Mountain, one of the acknowledged precursors to heavy metal, formed in Long
Island, New York in 1969. The group began to coalesce when producer and bassist
Felix Pappalardi began to work with guitarist Leslie West in the late 1960s.
Pappalardi produced West’s solo album, 1969’s Mountain, though the band Mountain
would not exist until later that year when the duo joined forces with drummer
N.D. Smart and keyboardist Steve Knight. Mountain played the famous Woodstock
festival within one of their first five live appearances. Corky Laing replaced
Smart on drums before they went into ...