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Friday Full-Length: Mountain, Climbing!

Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 20th, 2015 by JJ Koczan

Mountain, Climbing! (1970)

The guitar playing is so paramount to Mountain‘s mega-classic 1970 debut, Climbing!, that I think sometimes Leslie West‘s string prowess trumps everything else, but while stellar, it’s far from all the record has to offer. Both West and bassist Felix Pappalardi shine as vocalists, and in addition to the cowbell overdose on “Mississippi Queen” and “Never in My Life,” Corky Laing‘s drums swing so heavy throughout that sometimes it seems a wonder they can move at all, let alone groove as voraciously as they do. From the organ-laced “Theme for an Imaginary Western” to the later acoustic semi-psychedelics of “The Laird,” Climbing! has versatility, poise and sonic and emotional heft. It is no coincidence that it came out in 1970 — a full 45 years ago as of this March — and so many groups went on to beef up their sound circa ’71 and ’72.

I won’t take away from the opener’s landmark status or the rhythm and blues at root in “Sittin’ on a Rainbow,” the subtle proto-prog of “Boys in the Band,” but I think for me the highlight of the album is “Silver Paper,” which gives a decidedly Northern take on a feel that Lynyrd Skynyrd would soon define exclusively as Southern rock, as it seems to draw together all sides of the record, Pappalardi and West trading off vocals, Laing doing much with a relatively straightforward drum progression, Steve Knight‘s hand bells and organ fleshing out the sound. That’s just as likely to change with any given mood though, Mountain positively nailing it as few acts ever have on their first record. Naturally that has its ups and downs as regards the entirety of a career, since while they called it Climbing!, they’d never — at least commercially, if not creatively — reach these heights again, though neither are their subsequent works or members’ contributions to outfits like West, Bruce and Laing (with Cream‘s Jack Bruce, who also wrote “Theme for an Imaginary Western”). An influence as enduring as Mountain has had doesn’t come from just one record, even a monster like this one.

Something of a given in the sphere of heavy rock, it’s an oversight that I haven’t closed out a week with Climbing! before. Actually, I thought I had until I went back and couldn’t find it, so there you go. I don’t imagine that this will be the first time hearing it for many who read this, but as an excuse to revisit it on a Friday afternoon — maybe you’re thinking about a kickass weekend coming up or even just not being at work for a couple days — I thought we could all do a lot worse.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

I didn’t get the chance to say it last week, but rest in peace Phil “Philthy Animal” Taylor. The former drummer of Motörhead‘s passing reminds us of the power that band wields and the generations-spanning effect they have had on rock and roll and heavy musics of all stripes. The work remains but Taylor will be missed.

So, this post, or at least the above portion of it, was originally slated to go up last Friday evening, written in Philadelphia, to which I had flown from my work trip in Chicago on Thursday night. Obviously the attack in Paris superseded that and just about everything else. What a shitshow. Particularly as an American who was conscious when his country passed the Patriot Act late in Oct. 2001, it’s sad to see Europe closing its borders to refugees and to its neighbors, ending the Schengen Agreement, but panic is panic regardless of where it’s born. Now I’m hearing about hostages in Mali. Off to war, forever and always.

What were we talking about? Oh yeah, rock and roll.

Next week is a holiday here in the States, and I’ll be traveling to Connecticut and to New Jersey to see family, so I’m not sure how much posting I’ll be doing Thursday and Friday, but I’ll have a podcast up probably Wednesday in case I’m not the only one hitting the road. Monday and Tuesday I’ve also got reviews and full-album streams slated for Moon Curse and Tombstones, so there will be plenty to listen to one way or another.

Speaking of, if you didn’t check out the Kungens Män that went up today, the jams are right on and ripe for digging in. I was into it enough to chase down hosting it, so yeah.

I meant to mention it last week, but at this point I’m well into planning out the next Quarterly Review as well. I’ve got about six records slated for each of the five days when it will take place. I’m thinking maybe the week after Xmas for it, though that has it ending on New Year’s Day, and I don’t imagine too many people will really be interested in reading reviews. Maybe the first week in January? I’ll figure it out.

We’re almost getting on year-end list time too, and the readers poll. Dec. 1 is a Tuesday, so I’ll launch that then (with Slevin‘s always-appreciated assistance), and hopefully everyone will have the chance to chime in. I always get nervous with that kind of thing that nobody’s going to bother. Please bother.

Alright. I think that should do it.

Since I likely won’t get the chance to say so before the day actually comes, a very happy Thanksgiving if you’re here in the US. It’s based on a genocidal lie, but still nice to get everyone together. All the best to you and yours wherever you might be though. I hope you have a great and safe weekend, and please check out the forum and radio stream.

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