MOUNTAIN
Greatest Hits Live (King Biscuit)
Reviewed by Bill Holmes

---

This 1974 broadcast from New Jersey's Capitol Theatre (Passaic) features the most popular band lineup (West/Pappalardi/Laing), recently reunited after a less-than-stellar Japanese tour with a different drummer. Considering the circumstances, the musicianship is quite good; it sounds like the trio (augmented here by a rhythm guitar player) had never been apart. As a result, the crowd ate it up; so too will buyers of this disk.

Leslie West was - and still is - a monster guitar player, and there are tons of great moments here to prove it, like the rare live versions of "You'd Better Believe It" and "Get Out Of My Life Woman". "Never In My Life" is propelled by Laing's thunderous drumming, as is the ten minute epic "Nantucket Sleighride". Live staples "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On" close out the set in typical incendiary fashion. West, who does a credible Wolfman Jack impression during the show, has a classic rock and roll growl that is in top form here.

Before the band starts to play "Get Out" and during the intro to "Mississippi Queen", it seems as if West and Laing are stalling, waiting for Pappalardi to either tune up or plug in and join them. West does segue into "Jingle Bells" at one point (it's only November 3rd!), but eventually, the two just forge ahead and carry the songs on their backs as if they're the ultimate power duo. The only other time the band really sounds out of sorts is during the stage banter and introductions before "It's For You"; perhaps birthday boy Felix was dipping too deep into the "party favors" before the set?

Why Pappalardi sounds absent on "Queen", their biggest hit, is one question I might have asked West in the interview segment which follows the ten tracks. Instead we get a pretty sophomoric set of questions like "what were you listening to in 1974?" and "who else was on the bill?". West probably couldn't a lot of these questions the following week, let alone twenty-six years later. As he admits, "there was a lot of shit going on" - drugs, egos and jealousies split up the band more than once. According to West, Felix Pappalardi fired Laing; but according to Laing, he was replaced when he was ill. The reunion shows went well, but the band never recorded another studio set after 1974. Pappalardi continued to lapse into drug abuse and was eventually shot and killed by his wife. "Don't ever give your wife a gun; bad gift" muses West, "Miracle Bra is good, or a Porsche, but not a gun."

Although a prime candidate for an episode of Behind The Music, no one can doubt that when these three guys were "on", few bands were hotter. This live document provides a big thrill for Mountain fans and an education for everyone else.

© 2000 - Bill Holmes