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Climbing!
''Climbing!'' (also known as ''Mountain Climbing!'') is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Mountain, released in 1970 by Windfall Records. Background In 1969, Leslie West recorded his debut solo album, titled ''Mountain'', with Felix Pappalardi on bass and drummer Norman Smart. 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, and it reached number 17 on the American ''Billboard'' Top Albums chart. 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. Both were sung by West, while Pappalardi supplied the vocal on another radio favorite, "Theme for an Imaginary Western". Critical reception Matthew Greenwald, in a review for AllMusic, gave the album four and a half out of five stars. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mississippi Queen
"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. Composition and recording Drummer Corky Laing explained that he had developed some of the lyrics and the drum part prior to his joining the band. Later, when guitarist Leslie West was looking for lyrics for a guitar part he had written, Laing pulled out "The Queen" and the two worked out the song together; bassist/producer Felix Pappalardi and lyricist David Rea also received songwriting credits. "Mississippi Queen" was recorded during the sessions for Mountain's 1970 debut album ''Climbing!'', but without keyboard player Steve Knight. Pappalardi provided the piano part and during the recording, he insisted on numerous takes. Growing weary, Laing started using the cowbell to count off the song; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountain (band)
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 (soon replaced by Corky Laing), 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. History 1969–1972 In early 1969 Leslie West, formerly of the Long Island R&B band The Vagrants, put together a band, Leslie West Mountain, with Norman Landsberg (keyboards, bass) and Ken Janick (drums) and began playing gigs and recording demos. Right aro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gail Collins Pappalardi
Gail Delta Collins Pappalardi (February 2, 1941 – December 6, 2013) was an American songwriter, producer, and artist. Biography She came to prominence (as 'Miss Gail Collins') co-producing, with Pappalardi, the self-titled debut album by Energy, a group featuring Corky Laing. She also co-produced, with Felix Pappalardi, the ''Felix Pappalardi and Creation'' album in 1976. Collins Pappalardi co-wrote Cream's "World of Pain" with her husband Felix Pappalardi and "Strange Brew" with Pappalardi and Eric Clapton. Both songs are included on the album ''Disraeli Gears''. She contributed lyrics to many Mountain songs. Her artwork appears on many album covers by Mountain, including ''Climbing!'', ''Nantucket Sleighride'', '' Flowers of Evil'', '' Mountain Live: The Road Goes Ever On'', ''Twin Peaks'' and ''Avalanche''. She was associate producer on the 1978 album by Hot Tuna, ''Double Dose''. On April 17, 1983, Felix Pappalardi was shot once in the neck in the fifth-floor New York City ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Record Plant Studios
The Record Plant is a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and currently operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it has produced highly influential albums, including Blondie's ''Parallel Lines'', Metallica's '' Load'' and '' Reload'', the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Fleetwood Mac's '' Rumours'', Eminem's ''The Marshall Mathers LP'', Guns N' Roses' ''Appetite for Destruction,'' and Kanye West's ''The College Dropout''. More recent albums with songs recorded at Record Plant include Lady Gaga's '' ARTPOP'', D'Angelo's '' Black Messiah'', Justin Bieber's ''Purpose'', Beyoncé's ''Lemonade'', and Ariana Grande's '' Thank U, Next''. The studio was founded in 1968 in New York City by Gary Kellgren and Chris Stone, who opened a Los Angeles branch the following year and a Sausalito, California, location in 1972. During the 1980s, they sold the New York and Sausalito studios; the former closed in 1987, the latte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steve Knight (musician)
Stephen Sanders "Steve" Knight (12 May 1935 – 19 January 2013) was an American musician best known as the keyboardist for the rock band Mountain from 1969 until his departure in 1972. Biography Knight was born in New York to artist parents. From 1938–1950 his family lived in Woodstock, New York. In 1950, his father became a professor at Columbia University and moved the family to New York City. In 1952, Knight graduated from high school (New Lincoln School) and enrolled at Columbia later that year. He stayed at Columbia for most of the 1950s (1952–1959) studying art, music and psychology. He earned a B.S. degree majoring in psychology, and had one year of graduate work in psychology. From 1959 to 1968, Knight recorded with or was a member of various bands including the Feenjon Group, the Peacemakers, Devil's Anvil and Wings (not McCartney's group). In 1969, producer/vocalist/bassist Felix Pappalardi organized Mountain. The initial line-up included Leslie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corky Laing
Laurence Gordon "Corky" Laing (born January 26, 1948) is a Canadian rock drummer, best known as a longtime member of pioneering American hard rock band Mountain. 20th century A native of Montreal, Quebec, Laing was the youngest in a family of five children. His eldest sister Carol was followed by triplet brothers, Jeffrey, Leslie, and Stephen, and then by Corky. According to Corky, his brothers called him "Gorky" because they could not pronounce his given name "Gordon". "Gorky" eventually morphed into Corky, a moniker which has remained with him throughout his career. Getting his break playing drums for vocal group The Ink Spots in 1961, he later played in a group called Energy, who was produced by Cream collaborator and Laing's future bandmate Felix Pappalardi. Laing left Energy in 1969 to replace drummer N.D. Smart in a hard rock outfit and heavy metal forerunner Mountain, who, with Laing at the drum kit, released three albums and the classic song "Mississippi Queen" between 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theme For An Imaginary Western
"Theme for an Imaginary Western" is a song written by Jack Bruce and Pete Brown. The song is sometimes referred to as "Theme from an Imaginary Western". It has been performed by many artists, including Mountain, Jack Bruce, Leslie West, Colosseum, Greenslade, DC3 and Johan Asherton. The song originally appeared on Bruce's ''Songs for a Tailor'' album in 1969. The lyrics by Pete Brown are mentioned in Brown's autobiography "White Rooms and Imaginary Westerns" () as being in reference to Bruce's erstwhile bandmates Dick Heckstall-Smith and Graham Bond of The Graham Bond Organisation. The following year, "Theme" appeared on Mountain's ''Climbing!'' album. Mountain bassist/vocalist Felix Pappalardi, who sang the song with Mountain, had helped produce Bruce's album and brought the song to guitarist/vocalist Leslie West's attention for their album. Mountain performed the song at the Woodstock Festival in 1969; this version appeared on the ''Woodstock 2 ''Woodstock Two'' is the sec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nantucket Sleighride (album)
''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. Songs The song and album title is a reference to the experience of being towed along in a boat by a harpooned whale (see Nantucket sleighride). Owen Coffin, to whom the song is dedicated, was a young seaman on the Nantucket whaler ''Essex'', which was rammed and sunk by a sperm whale in 1820. In the aftermath of the wreck, Coffin was shot and eaten by his shipmates. The story of the ''Essex'' was recorded by its First Mate Owen Chase, one of eight survivors, in his 1821 ''Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex''. The instrumental break in the second half of the track uses the melody of the traditional Scottish song "The Parting Glass". The closing section of "Nantucket Sleighride" was used as the theme to the long-running British political television show ''Weeken ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Felix Pappalardi
Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. (December 30, 1939 – April 17, 1983) 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. Early life Pappalardi was born in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and bassist of British rock band Cream. After the group disbanded in 1968, he pursued a solo career and also played with several bands. In the early 1960s Bruce joined the Graham Bond Organisation (GBO), where he met his future bandmate Ginger Baker. After leaving the band, he joined with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, where he met Eric Clapton, who also became his future bandmate. His time with the band was brief. In 1966, he formed Cream with lead guitarist Clapton and drummer Baker; he co-wrote many of their songs (including " Sunshine of Your Love", " White Room" and "I Feel Free") with poet/lyricist Pete Brown. After the group disbanded in the late 1960s he began recording solo albums. His first solo album, '' Songs for a Tailor'', released in 1969, was a worldwide hit. Bruce formed his own ba ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Legacy Recordings
Legacy Recordings is an American record label that is a division of Sony Music. Formed in 1990 after Sony's acquisition of CBS Records, Legacy originally handled the archives of Sony Music-owned labels Columbia Records and Epic Records. In 2004, under the Sony BMG joint venture, the label began to manage the archives of RCA Records, J Records, Windham Hill Records, Arista, LaFace, Jive, and Buddah Records. Legacy Recordings also distributes Philadelphia International Records and the catalog of recordings produced by Phil Spector. It is not related to the defunct British independent label Legacy Records. Reissues The ''Essential'' series are one- or two-disc compilations of an artist's extensive catalog. On occasion, certain albums in this series would include a limited edition third disc (labeled ''Essential'' ''3.0''), or be revised to include an artist's newer work (for example ''The Essential Bob Dylan).'' , several volumes in the ''Essential'' series are available on vin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Max Yasgur
Max B. Yasgur (December 15, 1919 – February 9, 1973) was an American farmer who was the owner of a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, where the 1969 Woodstock musical festival was held from August 15–18, 1969. He sold his farm in 1971 and retired to Florida, where he died in 1973. Personal life and dairy farming Yasgur was born in New York City to Russian Jewish immigrants Samuel and Bella Yasgur. He was raised with his brother Isidore (1926–2010) on the family's farm (where his parents also ran a small hotel) and attended New York University, studying real estate law. By the late 1960s, he was the largest milk producer in Sullivan County, New York. His farm had 650 cows, mostly Guernseys. At the time of the festival in 1969, Yasgur was married to Miriam (Mimi) Gertrude Miller Yasgur (1920–2014) and had a son, Sam (1942–2016) and daughter, Lois (1944–1977). His son was an assistant district attorney in New York City at the time. In later years, it was revealed that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
