Climbing!
{{Short description|1970 studio album by Mountain}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Climbing!
| type = studio
| artist = Mountain
| cover = Mountainclimbing1970.jpg
| alt =
| released = {{Start date|1970|03|07}}
| recorded = 1969–1970
| studio = Record Plant, New York City
| genre = Rock{{cite web|url=https://www.musicbox-online.com/mt-climb.html|title=Mountain - Climbing! Mountain - Nantucket Sleighride|last=Metzger|first=John|date= June 2003|access-date=18 February 2025}}
| length = 32:38
| label = Windfall
| producer = Felix Pappalardi
| next_title = Nantucket Sleighride
| next_year = 1971
| misc = {{Singles
| name = Climbing!
| type = studio
| single1 = Mississippi Queen
| single1date = February 1970
| single2 = For Yasgur's Farm
| single2date = September 1970
}}
}}
Climbing! (also known as Mountain Climbing!) is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Mountain. The album was released on March 7, 1970, by Windfall Records.
{{Cite book |last=Harkins |first=Thomas E. |title=Woodstock FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Fabled |publisher=Backbeat Books |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-61713-666-5 |location=Lanham, Maryland |page=134}}{{Cite web |last=Rivadavia |first=Eduardo |date=March 7, 2016 |title=How Mountain’s First Album Deftly Straddled Two Decades |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/mountain-band-climbing/ |website=Ultimate Classic Rock}} It peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard 200 chart,{{Cite web |date=May 2, 1970 |title=Billboard 200 - Week of May 2, 1970 |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1970-05-02/ |website=Billboard}} and spent 39 weeks on the chart.{{Cite web |date=December 5, 1970 |title=Billboard 200 - Week of December 5, 1970 |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1970-12-05/ |website=Billboard}}
The album included the group's best-known song, "Mississippi Queen", which became a hit, and "Never in My Life", which was regularly aired on contemporary FM radio. Both were sung by West, while Pappalardi supplied the vocal on another radio favorite, "Theme for an Imaginary Western".{{Cite web |last=Eder |first=Bruce |title=Mountain{{snd}}Biography |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mountain-mn0000503913/biography |access-date=May 10, 2021 |website=AllMusic}}
The album was recorded at the Record Plant in New York City. Felix Pappalardi produced the album, while Bob d'Orleans engineered it.{{Cite magazine |date=March 7, 1970 |title=Bob d'Orleans To Record Plant |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/70/RW-1970-03-07.pdf |magazine=Record World |page=39 |via=World Radio History}}
Background
In 1969, Leslie West recorded his debut solo album, titled Mountain, with Felix Pappalardi on bass and drummer Norman Smart. Smart was replaced by Corky Laing on drums and percussion, and keyboardist Steve Knight was added to form the classic Mountain lineup, with Pappalardi as producer.
Release
Windfall Records released Climbing! on March 7, 1970. The album debuted at No. 186,{{Cite web |date=March 14, 1970 |title=Billboard 200 - Week of March 14, 1970 |url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/billboard-200/1970-03-14/ |website=Billboard}} and peaked at No. 17 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA){{Cite magazine |date=October 10, 1970 |title=Record World - October 10, 1970 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/70/RW-1970-10-10.pdf |magazine=Record World |page=37 |via=World Radio History}} on August 28, 1970.{{Cite web |title=Gold & Platinum - RIAA |url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&ar=Mountain&ti=Climbing&lab=&genre=&format=&date_option=release&from=&to=&award=&type=&category=&adv=SEARCH#search_section |website=RIAA}}
"Mississippi Queen" was the band's debut single, released in February 1970.{{Cite magazine |date=February 21, 1970 |title=Record World Single Reviews |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/70/RW-1970-02-21.pdf |magazine=Record World |page=10 |via=World Radio History}} The single peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.{{cite web |title=Mountain - Awards |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mountain-mn0000503913/awards |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130806155217/https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mountain-mn0000503913/awards |archive-date=August 6, 2013 |access-date=November 5, 2022 |publisher=AllMusic}} "For Yasgur's Farm" was released as a single in September 1970.{{Cite magazine |date=September 5, 1970 |title=Record World Single Reviews |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/70/RW-1970-09-05.pdf |magazine=Record World |page=8 |via=World Radio History}} It peaked at No. 107 on the Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.{{Cite web |title=US Hot 100 Bubbling Under |url=https://top40weekly.com/bubbling-under/ |website=Top40weekly}}
The album artwork was painted by Gail Collins.{{Cite web |last=Kielty |first=Martin |date=January 12, 2021 |title=50 Years Ago: Mountain Take a ‘Nantucket Sleighride’ |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/mountain-nantucket-sleighride/ |website=Ultimate Classic Rock}}
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| width = 27em
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}} {{Cite web| url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/climbing%21-mw0000613865 | last = Greenwald| first = Matthew| title = Mountain: Climbing!{{snd}}Review| website = AllMusic| access-date = May 10, 2021}}
| rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide
| rev2Score = C+{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: M|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=M&bk=70|accessdate=March 8, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}
| rev3 = Record World
| rev3score = {{Rating|4|4}}[https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/70/Record-World-1970-02-28.pdf Record World Review]
| rev4 = ''[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Seventies Music
]]''
| rev4score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Seventies Music |date=1997 |publisher=Virgin |page=297}}
| rev5 = The Music Box
| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}[https://www.musicbox-online.com/mt-climb.html Music Box review]
| rev6 = Daily Vault
| rev6score = A[https://dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=2386 Daily Vault review]
}}
Matthew Greenwald, in a review for AllMusic, gave the album four and a half out of five stars. In Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote:
{{blockquote|We all know they're the original Cremora—what this makes clearer is that they're Jack Bruce's third of the jar. On "For Yasgur's Farm" Felix Pappalardi emulates JB's self-dramatizing vocal propriety as well as his bass lines, but when Leslie West runs an acoustic guitar solo from raga to flamenco without ever touching the blues you know he's not doing an Eric Clapton tribute. Can't fit the humongous "Mississippi Queen" into this theory, but I can tell you who wrote "Theme for an Imaginary Western": Jack Bruce and Pete Brown.}}
Track listing
{{Track listing
| headline = Side one
| extra_column = Vocal(s)
| title1 = Mississippi Queen
| writer1 = Leslie West, Corky Laing, Felix Pappalardi, David Rea
| extra1 = West
| length1 = 2:31
| title2 = Theme for an Imaginary Western
| writer2 = Pete Brown, Jack Bruce
| extra2 = Pappalardi
| length2 = 5:06
| title3 = Never in My Life
| writer3 = West, Laing, Pappalardi, Gail Collins
| extra3 = West
| length3 = 3:51
| title4 = Silver Paper
| writer4 = West, Collins, Laing, Pappalardi, Steve Knight, George Gardos
| extra4 = Pappalardi, West
| length4 = 3:19
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = Side two
| extra_column = Vocal(s)
| title1 = For Yasgur's Farm
| writer1 = Collins, Gardos, Laing, Pappalardi, Rea, Gary Ship
| extra1 = Pappalardi, West
| length1 = 3:23
| title2 = To My Friend
| writer2 = West
| extra2 = instrumental
| length2 = 3:38
| title3 = The Laird
| writer3 = Collins, Pappalardi
| extra3 = Pappalardi
| length3 = 4:39
| title4 = Sittin' on a Rainbow
| writer4 = West, Collins, Laing
| extra4 = West
| length4 = 2:23
| title5 = Boys in the Band
| writer5 = Collins, Pappalardi
| length5 = 3:33
| extra5 = Pappalardi, West
| total_length = 32:38
}}
On the 2003 Legacy Recordings CD, a live version of "For Yasgur's Farm" was added as a bonus track.
Personnel
Band
- Leslie West – guitars on all tracks, vocals
- Felix Pappalardi – bass guitar on all tracks except 6 and 7; piano on tracks 1, 2 and 9; rhythm guitar on track 7, vocals; production
- Steve Knight – organ on tracks 2, 3, 4 and 5; Mellotron on tracks 2 and 9; handbells on track 4
- Corky Laing – drums on all tracks except 6 and 7; percussion on tracks 7 and 9
Additional personnel
- Bud Prager – executive production
- Bob d'Orleans – engineering
- Lillian Douma – engineering assistance
- Beverly Weinstein – art direction
- Gail Collins – cover artwork, photography
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (1970)
! scope="col"| Peak |
|---|
| {{album chart|Canada|19|chartid=5373|artist=Mountain|album=Climbing!|rowheader=true|access-date=6 February 2021}} |
| {{album chart|Billboard200|17|artist=Mountain|rowheader=true|access-date=6 February 2021}} |
Certifications
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|artist=Mountain|title=Climbing|award=Gold|relyear=1970|certyear=1970}}
{{Certification Table Bottom | nosales=true}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Discogs master|49321}}
{{Mountain (band)}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Mountain (band) albums
Category:Windfall Records albums