| Climbing! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 7, 1970 (1970-03-07) | |||
| Recorded | 1969–1970 | |||
| Studio | Record Plant, New York City | |||
| Genre |
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| Length | 32:38 | |||
| Label | Windfall | |||
| Producer | Felix Pappalardi | |||
| Mountain chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Climbing! | ||||
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Climbing! (also known as Mountain Climbing!) is the debut studio album by American hard rock band Mountain. It was released on March 7, 1970, by Windfall Records.
In 1969, Leslie West recorded his debut solo album, titled Mountain, with Felix Pappalardi on bass and drummer Norman Smart.[1] 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.
Windfall Records released Climbing! on March 7, 1970,[2] and it reached number 17 on the American Billboard Top Albums chart.[1] It 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.[3] Both were sung by West, while Pappalardi supplied the vocal on another radio favorite, "Theme for an Imaginary Western".[1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [3] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | C+[4] |
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:
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 ragatoflamenco 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.[4]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Vocal(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mississippi Queen" | Leslie West, Corky Laing, Felix Pappalardi, David Rea | West | 2:31 |
| 2. | "Theme for an Imaginary Western" | Pete Brown, Jack Bruce | Pappalardi | 5:06 |
| 3. | "Never in My Life" | West, Laing, Pappalardi, Gail Collins | West | 3:51 |
| 4. | "Silver Paper" | West, Collins, Laing, Pappalardi, Steve Knight, George Gardos | Pappalardi, West | 3:19 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Vocal(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "For Yasgur's Farm" | Collins, Gardos, Laing, Pappalardi, Rea, Gary Ship | Pappalardi, West | 3:23 |
| 2. | "To My Friend" | West | Instrumental | 3:38 |
| 3. | "The Laird" | Collins, Pappalardi | Pappalardi | 4:39 |
| 4. | "Sittin' on a Rainbow" | West, Collins, Laing | West | 2:23 |
| 5. | "Boys in the Band" | Collins, Pappalardi | Pappalardi, West | 3:33 |
| Total length: | 32:38 | |||
On the 2003 Legacy Recordings CD, a live version of "For Yasgur's Farm" was added as a bonus track.
Band
Additional personnel
| Chart (1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[5] | 19 |
| USBillboard 200[6] | 17 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United States (RIAA)[7] | Gold | 500,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
