Mountain was an American hard rock band from Long Island, New York. Formed in July 1969, the group originally consisted of guitarist and lead vocalist Leslie West, bassist and second vocalist Felix Pappalardi, drummer Norman "N. D." Smart and keyboardist Steve Knight. Pappalardi and Smart had performed on West's debut album Mountain earlier in the year (which was also produced by the bassist), and subsequently added Knight to complete the initial lineup of the band of the same name. Later in the year, Smart departed and was replaced by Canadian drummer Laurence "Corky" Laing. The group released three commercially successful albums – Climbing! in 1970, and Nantucket Sleighride and Flowers of Evil in 1971 – before breaking up in early 1972 due to increasing tensions between band members.
By mid-1973, West and Pappalardi had reformed Mountain with new members Allan Schwartzberg (drums) and Bob Mann (rhythm guitar, keyboards), who together released the live album Twin Peaks from their only concert tour. Laing later returned to the group and Mann was replaced by David Perry, with the new lineup's first studio effort Avalanche released the following July. Mountain broke up for a second time after another tour, with its final show taking place on December 31, 1974. West subsequently embarked on a solo career, before reforming Mountain for a third time in 1981 with Laing on drums and Miller Anderson on bass. On April 17, 1983, founding member Pappalardi was killed by his wife and musical collaborator Gail Collins Pappalardi, in what was deemed to be an accidental shooting.
Mountain released Go for Your Life in 1985, which featured new bassist Mark Clarke. Shortly after its release and promotion, the group quietly disbanded again. West and Laing returned as Mountain in 1992, with new bassist Richie Scarlet. After changing personnel again by replacing Scarlet with Randy Coven and later Noel Redding, the group released its sixth studio album Man's World in 1996 with a returning Clarke on bass. After another breakup in 1998, Mountain returned in 2001 to record Mystic Fire, which featured session bassist Chuck Hearne alongside West and Laing. For the subsequent touring cycle, Scarlet returned to the band. James "Rev" Jones took over in 2008, until 2010 when the band quietly dispanded.
Corky Laing formed a new project, Corky Laing Plays Mountain, in 2015. This project included bassist/vocalist Joe Venti and guitarist/vocalist Phil Baker in 2015. For their 2016 United States tour, Laing and Venti were joined by Richie Scarlet, now on lead guitar, and Ken Sidotti on keyboards. They performed Mountain music in addition to songs by West, Bruce and Laing and Cream. And in 2017, Mark Mikel was playing bass with Chris Shutters and Richie Scarlet on guitar in the lineup. Mikel continued until touring was ceased in 2020 due to COVID-19.
West died of cardiac arrest on December 23, 2020.
In 2021 Corky Laing's Mountain resumed touring with a lineup of Laing (drums, vocals), Joe Venti (bass, vocals) and Richie Scarlet (guitar, keyboards).
Members
Mountain ImageNameYears activeInstrumentsRelease contributionsLeslie Westall Mountain releasesFelix Pappalardiall Mountain releases from Climbing! (1970) to Avalanche (1974)Steve Knight1969–1972 keyboardsall Mountain releases from Climbing! (1970) to Live: The Road Goes Ever On (1972)Norman "N. D." Smart1969drumsLive: The Road Goes Ever On (1972)Corky Laingall Mountain releases, except Twin Peaks (1974)Bob Mann1973Twin Peaks (1974)Allan SchwartzbergdrumsDavid Perry1973–1974 Avalanche (1974)Miller Anderson1981–1984Go for Your Life (1985) – one track onlyMark ClarkeRichie ScarletRandy Coven1993–1994 noneNoel Redding1994–1995 Over the Top (1995) – two tracks onlyJames "Rev" Jones2008–2010none
Corky Laing's Mountain ImageNameYears activeInstrumentsCorky Laing 2015–presentJoe Venti Phil BakerRichie ScarletKen Sidotti keyboards Mark Mikel 2017–2021Chris Shutters2017–2019Mark Clarke 2022 Brent Ek
Timelines Mountain
Corky Laing's Mountain
Lineups
Mountain PeriodMembersStudio and live albumsMid – late 1969Leslie West – guitar, vocals Felix Pappalardi – bass, keyboards, vocals N. D. Smart – drums Steve Knight – keyboardsLive: The Road Goes Ever On (1972)Late 1969 – early 1972Leslie West – guitar, vocals Felix Pappalardi – bass, keyboards, vocals Corky Laing – drums, percussion Steve Knight – keyboardsClimbing! (1970) Nantucket Sleighride (1971) Flowers of Evil (1971) Live: The Road Goes Ever On (1972)Band inactive early 1972 – mid 1973Mid – late 1973Leslie West – guitar, vocals Felix Pappalardi – bass, vocals Bob Mann – guitar, keyboards Allan Schwartzberg – drumsTwin Peaks (1974)Late 1973 – late 1974Leslie West – guitar, vocals Felix Pappalardi – bass, keyboards, vocals David Perry – guitar, backing vocals Corky Laing – drums, percussionAvalanche (1974)Band inactive late 1974 – 19811981–1984Leslie West – guitar, vocals Miller Anderson – bass, vocals Corky Laing – drums, percussionnone1984–1985Leslie West – guitar, vocals Mark Clarke – bass, vocals Corky Laing – drums, percussionGo for Your Life (1985) Eruption (2004)Band inactive late 1985 – 19921992–1993Leslie West – guitar, vocals Richie Scarlet – bass, vocals Corky Laing – drums, percussion, vocalsnone1993–1994Leslie West – guitar, vocals Randy Coven – bass, vocals Corky Laing – drums, percussion, vocals1994–1995Leslie West – guitar, vocals Noel Redding – bass, vocals Corky Laing – drums, percussion, vocalsOver the Top new tracks (1995)1995–1998Leslie West – guitar, vocals Mark Clarke – bass, vocals Corky Laing – drums, percussion, vocalsMan's World (1996)Band inactive late 1998 – 20012001–2002Leslie West – guitar, vocals Corky Laing – drums, percussion, vocalsMystic Fire (2002)April 2002 – August 2008Leslie West – guitar, vocals Richie Scarlet – bass, vocals Corky Laing – drums, percussion, vocalsEruption (2004) Live in Texas 2005 (2006) Masters of War (2007)August 2008 – December 2010Leslie West – guitar, vocals Rev Jones – bass, vocals Corky Laing – drums, percussion, vocalsnone
Corky Laing's Mountain
PeriodMembersStudio and live albumsNovember 2015 – May 2016 Phil Baker – guitar, vocals Joe Venti – bass, vocals Corky Laing – drums, vocalsJune – December 2016 Richie Scarlet – guitar Joe Venti – bass, vocals Corky Laing – drums, vocals Ken Sidotti – keyboardsJanuary 2017 – July 2017 Richie Scarlet – guitar Chris Shutters – guitar, vocals Mark Mikel – bass, vocals, keyboards Corky Laing – drums, vocalsDecember 2017 – November 2018 Chris Shutters – guitar, vocals Mark Mikel – bass, vocals, keyboards Corky Laing – drums, vocalsMay – June 2019 Rickie Scarlet – guitar Mark Mikel – bass, vocals, keyboards Corky Laing – drums, vocalsJune 2019 Phil Baker – guitar Mark Mikel – bass, vocals, keyboards Corky Laing – drums, vocalsAugust – October 2019 Richie Scarlet – guitar Mark Mikel – bass, vocals, keyboards Corky Laing – drums, vocalsOctober – November 2019 Phil Baker – guitar Mark Mikel – bass, vocals, keyboards Corky Laing – drums, vocalsAugust 2021 Richie Scarlet – guitar Mark Mikel – bass, vocals, keyboards Corky Laing – drums, vocalsOctober 2021 – October 2022 Richie Scarlet – guitar Joe Venti – bass, vocals Corky Laing – drums, vocalsOctober 2022 Richie Scarlet – guitar Mark Clarke – bass, vocals Corky Laing – drums, vocals Ken Sidotti – keyboardsOctober – November 2022 Richie Scarlet – guitar Brent Ek – bass, vocals Corky Laing – drums, vocalsJanuary – February 2023 Richie Scarlet – guitar Joe Venti – bass, vocals Corky Laing – drums, vocalsSeptember 2023 Phil Baker – guitar Brent Ek – bass, vocals Corky Laing – drums, vocals
References