Climbing!

Climbing! (also known as Mountain Climbing!) is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Mountain, released on 7 March 1970 by Windfall Records.

Climbing!
Studio album by
Mountain
ReleasedMarch 7, 1970
Recorded1969 - 1970
StudioRecord Plant Studios, New York City
GenreRock[1]
Length32:38
LabelWindfall
ProducerFelix Pappalardi
Mountain chronology
Climbing!
(1970)		 Nantucket Sleighride
(1971)
Singles from Climbing!
  1. "Mississippi Queen"
    Released: February 1970
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic [2]
Christgau's Record GuideC+[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
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)PersonnelLength
1."Mississippi Queen"Leslie West, Corky Laing, Felix Pappalardi, David Rea2:31
2."Theme for an Imaginary Western"Pete Brown, Jack Bruce5:06
3."Never in My Life"West, Laing, Pappalardi, Gail Collins3:51
4."Silver Paper"West, Collins, Laing, Pappalardi, Steve Knight, George Gardos3:19
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)PersonnelLength
1."For Yasgur's Farm"Collins, Gardos, Laing, Pappalardi, Rea, Gary Ship3:23
2."To My Friend"West3:38
3."The Laird"Collins, Pappalardi4:39
4."Sittin' on a Rainbow"West, Collins, Laing2:23
5."Boys in the Band"Collins, Pappalardi3:33
Total length:32:38
  • Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–9 on CD reissues.
2003 North American CD bonus track
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."For Yasgur's Farm" (live)Collins, Gardos, Laing, Pappalardi, Rea, Ship4:19

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


Additional personnel

See also

References
  1. "Leslie West & Mountain 9pm". WAIL995. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  2. Mountain - Climbing! (1970) album review by Matthew Greenwald at AllMusic.com
  3. 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.
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