I Newyorchesi Mountain del grande (in tutti i sensi) chitarrista Leslie West furono interpreti, tanto illustri quanto poco conosciuti, di quel rock di inizio anni 70 che, prendendo spunto dalle dal blues elettrico e dalle jam allucinate del decennio precedente (quelle dei Cream e dell vecchio Jimi in particolare), stava dando origine al genere dell' hard-rock. Una rotta, questa, che a quei tempi era battuta da molte band: Alcune di esse sarebbero state destinate a fama, gloria e successo (Grand Funk, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath...) molte altre solo al culto di appassionati di rock d'antan (ad esempio Blue Cheer, Leaf Hound e, appunto, Mountain). Fondato nel 1969 dal cantante-chitarrista West, dal bassista Felix Pappalardi (già produttore dei Cream), dal batterista N.D Smart (quasi subito sostituito da Corky Laing) e dal tastierista Steve Knight, questo "power trio + tastiere" partecipò al festival di Woodstock (mica pippe) e sembrò decollare grazie al successo del singolo "Mississippi Queen", contenuto nel loro album d'esordio ufficiale, "Climbing!" (1970).
"Nantucket Sleighride", pubblicato nel 1971 è il secondo album ufficiale della band. Rispetto al primo disco, quasi tutto incentrato su un blues-rock aggressivo e distorto di marca Cream, questo contiene brani più estesi e complessi, con maggiore uso delle tastiere, probabilmente influenzati dal progressive-rock che stava diventando la sensazione del periodo. Sebbene ascoltato oggi l'album suoni un po' più datato rispetto all'esordio (pregio o difetto?), l'aggressività non viene meno: anche se il passo cambia più spesso, le sonorità si discostano dal blues e l'organo di Steve Knight suona più psichedelico del solito, la voce rauca di Leslie West, insieme al tipico timbro caldo e nasale della sua chitarra e al basso rombante di Felix Pappalardi confermano, inequivocabilmente, che si tratta sempre di hard-rock: ne sono prova gli attacchi incrociati organo-chitarra a tutto volume di "Don't Look Around", lo slide acido di "The Great Train Robbery", le cascate di power-chord della title -track, nonchè la presenza di pezzi più compatti nel più classico stile hard-blues ("Animal Trainer And The Toad", "You Can't Get Away").
Il difetto dell'album fu probabilmente quello di non contenere un singolo d'acchiappo alla "Mississippi Queen", che, forse, avrebbe consentito alla band di sfondare. Nel dubbio, non resta che prendere le cuffie, alzare i bassi, inserire il cd copiato (vi sfido a trovarlo originale) nello stereo e girare la manopola del volume. E al diavolo i dubbi.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Don't Look Around (03:46)
Don't look around 'cause I'm never comin' back.
It's High time, you saw the last of me.
You know I was a wand'rer, I'd forgotten where to go,
I had no place to lay my head or rest my heavy load.
Don't look around 'cause I'm never comin' back.
It's High time, you saw the last of me.
-(4X)-
Lord, how she changed my mind.
Lord she changed my life.
Workin' all day long, singin' for my food,
Baby, you know that I've got everything I need.
I've given all I can, the rest belongs to me,
Time was it didn't matter just who I had to be.
Don't look around 'cause I'm never comin' back.
It's High time, you saw the last of me.
-(4X)-
Lord, how she changed my mind.
You know she changed my life.
2X "A" ........ Changes to "E"
--- Guitar Lead/Jam ---
Workin' all day long, singin' for my food,
Baby, you know that I've got everything I need.
I've given all I can, the rest belongs to me,
Time was it didn't matter just who I had to be.
Don't look around 'cause I'm never comin' back.
It's High time, you saw the last of me. Yaaaa!
Lord, how she changed my mind.
You know she changed my life.
03 Nantucket Sleighride (05:53)
Goodbye, little Robin-Marie
Don't try following me
Don't cry, little Robin-Marie
'Cause you know I'm coming home soon
My ships' leaving on a three-year tour
The next tide will take us from shore
Windlaced, gather in sail and spray
On a search for the mighty sperm whale
Fly your willow branches
Wrap your body round my soul
Lay down your reeds and drums on my soft sheets
There are years behind us reaching
To the place where hearts are beating
And I know you're the last true love I'll ever meet
And I know you're the last true love I'll ever meet
Starbuck's sharpening his harpoon
The black man is playing his tune
An old salt's sleeping his watch away
He'll be drunk again before noon
Three years sailing on bended knee
We found no whales in the sea
Don't cry, little Robin-Marie
'Cause we'll be in sight of land soon
Fly your willow branches
Wrap your body round my soul
Lay down your reeds and drums on my soft sheets
There are years behind us reaching
To the place where hearts are beating
And I know you're the last true love I'll ever meet
And I know you're the last true love I'll ever meet
06 The Animal Trainer and the Toad (03:28)
For many a year, I was so confused,
(An') Didn't know what to play.
But then I met a man, who picked up his horn,
An' showed us just what, to say.
He was skinny an' lean, an' he kept his nose clean,
An' he knew, how to write, them tunes,
Then came a day, we started to play,
An' then we con-quered the moon.
I'm in a band.... a rock an' roll band....
I'm in a band, yeah, yeah.
We called him Beethoven, an' then we showed 'im,
Exactly where we wanted to go,
So we started a band, and toured all the land,
A-rackin' in all, that dough.
We smoked a few cigs, an' played a few gigs,
An' never did delayed a one,
We covered the states, an' (we) hit the great lakes,
An' boy did we have us, some fun.
I'm in a band.... a rock an' roll band....
I'm in a band, yeah, yeah.
--- Honky-Tonkish Piano ---
I'm in a band.... a rock an' roll band....
I'm in a band, yeah, yeah.
We had an idea, so we put in in gear,
An' soon we were out on the road.
We did it to play, they started to say,
The animal trainer and the toad.
I'm in a band.... a rock an' roll band....
I'm in a band, yeah, yeah.
07 My Lady (04:34)
I see her sailing on her silver wings,
With hands that move like little trees.
Alive and bending in my raging storm,
To a heartbeat, my lady lives for me.
To a heartbeat, my lady lives for me.
Out of the country to my city life,
All wrapped in dreams she wears like pearls,
She dances to the music that I play for her,
And my lady is the softness in my world.
And my lady is the softness in my world.
Comin'... back...... from the Moun-tain,
My Lady waits for me.... My Lady waits for me.
In paint and ribbons and her coloured shells,
All she imagines for my days,
And weaves a life that is feeling good for me,
And my lady, hears every note I play.
And my lady, hears every note I play.
My rooms are filled with all she's made by hand,
My songs are filled with all her rhymes,
My heart is filled with the work that we've been doin'
And the children we'll be havin' all in good time.
And the children we'll be havin' all in good time.
Comin'... back...... from the Moun-tain,
My Lady waits for me.... My Lady waits for me.
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