MUSIC FOR DIRTBAGS

Someone just had to go and mention Mountain today, so here we go. Check that photo above. Kind of a hairy bunch, eh? Everybody was back then. Buzz cuts were for the guys in the service. Now they're all over the place. Before I get more sidetracked, here's a couple from Mountain, and  "Respect" by the Vagrants, Leslie West's earlier band. The clip below is the Vagrant's from some movie. The chubby cocksure kid on the right is West.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Mountain - Never In My Life mp3 at Nosmo Kings
Mountain - Mississippi Queen mp3 at Arlequin Creations.org
The Vagrants - Respect mp3 at Reesho.com
West, Bruce & Laing - Why Dontcha (streaming) at YouTube Post-Mountain 
Video:
Mountain - Mississippi Queen (live) at YouTube

THE VAGRANTS AND MOUNTAIN

Thought I was off my guitar kick? Not without one last one. Here, to wipe the taste of their 70s chart foe (below) right out of your ears, is Mountain. Because I can think of no better reset than "Mississippi Queen." When I think of thick, meaty 70's guitar, I think of Leslie West at his loudest, and "Mississippi Queen" is one of those (and he's had plenty). That sound that he gets, the one everybody tries to copy yet no one quite replicates, was a fortunate accident. You can read the technical mumbo-jumbo about the actual incident at Gibson's site (see the question about Mountain's 1969 debut at Fillmore East). So here's the original version, a video, and a couple rather lame attempts to cover it. And an Aretha cover by West's early garage band, the Vagrants. For reference, I've included an audio YouTube clip of his later band West, Bruce & Laing (couldn't find an mp3). Oh, I just found this: an awesome video of the Vagrants, from some movie. A youthful West is on the far right, looking like a proto-nerd who doesn't give a fuck during his solo (at 1:25).

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Mountain - Mississippi Queen mp3 at Arlequin Creations.org
The Vagrants - Respect mp3 at Reesho.com
Mountain - Mississippi Queen (live) video at YouTube
West, Bruce & Laing - Why Dontcha (audio) at YouTube
Ministry - Mississippi Queen mp3 at Entirely Adequate
Ozzy Osborne - Mississippi Queen mp3 at Ventsi.com