Mountain - The Ritz, New York 1985 (2024)

Formed in Long Island, New York 1969, Mountain named themselves after vocalist-guitarist Leslie West's 1969 solo album. The band originally consisted of vocalist-guitarist Leslie West, bassist-vocalist Felix Pappalardi, keyboardist Steve Knight, and drummer N. D. Smart. Soon after their appearance at Woodstock, Smart was replaced by Canadian Laurence "Corky" Laing who played on Climbing! (1970) which reached No. 21 in the Billboard Hot 100 and featured what then became the band's signature song, "Mississippi Queen".

Their follow up album Nantucket Sleighride (1971) reached no.16 but failed to yield a hit single, despite the theme tune being used on UK TV's Weekend World and was subsequently covered by British Rockers Quartz.

By 1972 a combination of drug abuse within the band and Pappalardi's road weariness and burgeoning hearing impairment meant they broke up shortly after their UK tour.

This performance at the Ritz, NYC on June 5th, 1985 for broadcast by WNEW-FM, magnificently captures the raw intensity of Mountain live with Leslie West - guitar, vocals, Mark Clarke - bass, vocals and Corky Laing - drums, percussion, it features the tracks Hard Times and Spark from their recently released Go For Your Life album.

Mountain's music, at its finest, is an organic and feral experience, they are one of many bands commonly credited with influencing the development of heavy metal music.

Crank this album up and decide for yourselves!