American hard rock band Mountain centered around guitarist Leslie West and bassist Felix Pappalardi, who split lead vocal and songwriting duties during the band’s heyday, joined in the group’s classic lineup by drummer Corky Laing and keyboard player Steve Knight.

In ‘Don’t Look Back: The Recordings 1969-1974’ Cherry Red Records, UK, has compiled everything released by Mountain in its original lifespan, supplemented by the group’s performance at the Woodstock Music And Arts Festival and Leslie West’s solo album, both from 1969, a total of sixty nine tracks spread across seven discs on their Esoteric Recordings imprint.

Disc one contains Leslie West’s July, 1969 album ‘Mountain’ which features the guitarist/vocalist joined by producer/bassist Pappalardi, keyboard player Norman Landsberg and drummer N.D. Smart. Unlike Mountain’s recordings, West handles all the lead vocals. The long player opens with “Blood Of The Sun,” a driving rocker which was a staple of the band’s live repertoire, with West delivering a typical blues shout vocal, heavy guitar riffing and a blazing solo. “Long Red” is melodic with restrained guitar and vocals. “Better Watch Out” rocks with snarling slide guitar. “Dreams Of Milk & Honey” showcases West’s note picking, lead line and solos. A raucous cover of The Band’s “This Wheel’s On Fire” has a threatening guitar riff by West. The album closes with the gentle “Because You Are My Friend” with West performing solo, his gentle vocals and acoustic guitar complimenting each other.

Disc two comprises Mountain’s August 16, 1969 performance at Woodstock, with West, Pappalardi and Smart joined by keyboard player Steve Knight, who appeared on the band’s recordings of the next two years. The group’s set opens with West’s snarling guitar leading the way through “Blood Of The Sun.” A seven and a half minute cover of T-Bone Walker’s “Stormy Monday” features West soloing at will. Pappalardi’s vocal highlights a cover of the Jack Bruce/Pete Brown classic “Theme From An Imaginary Western” which like several other tunes from the gig, only Mountain’s fourth, was recorded for the band’s debut album. “Long Red” is a blues rocker with West offering heavy guitar and husky vocals. “What Am I But You And The Sun,” later retitled “For Yasgur’s Farm,” finds Leslie and Felix sharing lead vocals. The hard edged rocker “Waiting To Take You Away” showcases a tasty lead line and solos from West, while an extended, sixteen and a half minute “Dreams Of Milk & Honey” allows the band to stretch out, again featuring hot lead guitar and solos by West. The set closes with “Southbound Train,” a heavy blues rocker with West to the fore.

Disc three contains Mountain’s May 1970 debut album “Climbing” with Corky Laing replacing Smart on drums. The album opens with the two and half minute “Mississippi Queen” and its memorable guitar work and vocals by West. The track reached #21 on the Billboard charts, while the album peaked at #17. Pappalardi’s beautiful vocals highlight “Theme From An Imaginary Western” with West adding sizzling guitar. The commercially accessible “Never In My Life” features guttural vocals by West and a deep groove supplied by Pappalardi and Laing, while the heavy rocking, yet melodic “Silver Paper” has a memorable, repeated chorus of “open your heart, let the sun shine in” delivered by Pappalardi and West. The retitled “For Yasgur’s Farm” contains a beautiful vocal performance by Pappalardi, who sings “look at me, can’t you see it’s true, you’re a part of me, I’m a part of you.” “To My Friend” and “The Laird” are Eastern influenced, with West’s guitar imitating sitar. The album closes with the melodic “Boys In The Band” with Felix and Leslie sharing lead vocals and West soloing the song and long player out. The disc is completed with two live tracks, a performance of “For Yasgur’s Farm” featuring vocals from Pappalardi and West, and a nineteen and a half minute run through T-Bone Walker’s “Stormy Monday Blues” taken from a three LP set of various artists taken from rock festivals at the Isle of Wight and Atlanta, spotlighting West’s guitar and vocals.

Disc four centers around Mountain’s January 1971 LP “Nantucket Sleighride.” The album which peaked at #16 on the charts opens with the box set’s title track, featuring West belting out the vocals and contributing hot lead and solo guitar work. The snappy keyboard instrumental “Taunta (Sammy’s Tune)” segues into the timeless six minute title track with Pappalardi’s haunting vocals soaring over West’s guitar on the tale of a whaling ship dragged by a harpooned whale. “You Can’t Get Away” is a white hot rocker with vocals and three solos from Leslie. “Tired Angels” is dedicated to Jimi Hendrix and finds West riffing over Pappalardi’s vocals. “The Animal Trainer And The Toad” showcases West’s guitar and vocals. “My Lady” features guitar bursts by West and delicate vocals by Felix who sings “my lady waits for me.” Felix’s vocals highlight “Travelin’ In The Dark.” West’s guitar pushes the tempo as Felix laments’ “what you gonna do when your woman’s with another man?” The album closes with “The Great Train Robbery” as West’s sustain fueled slide guitar joins Leslie and Felix’s call and response vocals. The disc closes with a live take of “Travelin’ In The Dark,” the band, as always, at its best in front of an audience, jamming the song and disc to a close.

Disc five begins with the November, 1971 album ‘Flowers Of Evil” Mountain’s final Top 40 album, reaching #31 on the Hot 200 chart. The first side contains five studio recordings, while side two comprises two live tracks. The album opens with the title track, an anti-drug song aimed at heroin abuse by American troops in the Vietnam War with Leslie’s guitar roaring and Felix delivering a relaxed, melodic lead vocal “but we never dreamed when he was leaving, that he’d taste the flowers of evil.” The one minute keyboard and guitar instrumental “King’s Chorale” segues into “One Last Cold Kiss” which finds Leslie riffing away, joining Felix’s moody vocal. “Crossroader” is a red hot blues rocker with Mountain in full hard rock mode led by Leslie’s slide guitar with Felix’s beautiful vocals soaring over the top. “Pride And Passion” features Leslie’s feedback drenched slide guitar gliding effortlessly complemented by Knight’s piano and Felix supplying gorgeous lead vocals. The live side opens with a twenty four and a half minute medley titled “Dream Sequence” which begins with a West solo leading to a take on Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” sung by West. The band moves into “Dreams Of Milk & Honey” with Leslie contributing lead guitar and vocals on the extended rocker. The band stretches out on “Variations” and “Swan Theme” before jamming the medley to a close. Laing’s cowbell introduces “Mississippi Queen” with West’s roaring guitar and vocals at the helm playing the album to a close. The disc is finished by two tracks from the 1971 live LP ‘The Road Goes Ever On,’ “Crossroader” and “Nantucket Sleighride” while the album’s other two tracks were recorded at Woodstock and are included on disc two of this box set. The seven minute “Crossroader” opens with Felix and Corky locked into a riff which Leslie joins with his snarling slide guitar. The disc closes with the group’s definitive seventeen minute performance of “Nantucket Sleighride” as Felix contributes a delicate lead vocal and Leslie adds restrained lead guitar, complemented by Knight’s organ, bringing the tune and disc to a close.

Disc six contains the double album ‘Twin Peaks’ released in February 1974, with Bob Mann playing rhythm guitar and keyboards and Alan Schwartzberg on drums, replacing Steve Knight and Corky Laing. The collection, recorded in Japan, presents live recordings of many of the group’s best known works, with a set list including “Never In My Life,’ “Theme From An Imaginary Western,” “Blood Of The Sun,” “Guitar Solo,” “Nantucket Sleighride,” “Crossroader,” “Mississippi Queen,” “Silver Paper,” and “Roll Over Beethoven.’ The release is dominated by the thirty two minute “Nantucket Sleighride” which occupies two of the albums’ four sides. ‘Twin Peaks’ peaked at a rather disappointing #142 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart.

Disc seven presents the final album recorded by Mountain in its original lifespan, July 1974’s ‘Avalanche,’ with drummer Corky Laing rejoining the group and rhythm guitarist David Perry replacing Mann. The LP opens with a cover of “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” popularized by Jerry Lee Lewis in the 1950s. Leslie West’s guitar and shouted vocals dominate the tune. “Sister Justice” is a melodic rocker sung by Felix. West’s infectious guitar is front and center on the space rock track “Alisan” while West’s guitar, Felix’s vocals and Corky’s cowbell are prominent on the CCR/Tony Joe White influenced “Sister Justice.” West’s heavy riffing, loping lead line and shouted vocals are displayed on a cover of Jagger and Richards’ classic “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.” The melodic “Thumbsucker” showcases Leslie’s screaming guitar a la “Smoke On The Water” along with Felix’s lyrical vocals. Laing’s cowbell and an insistent riff, along with West’s guttural vocals are front and center on “You Better Believe It” while the melodic, stripped down blues rocker “Love To See You Fly” focuses on West’s lead guitar and solos along with Felix’s plaintive vocal. The band revs up and West belts out the vocals on the racing rocker “Back Where I Belong” before the album and box set close with the rocking “Last Of The Sunshine Boys” dominated by West’s hot lead line and Felix’s roaring bass, the latter’s voice closing out what would be his last appearance on a Mountain recording. ‘Avalanche’ peaked at a disappointing #102 on the charts and the band broke up not long after, reuniting a little over a decade later, albeit without Pappalardi.

‘Don’t Turn Around: The Recordings 1969-1974’ comes in a clamshell box with each of its seven discs housed in its own cardboard mini-LP sleeve. The box set comes with a full color thirty two page booklet, lavishly illustrated with band photos and album artwork as well as full track annotations, lyrics for the “Nantucket Sleighride” album, and an extensive essay by Mike Mettler. Mountain has never sounded so good thanks to the remastering job by Ben Wiseman at Broad Lake Studios. The box set is the last word on Mountain thanks to compilers Mark and Vicky Powell, and will appeal to hard and classic rock fans, and comes highly recommended.

Kevin Rathert

Mountain – ‘Don’t Look Around: The Recordings 1969-1974’ (Esoteric Recordings, 2026)