Leslie West–Mountain (Repertoire)

Guitarist and vocalist Leslie West is best known for forming the blues rock tinged hard band Mountain in 1969. Named after his large size, Mountain had a string of acclaimed albums, with tracks ‘Mississippi Queen’ and ‘Nantucket Sleighride’ getting a lot of airplay. And rightfully so. A number of solo albums, a Mountain reformation or two and some collaborations would follow, but on the early work alone this man has a place in hard rock history. I remember seeing a reformed ‘Mountain’ at Knebworth 1985 (supporting Deep Purple) and although the album they were promoting was far from the band’s strongest, even at the tender age of 15 it was easy to appreciate the quality of both the performance and catalogue.

Although Mountain released their debut Climbing in 1970, this 1969 debut solo album is widely regarded as the first Mountain album due to both its name and that it featured longtime Mountain bassist Felix Pappalardi.

Opener ‘Blood Of The Sun’ is a solid hard rock affair with some blues and a hint of fuzziness, a template of things to come. ‘Long Red’ has a light keyboard intro leading to a decent melodic track. The vocals are bright and there’s a whimsical feel to the hard rock. The guitar stands out on ‘Better Watch Out’, an uplifting track. In contrast ‘Blind Man’ nods to Hendrix. The guitar playing is exemplary, the rhythm section interacting well.

Aside the tracks with additional keyboards from Norman Landsberg, and some the odd country touch to the hard rock (‘Storyteller Man’ for example), there is a strong power trio feel. And check out ‘Southbound Train’ for a storming number. Seriously rocking and rolling.

It’s been packaged before but this digipak with extensive sleevenotes is really well worth checking out. 8/10

Joe Geesin