Their future profile may have been irreparably limited when MOUNTAIN elected not to allow inclusion of their performance at Woodstock in the subsequent album or movie, but early hard rock connoisseurs will be aware of their reputation, not to mention the (literally) sizeable instrumental talent of the late Leslie West.
MOUNTAIN are (or should be) a staple of any 70s classic rock record collection, and listening to this set it’s easy to see their influence.
This 2024 just released 2-CD set compilation “Over The Top“, repackaged from its original 1995 incarnation, is a pretty tidy primer for the uninitiated, icluding all the relevant MOUNTAIN music plus rarities.
”Over The Top” covers the band’s entire history, from their self-titled debut (ostensibly a Leslie West solo LP) through hit albums like Mountain Climbing! and Nantucket Sleighride to the band’s swansong, 1974’s Avalanche. The familiar songs are all here, cuts like “Mississippi Queen,” “Theme From An Imaginary Western,” “Flowers of Evil,” and “Silver Paper,” as well as lesser-known material and a smattering of live tracks.
The band’s ill-fated 1985 reunion album is represented here by a pair of cuts, albeit without the presence of Felix Pappalardi, who had died tragically a few years earlier, and we have 2 unreleased tracks as well from 1994, both hard rockin’.
From the 1970 release of Mountain Climbing!, the band’s second album, throughout their slow disintegrated and up to the break-up half a decade later, Mountain was one of the biggest classic rock bands in the land – and, perhaps, the most obscure.
They played Woodstock, but were cut out of the movie; they sold millions of copies of their first few albums, but are remembered today for a single song: “Mississippi Queen.” A generation of kids that today still listen to Hendrix and Ozzy are unfamiliar with the rich body of work created by the genius of Leslie West and Felix Pappalardi, the odd couple behind Mountain’s success.
In the late 1960s, Felix Pappalardi was known as the producer of Cream, the biggest rock band in the world in their time. A classically-trained musician, Pappalardi was a deft producer, a multi-instrumental talent, and a skilled composer and arranger.
West was a fat kid from Long Island, as raw as Pappalardi was polished. No lesser lights than Peter Townsend, Jeff Beck, and Mick Jagger considered West to be the best guitarist alive at the time. This unlikely pair came together to become the yin and yang of Mountain, feeding off each other’s energy and ideas.
The music they created was an incredible blend of guitar-driven hard rock and jam improvisation layered upon a blues base. It was as complex as it was exciting, and it won the band a significant following throughout the early part of the 1970s.
Mississippi Queen was Mountain’s biggest US hit, and while drummer Corky Laing’s thumping, Bonhamesque introductory beat of has been sampled in hip-hop records galore from its live version, the 1969 studio take here is superior, its bluesy country-rock enhanced by flute-ish organ accompaniment that somehow evokes a quintessentially free festival quality.
However, Mississippi Queen isn’t Mountain’s best song. It sounds less characterful now than less celebrated cuts such as Don’t Look Around, a fiery affair accompanied by hyperactive bass drum percussion, and Nantucket Sleighride, the title track of Mountain’s 1971 album, which steered them briefly into altogether proggier waters.
Disc 1 opens with several tracks from that West solo album (often considered the first Mountain album), which showcases West’s raw vocals and bluesy guitar. There’s a distinct hint of Cream, a nod to Hendrix, and the occasional hint of a Monkeys-esque whimsical feel.
Retaining bassist / keyboard player /producer Felix Pappalardi, and recruiting drummer Corky Laing, Mountain were formed and the classic LP Climbing. So from there on this fine compilation we get a range of tracks, including the classic Mississippi Queen, and further on a 20 minute live version of Stormy Monday. This lengthy version is much sought after by anns and collectors, as it’s pretty the same the band played at Woodstock, now lost forever. This track / version is taken from the 1971 V/A 3-LP ‘Isle Of Wight’, a rarity. There’s some earthy bluesy rock’n’roll here, lots to love.
Disc 2 features the classic Nantucket Sleighride and takes through some more 70s work, two tracks from the 1985 reformation LP Go For Your Life (the band sounds like ZZ TOP here), and a couple of previously unreleased tracks too.
Two new cuts close out the 34 song, two-CD set. Recorded 1994 by West, long-time Mountain drummer Corky Laing, and Hendrix bassist Noel Redding, the two songs – “Talking To the Angels” and “Solution” – show but a mere fraction of the greatness that was Mountain some twenty years ago. Both feature West’s ever-maturing skills, the slimmed-down ‘90s version of the guitarist still one of the greatest players the world has seen. Both tracks are in the ’80s hard rock mold.
The track listing on “Over The Top” is excellent as it combines the best known songs with album tracks, live, singles and rarities nicely. Sadly Leslie West is no longer with us, and comprehensive reissue campaign of both Mountain and his solos albums would be very welcome.
“Over The Top” is pure classic rock, and worth anyone’s money.
Highly Recommended
CD 1
01 – Blood of the Sun [Leslie West]
02 – Long Red
03 – Blind Man
04 – Dreams Of Milk And Honey (Album Version)
05 – Southbound Train
06 – Because You Are My Friend
07 – Mississippi Queen
08 – Theme From An Imaginary Western (Album Version)
09 – Never In My Life (Album Version)
10 – Silver Paper
11 – For Yasgur’s Farm
12 – To My Friend
13 – Sittin’ On A Rainbow
14 – Stormy Monday (Live)
15 – Waiting To Take You Away (live) (Single Version)
16 – Guitar Solo (Live)
CD 2
01 – Don’t Look Around
02 – Taunta (Sammy’s Tune)
03 – Nantucket Sleighride (To Owen Coffin)
04 – You Can’t Get Away!
05 – The Animal Trainer And The Toad
06 – My Lady
07 – Travelin’ In The Dark (To E.M.P.)
08 – The Great Train Robbery
09 – Flowers of Evil
10 – One Last Cold Kiss
11 – Crossroader
12 – Roll Over Beethoven (Live Edit from Dream Sequence)
13 – You Better Believe It (Album Version)
14 – Back Where I Belong (Album Version)
15 – Bardot Damage
16 – Shimmy On the Footlights
17 – Talking To The Angels (Album Version)
18 – Solution (Album Version)
Leslie West – guitar, vocals
Felix Pappalardi – bass, keyboards, rhythm guitar, vocals
Corky Laing – drums
with:
Mark Clarke – bass
Noel Redding – bass