Nantucket Sleighride (album)
Nantucket Sleighride is the second album by the American hard rock band Mountain, released on January 1971, by Windfall Records.
| Nantucket Sleighride | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 1971 | |||
| Recorded | late 1970 | |||
| Studio | The Record Plant, New York City, New York | |||
| Genre | Hard rock | |||
| Length | 35:12 | |||
| Label | Windfall (US) Island (UK) | |||
| Producer | Felix Pappalardi | |||
| Mountain chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
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.[2]
The instrumental break in the second half of the track uses the melody of the Irish song "Parting Glass". The closing section of "Nantucket Sleighride" was used as the theme to the long-running British political television show Weekend World (1972-1988).
A cover version was recorded by British heavy metal band Quartz in 1980.
The song "Tired Angels" was dedicated to Jimi Hendrix (James Marshall Hendrix), and "Travellin' In The Dark" was for Pappalardi's mother, Elia.[3] "Taunta (Sammy's Tune)" was named after Pappalardi's pet poodle.[4]
"Don't Look Around" was featured on the soundtrack of Pineapple Express (2008).
The album itself reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 200 Album Chart in 1971.[5]
Bonus tracks
The bonus tracks on the 2004 edition include the Chuck Berry cover "Roll Over Beethoven" and the original song "Crossroader", which were released as the A- and B-sides of a promotional single in 1971. The latter was later released on Flowers of Evil (1971). Live versions of both tracks appeared on subsequent live releases, such as Mountain Live: The Road Goes Ever On (1972) and Twin Peaks (1974).
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Don't Look Around" | Leslie West, Sue Palmer, Felix Pappalardi, Gail Collins Pappalardi | 3:42 |
| 2. | "Taunta (Sammy's Tune)" | Pappalardi | 1:00 |
| 3. | "Nantucket Sleighride (to Owen Coffin)" | Pappalardi, Collins | 5:49 |
| 4. | "You Can't Get Away" | West, Collins, Corky Laing | 3:23 |
| 5. | "Tired Angels (to J.M.H.)" | Pappalardi, Collins | 4:39 |
| 6. | "The Animal Trainer and the Toad" | West, Palmer | 3:24 |
| 7. | "My Lady" | Laing, Pappalardi, Collins | 4:31 |
| 8. | "Travellin' in the Dark (To E.M.P.)" | Pappalardi, Collins | 4:21 |
| 9. | "The Great Train Robbery" | West, Laing, Pappalardi, Collins | 5:43 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10. | "Roll Over Beethoven" | Chuck Berry | 2:59 |
| 11. | "Crossroader" | Pappalardi, Collins | 4:50 |
| 12. | "Travellin' in the Dark (to E.M.P.)" (live) | Pappalardi, Collins | 5:14 |
Personnel
- Leslie West – guitar, vocals
- Felix Pappalardi – bass, rhythm guitar, piano, vocals
- Steve Knight – organ, handbells
- Corky Laing – drums, percussion
- Gail Collins Pappalardi – cover design, painting, photography, visual director, calligraphy
- Mick Brigden – calligraphy
- Bud Prager – executive producer
- Bob d'Orleans – recording engineer
- Tom Cachetta – assistant engineer
- Dave Ragno – assistant engineer
References
- Mountain - Nantucket Sleighride (1971) album review by James Chrispell at AllMusic
- Chase, Owen (1821). Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex. New York: W. B. Gilley. OCLC 12217894. Also in Heffernan, Thomas Farel, Stove by a whale: Owen Chase and the Essex, Middletown, Conn. : Wesleyan University Press ; [New York] : distributed by Columbia University Press, 1981.
- ZigZag Magazine, Issue 20 - May 1971
- Record Mirror, December 4, 1971
- http://www.billboard.com/artist/311857/mountain/chart?f=305