Climbing!
Climbing!, also known as Mountain Climbing!, is the official debut studio album by American hard rock band Mountain, released on March 7, 1970, by Windfall Records.
| Climbing! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 7, 1970 | |||
| Recorded | 1969 - 1970 | |||
| Studio | Record Plant Studios, New York City | |||
| Genre | Rock[1] | |||
| Length | 32:38 | |||
| Label | Windfall | |||
| Producer | Felix Pappalardi | |||
| Mountain chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Climbing! | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Christgau's Record Guide | C+[3] |
Background
The album featured the 'classic' Mountain lineup of Leslie West (guitar, vocals), Felix Pappalardi (bass, vocals, piano), Corky Laing (drums, percussion) and Steve Knight (keyboards) and followed the West solo album Mountain featuring Pappalardi and drummer Norman Smart, released in 1969 and often credited to the band. Produced by Pappalardi, the album reached number 17 on the American Billboard 200 albums chart and featured the band's best-known song, "Mississippi Queen". An early rendition of "For Yasgur's Farm" was actually performed at the Woodstock Festival in August 1969 as Who Am I But You And The Sun. It was subsequently recorded and retitled for the album.
Critical reception
Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote: "We all know they're the original Cremora—what this makes clearer is that they're Jack Bruce's third of the jar. On 'For Yasgur's Farm' Felix Pappalardi emulates JB's self-dramatizing vocal propriety as well as his bass lines, but when Leslie West runs an acoustic guitar solo from raga to flamenco without ever touching the blues you know he's not doing an Eric Clapton tribute. Can't fit the humongous 'Mississippi Queen' into this theory, but I can tell you who wrote 'Theme for an Imaginary Western': Jack Bruce and Pete Brown."[3]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Personnel | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mississippi Queen" | Leslie West, Corky Laing, Felix Pappalardi, David Rea | Personnel:
| 2:31 |
| 2. | "Theme for an Imaginary Western" | Pete Brown, Jack Bruce | Personnel:
| 5:06 |
| 3. | "Never in My Life" | West, Laing, Pappalardi, Gail Collins | Personnel:
| 3:51 |
| 4. | "Silver Paper" | West, Collins, Laing, Pappalardi, Steve Knight, George Gardos | Personnel:
| 3:19 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Personnel | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "For Yasgur's Farm" | Collins, Gardos, Laing, Pappalardi, Rea, Gary Ship | Personnel:
| 3:23 |
| 2. | "To My Friend" | West | Personnel:
| 3:38 |
| 3. | "The Laird" | Collins, Pappalardi | Personnel:
| 4:39 |
| 4. | "Sittin' on a Rainbow" | West, Collins, Laing | Personnel:
| 2:23 |
| 5. | "Boys in the Band" | Collins, Pappalardi | Personnel:
| 3:33 |
| Total length: | 32:38 | |||
- Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–9 on CD reissues.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10. | "For Yasgur's Farm" (live) | Collins, Gardos, Laing, Pappalardi, Rea, Ship | 4:19 |
Track timings listed on the original 1970 Windfall Records LP pressings of the album differ slightly from the above, with the notable exception that the listed duration of 4:50 for "Never in My Life" is significantly in error.
Personnel
- Mountain
- Leslie West – guitars on all tracks; lead vocals on tracks 1, 3, and 8; co-lead vocals on tracks 4, 5 and 9
- Felix Pappalardi – bass on all tracks except 6 and 7; piano on tracks 1, 2 and 9; rhythm guitar on track 7; lead vocals on tracks 2 and 7; co-lead vocals on tracks 4, 5 and 9; production
- Corky Laing – drums on all tracks except 6 and 7; percussion on tracks 7 and 9
- Steve Knight – organ on tracks 2, 3, 4 and 5; mellotron on tracks 2 and 9; handbells on track 4
- Additional personnel
- Bud Prager – executive production
- Bob D'Orleans – engineering
- Lillian Douma – engineering assistance
- Beverly Weinstein – art direction
- Gail Collins – cover artwork, photography
See also
References
- "Leslie West & Mountain 9pm". WAIL995. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
- Mountain - Climbing! (1970) album review by Matthew Greenwald at AllMusic.com
- Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: M". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved March 8, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.