and the video games Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Rock Band. The live version of "Long Red" has been heavily sampled in Hip Hop music (for example, Eric B. & Rakim's "Eric B. is President", J Dilla's "Stepson of the Clapper," De La Soul's "Verbal Clap," Common's "The People", Ice-T's "G Style", and Kanye West's "Barry Bonds"). The band was often referred to as a "power trio," even though there were four musicians: guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums.

Discography :

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1970: Climbing! 1971: Nantucket Sleighride 1971: Flowers of Evil 1972: Mountain Live: The Road Goes Ever On 1973: The Best Of Mountain 1974: Twin Peaks 1974: Avalanche 1985: Go For Your Life 1995: Over The Top – The Mountain Anthology 1996: Man's World 2002: Mystic Fire 2004: Eruption 2007: Masters Of War 2007: Sixty Minutes With Mountain – Live

Mountain has released the new Bob Dylan Tribute Album with Warren Haynes and other special guest musicians. It's mastered by one of the best engineers in rock.. It's a must have for Mountain and Dylan fans alike. The album is currently available. Leslie and Dave Mason sat in with the Allman Brothers again last spring at the Beacon Theater in N.YC.
Leslie and Dean Guitars attended a rally at the Statue of Liberty in Manhattan NY this fall. It was a benefit to pay tribute to the troops stationed in Iraq that were burned during their service to our country. Leslie and Dean Guitars were honored to help and auctioned off a guitar that raised five thousand dollars for our troops.