Mountain!

[Trane]

I'd recommend their Avalange album, though it is uneven, and doesn't reach the heights of 'Climbing' and Nantucket Sleighride. I like Avalange probably a bit better, than Flowers Of Evil, which is too rock'n rolly for me. "Sister Justice", "You Better Believe It", and the heavy version of "Satisfaction" are notable stuff on Avalange.

Mmmhhh!!!, that Rock'n Rolly side was always there, in Avanlanche as well (Whole Lotta Shaklin')
My fave tracks on that album are Alisan and Thumbsucker

Personally, I prefer Avalanche to WB&L

[grego]

What I liked about this band, is the balance between the West animal hoarse and Pappalardi's lyrical baritone. Avalange is their last classic album - all the rest comes like Leslie West vision. Pappalardi's death was a grievous loss for them - Go For Your Life is a failure,IMO. Their tibute to Bob Dylan, with Ozzy guesting on title track, is not bad.

[grego]

I think Pappalardi's contribution to Mountain was as important, as Hensley's to Uriah Heep.

[ronmac]

I'd recommend their Avalange album, though it is uneven, and doesn't reach the heights of 'Climbing' and Nantucket Sleighride. I like Avalange probably a bit better, than Flowers Of Evil, which is too rock'n rolly for me. "Sister Justice", "You Better Believe It", and the heavy version of "Satisfaction" are notable stuff on Avalange.

Avalanche.

[JeffCarney]

Well, I just got the first WBL record the other day and have listened to it a few times. It's more of a blues-based record than a song based record, the riffs aren't as plentiful, and Jack Bruce overplays on a lot of it. Pappalardi's production is better than Glyn Johns' to these ears. The absence of keyboards hurts it, too. To me, it's not nearly as good as classic Mountain. It's OK, but forgettable.

Two songs on Why Dontcha will prevent me from ever understanding how any rock fan could dismiss it:

1. "Out Into The Fields": Jack Bruce here is not to be believed. All those choir bits? That's all Jack Bruce. The melodies on this track are as deep and haunting as anything I've ever heard by him. A complete and total masterpiece.

2. "Love Is Worth The Blues": Good GAWD listen to that band. Leslie's voice here is behemoth! The power of this band was really something and it's all wrapped up nicely in this track.

Plenty of other good stuff and nothing "bad" on the album, but those tracks elevate it to "classic" status for me.

[Calabasas_Trafalgar]

I think Pappalardi's contribution to Mountain was as important, as Hensley's to Uriah Heep.

I would say even more so, but in fairness to Hensley, Pappalardi didn't have to contend with a squack-box like David Byron. Almost all my favorite Mountain songs were the ones Felix sings on.

[Vic2012]

Avalanche.

Thanks . I was wondering when someone was gonna bring that up.

[Vic2012]

I was reading some info on Wiki about the Mountain albums and kinda got a chuckle from some of these song titles:

From Go For Your Life:
Side one

"Hard Times" 4:20
"Spark" - 3:36
"She Loves Her Rock (And She Loves It Hard)" - 3:39
"Bardot Damage" - 3:59

Side two

"Shimmy on the Footlights" - 4:13
"I Love Young Girls" - 3:06
"Makin' It in Your Car" - 2:59
"Babe in the Woods" - 4:35
"Little Bit of Insanity" - 2:26

I can just see Progeezer's head exploding as he reads those song titles....

[grego]

Avalanche.

Correct)

[Zeuhlmate]

I allways noticed that Leslies sound on the first album Mountain was a bit thin compared to the sound on the following albums, and as many other guitarists, I allways suspected him having a fuzzpedal somewhere, allthough it isnt there on the live footage you see from the period.

Here is the evidence - no pedals, just his guitar and a P.A. amplifier. A lot of the sound is in the fingers, but listen to this dude who plays the same equipment:




“Mountain's first gig was at Fillmore West in 1969” remembers Leslie
West. “I had been using Marshall amps, and that’s what I expected to
find when I opened a bunch of cartons that had arrived from the airport,
but instead I got a Sunn—and it wasn’t even a guitar amp. The cartons
contained a Sunn Coliseum P.A. head and four 4x12 cabinets, and I
thought, ‘There’s no way I can get a good tone out of this thing.’ But
the head had four microphone inputs and a master volume control, and
when I plugged in and turned it up I got this amazing tone, which became
my sound. And remember, this was years before amps had master volume
controls. The head had huge transformers and gigantic KT88 tubes, and
the cabinets were loaded with Eminence speakers, which never hurt your
ears even with the treble all the way up. That’s the amp I used on Mountain Climbing, which included ‘Mississippi Queen.’”

https://www.guitarplayer.com/players...ppi-queen-tone

Why no other guitar amp brand have tried to copy these Sunn Coliseum P.A. heads is beyond me...

[ronmac]

^^ Cool. Nice to revive this thread. I wish Leslie would hit the road.

[progeezer]

I wish Leslie would hit the road.

So do I, but in a different way.

I've told the story before (sorry to those hearing it again) about a drunk fatass guitar player in the NYC band the Vagrants sloppily hitting on my (then) wife while I was sitting with her in a Queens restaurant. It took his not as drunk bandmates to pull him away before he probably kicked my skinny (then) ass after I hit him the first time.

And no, I won't forgive & forget, even after 50 years.

[Guitarplyrjvb]

So do I, but in a different way.

I've told the story before (sorry to those hearing it again) about a drunk fatass guitar player in the NYC band the Vagrants sloppily hitting on my (then) wife while I was sitting with her in a Queens restaurant. It took his not as drunk bandmates to pull him away before he probably kicked my skinny (then) ass after I hit him the first time.

And no, I won't forgive & forget, even after 50 years.

I have a similar story about Carmine Appice at a Rick Derringer concert at the Bayou in Georgetown, DC. He'd send roadies out to arrange for Carmine's post-show squeeze not caring a fig that I was standing right there. Asshole! I've heard that Leslie West is a dick.

[ronmac]

Yeah, Leslie's a little rough around the edges. I don't care. He's my favorite guitarist. A lot of my favorite musicians were dicks.

[Dave (in MA)]

I remember seeing a reunited Mountain on the old Dennis Miller show about 25 years ago, and as they were going out to a commercial, West threw a beer bottle at Richie Scarlet, who was the bass player at the time.

[Guitarplyrjvb]

Yeah, Leslie's a little rough around the edges. I don't care. He's my favorite guitarist. A lot of my favorite musicians were dicks.

I should say "was" a dick. I have no idea whether he has mellowed with age. Didn't he have a limb amputated due to diabetes? That's got to imbue a man with humility.

[SteveSly]

I have a similar story about Carmine Appice at a Rick Derringer concert at the Bayou in Georgetown, DC. He'd send roadies out to arrange for Carmine's post-show squeeze not caring a fig that I was standing right there. Asshole! I've heard that Leslie West is a dick.

I read Appice's autobiography a while back and he freely admits that he used to do stuff like that. The guy came off as a bit of a tool for sure in the book.

[Trane]

Yeah, Leslie's a little rough around the edges. I don't care. He's my favorite guitarist. A lot of my favorite musicians were dicks.

can it get worse than Ritchie Dickmore??

Worse part is he taught Glen Hughes everything he knows in dickery in +/- a year contact in Purple Most likely Coverdale pick up quite a bit of his own behanusviour from the master as well. .

[Zeuhlmate]

Lots of artist go through a 'I'm larger than life' phase.
It looks ugly and even uglier when they dont find their feet.
Have seen live interviews from his later days, and there he seems like a friendly guy.

Unfortunately Leslie didn't develop his guitarplaying after Mountain.
Nobody else had this gutsy sound where all his 300 pounds where behind every note he played.

[arabicadabra]

If the song Nantucket Sleighride isn't prog, what is?

LOVE Mountain, LOVE Leslie West's playing, LOVE Felix's vocal on Theme For An Imaginary Western. As brief as their time was, they are no one hit wonder.

[ronmac]

Unfortunately Leslie didn't develop his guitarplaying after Mountain.

I don't understand this statement. What didn't he develop? Was he supposed to change his style? Was he supposed to get faster?

[Zeuhlmate]

I don't understand this statement. What didn't he develop? Was he supposed to change his style? Was he supposed to get faster?

Nothing changed, except his sound, balls and skills regarding compositions which IMO got more 'tedious'. Speed was never his thing, and who cares.
Look at, lets say Jack Bruce, who develpoed new vocabularies, used jazz, latin, techno, classical, etc. got into new genres (but still sounded like JB), Leslie just got older and less innovative.
Taste most probably differs, but except Why Dontcha, that had a few good tracks (thanks to JB), and Mountain Live: The Road Goes Ever On I stopped finding anything half as good as the original albums.

[ronmac]

Nothing changed, except his sound, balls and skills regarding compositions which IMO got more 'tedious'. Speed was never his thing, and who cares.
Look at, lets say Jack Bruce, who develpoed new vocabularies, used jazz, latin, techno, classical, etc. got into new genres (but still sounded like JB), Leslie just got older and less innovative.
Taste most probably differs, but except Why Dontcha, that had a few good tracks (thanks to JB), and Mountain Live: The Road Goes Ever On I stopped finding anything half as good as the original albums.

Well, yeah, I suppose you can make that argument. But, perhaps, your expectations simply didn't align with his goals. I'm not trying to be snide. But, let's face it, he seemed to be enjoying what he was doing and made a living at it. Would it have been nice to hear another "Nantucket Sleighride" come out of him? Sure. Not everyone can continue to do it, though.

[Jerjo]

Ron, I thought your personal temple was dedicated to Johnny Winter?

[ronmac]

Ron, I thought your personal temple was dedicated to Johnny Winter?

. I have no temples. If I did, it would be John Lennon. But, yeah, Johnny is right up there with Hendrix, West, Albrighton and Zappa, to name a few who immediately come to mind. those are probably my top five.