Mountain is an American rock band mainly active in the early 1970s. The band still tours and has a number of UK and US dates scheduled in 2006.
The classic-era lineup of the group was Leslie West on guitar, Felix Pappalardi on bass, Corky Laing on drums (the original drummer was N. D. Smart), and Steve Knight on piano and organ. West's raw vocals, Laing's flowing drumming, and Pappalardi's heavy but not overly imposing bass lines were the elements of Mountain's distinctive sound.
Mountain played at the Woodstock Festival but the band did not appear in the film of the event nor was it included on the first album. The group received a certain measure of critical acclaim but never achieved great commercial success.
The title track to their 1971 album Nantucket Sleighride was used as the theme tune to the UK political and current affairs television program Weekend World, which was aired between 1972 and 1986.
On April 17, 1983 Gail Collins Pappalardi, Felix's wife and songwriting partner, shot him once in the neck in their fifth-floor East Side Manhattan apartment. He was pronounced dead at the scene and Gail was charged with second-degree murder, but acquitted. Richie Scarlet has taken over as bass player on the band's recent tours.
In February of 2006, Mountain is performing at B.B. King's Bar and Grill in New York City, and on April 29th, at the Westchester County Center.
The band was inspired by legendary power trio Cream, which Pappalardi was an "unofficial" member of; he was featured heavily on Cream's second LP, Disraeli Gears.
Mountain is ranked number 98 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock".
