Woodstock Day 10: Mountain

Mountain, a blues-rock band heavily influenced by Cream, played on August 16th at 9 pm. Their set at Woodstock was their fourth gig EVER! How cool is that?! Their line-up consisted of Leslie West on vocals and guitar, Felix Pappalardi on bass and back-up vocals, Norman D. Smart II on drums, and Steve Knight on keyboard. However, almost immediately after Woodstock, Smart was replaced by their roadie Corky Laing who ended up being a lot better than Smart (Fun fact: Laing is Canadian).

Though the band was well-recieved, Mountain's performance was excluded from 1970's film Woodstock. However, the recordings of "Blood of the Sun" and "Theme for an Imaginary Western" were included on the second volume of Woodstock performances (Woodstock II [1970]). In 1970, Mountain released Climbing! which contained "Mississippi Queen" (featured in the cult film Vanishing Point in 1971), one of the band's greatest hits which peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Mountain at Woodstock

After Woodstock, Mountain was established as a premiere 60s rock band. But the quintessential Mountain era called it quits in 1972. Laing and West have been performing since with a rotating door of additional members. The band is still active today and has quite a number of reunions. Check out "Mississippi Queen" - it's important to expand your musical palette.

For news and tour dates and history: www.mountainrockband.com
Twitter: @lwestmountain