''Elephant Mountain'' is the third studio album by the

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band The Youngbloods, released in 1969. It reached number 118 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart.

History

With the departure of member and co-founder

Jerry Corbitt Jerry Corbitt (born Jerry Byron Corbitt; January 7, 1943 – March 8, 2014) was an American guitarist, harmonica player, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a founding member and guitarist of the rock band the Youngbloo ...

, Jesse Colin Young became the primary songwriter of the band, penning seven of the 13 tracks on the album, and co-writing four more with Lowell "Banana" Levinger and Joe Bauer. The four tracks credited to Young, Banana, and Bauer are all instrumentals. Levinger's "On Sir Francis Drake" is an instrumental named after Sir Francis Drake Boulevard of

Marin County Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...

, where the band had recently moved. At 6:44 it is the longest track on the album, consisting of two sections, the first an electric piano-based waltz, the second a blues jam with some bass soloing by Young. The only other song on the album not co-written by Young is "Rain Song (Don't Let the Rain Bring You Down)", which is similar to their earlier "

jug band A jug band is a band employing a jug player and a mix of conventional and homemade instruments. These homemade instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making sound, like the washtub bass, washboard, spoons, bones, stovepipe, ...

" style songs like "Euphoria" and "The Wine Song"; it was co-written by Jerry Corbitt, Felix Pappalardi and Gail Collins, his wife. According to the liner notes on the Sundazed reissue, the album was "begun in New York early in 1967, then finished in RCA's Hollywood studios after the band moved to San Francisco, but not released until 1969." Liner notes writer Jud Cost mentions that original member, Jerry Corbitt, though uncredited in the liner notes, performs "on a couple of Elephant Mountain tracks, notably singing the vocal with Young on 'Smug'." Unlike their previous albums, there are no covers of songs by other artists. The album was included in the book ''

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'' is a musical reference book first published in 2005 by Universe Publishing. Part of the ''1001 Before You Die'' series, it compiles writings and information on albums chosen by a panel of music critics ...

''. Although not specified on the album cover, the mountain depicted is Black Mountain (locally called Elephant Mountain), located west of the Nicasio Reservoir in Marin County. Sundazed released a remastered version in 2008 with "Previously Unissued Bonus Tracks," including "Pool Hall Song" and "Beautiful" (alternate version). In 2014, RCA of Japan released a 19 track version of the album.

Critical reception

Reviewing for ''

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'' in 1969,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

wrote, "In the manner of tight groups, the Youngbloods stretch thinner all the time. Not only have they lost Jerry Corbitt, but their own expertise has become somehow attenuated. Banana used to be the most tasteful electric pianist in rock. Now he has become so tasteful he can sounds like Roy Kral on a lazy night." Lester Bangs was more enthusiastic in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', saying "this is one of the most encouraging albums I have heard in months. ... This album exudes that supremely rare commodity in these dark, bored, destructive times – joy." Years later, ''Rolling Stone'' said the album "bridges the gap between the last days of psychedelia and the outbreak of country-rock that had afflicted artists like

the Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

and

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...

." In a retrospective review for

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, Lindsay Planer praised the album, feeling that it "contains some of the band's strongest material to date". ''

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'' described the album as their "1969 folk-rock touchstone".

Track listing

Side one

# "

Darkness, Darkness "Darkness, Darkness" is a song written by Jesse Colin Young in 1969, which has been covered by many artists. Young's band The Youngbloods released a version on their 1969 album ''Elephant Mountain''. They released a version of the song as a ...

" (Jesse Colin Young) – 3:51 # "Smug" (Young) – 2:13 # "On Sir Francis Drake" (Lowell Levinger) – 6:44 # "Sunlight" (Young) – 3:07 # "Double Sunlight" (Levinger, Young, Joe Bauer) – 0:41 # "Beautiful" (Young) – 3:49 # "Turn It Over" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 0:15

Side two

# "Rain Song (Don't Let the Rain Bring You Down)" (

, Felix Pappalardi, Gail Collins) – 3:13 # "Trillium" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 3:08 # "Quicksand"* (Young) – 2:41 # "Black Mountain Breakdown" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 0:40 # "Sham"* (Young) – 2:44 # "Ride the Wind" (Young) – 6:37

Sundazed 2008 Reissue

# "

Collins Collins may refer to: People Surname Given name * Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat * Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration * Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...

RCA Japan 2014 Reissue

# "

) – 3:13 # "Trillium" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 3:08 # "Quicksand"* (Young) – 2:41 # "Black Mountain Breakdown" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 0:40 # "Sham"* (Young) – 2:44 # "Ride the Wind" (Young) – 6:37 # "Pool Hall Song" (Young) – 3:04 # "On Sir Francis Drake" (Alternate Mono Version) # "Beautiful" (Alternate Mono Version) (Young) – 9:31 # "Smug" (Alternate Mono Version) # "Sham" (Alternate Mono Version) # "Radio Spot For Elephant Mountain"

Personnel

;The Youngbloods * Jesse Colin Young – bass, lead vocals, acoustic guitar on "Sunlight" *Lowell "Banana" Levinger – guitar, backing vocals, electric piano *Joe Bauer – drums ;Additional musicians *

– guitar and vocals (uncredited in original liner notes) * David Lindley – fiddle * Plas Johnson – tenor saxophone *Joe Clayton – trumpet * Victor Feldman – vibraphone * David Lindley - violin ;Technical *Charles E. Daniels ( Charlie Daniels) – producer *The Youngbloods and Bob Cullen – producer (Tracks marked *. These two tracks were recorded prior to Jerry Corbitt's departure from the band.) *Richie Schmidt – engineer *

Hank Cicalo Hank Cicalo (born June 25, 1932) is an American recording engineer whose career has spanned over fifty years. Among the artists recorded by Cicalo are The Monkees, Carole King, Barbra Streisand, and George Harrison. Early career In 1957, Cical ...

– engineer *Mickey Crofford – engineer

Charts

;Album ;Singles

References

{{Authority control 1969 albums The Youngbloods albums Albums produced by Charlie Daniels Albums produced by Jesse Colin Young RCA Records albums Folk rock albums by American artists Country rock albums by American artists