Interviewing The Legends: Mountain

CORKY LAING

LEGENDARY DRUMMER

WITH

M O U N T A I N

WEST, BRUCE & LAING

NEW ALBUM

'FINNISH SESSIONS'

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

IAN HUNTER (MOTT THE HOOPLE)

AND MICHAEL MONROE (HANOI ROCKS)

A ZOOM TV SPECIAL EVENT

with CORKY AND TUIJA

While Corky Laing is best known as the powerhouse rock drummer with the group Mountain, his career has lasted well past the supergroup where he made his name. Laing left Energy in 1969, replacing drummer N.D. Smart and joining electric bass guitarist Felix Pappalardi and guitarist Leslie West in Mountain, who along with Cream and Blue Cheer, became one of the seminal power trios in modern heavy psychedelic rock music.

Mountain released three albums in two years on the independent Windfall label and produced the mega-hit "Mississippi Queen." But Pappalardi went on hiatus while Laing and West formed, West, Bruce & Laing with former Cream bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, producing two studio albums and a live release for the Epic label. Mountain re-formed in 1974, issued two more albums, and broke up again. In late 1975, Laing played congas for several tracks on Bo Diddley's all-star album The 20th Anniversary of Rock N' Roll. Mountain again reassembled in 1985 and Laing has sustained a working relationship with them. In 2003, Laing and West produced Nantucket Sleighride & Other Mountain On-The-Road Stories, a historical overview of their time with Mountain and tales of touring. 2007 kept Laing busy, recording Stick It, an audio version of his memoirs.

Mountain also turned out a Bob Dylan cover album Masters of War. West continued with a solo career throughout, while Laing collaborated with John Lennon, Bobby Keyes, Ten Years After, Meat Loaf, Frank Marino, and Mahogany Rush, and bassist Noel Redding, formerly of the Jimi Hendrix Experience to name a few.

In 2019, he released his autobiography, Letters to Sarah written together with Tuija Takala, PhD, who started working with Corky on Playing God: The Rock Opera in 2012, gradually became his manager and partner, and with whom Corky has since collaborated on a number of projects.

Corky's album, the Toledo Session was released on CD in late 2019 and re-released on vinyl in 2020. The album contains nine new original tracks and the excitement brought on by the new repertoire is reminiscent of the classic Mountain albums, Climbing! and Nantucket Sleighride.

Since 2015 Corky has been touring the world celebrating the musical legacy of Mountain.

Corky’s latest release is entitled FINNISH SESSIONS recorded at E-studio in Finland in April. The album features Michael Monroe (harmonica) and Ian Hunter (keyboards) as special guests.

PURCHASE

THE LATEST RELEASE

CORKY LAING

‘FINNISH SESSIONS’

With special guests

Ian Hunter

and

Michael Monroe

at amazon.com

ALSO

PURCHASE

CORKY LAING

TOLEDO

SESSIONS

amazon.com

AND

CORKY LAING’S

BEST SELLING

AUTOBIOGRAPHY

‘LETTERS TO SARAH’

with Tuija Takala

at amazon.com

Letters to Sarah is a rock autobiography with a difference. In addition to the exceptionally honest and endearing voice of Corky chronicling the ups and downs of his life, there are excerpts from dozens of letters (out of the c. 200) that Corky wrote to his mother, Sarah, between the years 1963 and 1997. She had saved them all. The letters were a way for Corky, away on the road for years on end, to keep in touch with his roots and also, to make sense of his life. This continues in Letters to Sarah, as Corky relives the first 50 years of his life, up until his mother’s passing in 1998.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

ABOUT

CORKY LAING

VISIT

www.corkylaingworks.com

Official website

www.facebook.com/corkylaing

Facebook

www.instagram.com/corkylaing

Instagram

https://playinggodrocks.tumblr.com/tuija_bio

Tuija Takala

2023 TOUR DATES

Corky Laing & the Bobos (Conny Bloom, Maria Hänninen, John Vihervä & Harri Väyrynen)

5/16/2023 Odal Rock Club, Austvatn, Norway

5/17/2023 Melodybox, Stockholm, Sweden

5/18/2023 Backstage Rock Bar, Trollhättan, Sweden

5/19/2023 Bomber Bar, Motala, Sweden

5/20/2023 Rockland, Sala, Sweden

Corky Laing's Mountain

8/31-9/3/2023 Nene Valley Rock Festival, Peterborough, UK

Discography

With Mountain

Studio albums

Climbing! (1970)

Nantucket Sleighride (1971)

Flowers of Evil (1971; partially live)

Avalanche (1974)

Go for Your Life (1985)

Man's World (1996)

Mystic Fire (2002)

Masters of War (2007)

Live albums

Mountain Live: The Road Goes Ever On (1972)

Eruption (2004)

Compilation albums

The Best of Mountain (1973)

Over the Top (2001)

West, Bruce and Laing

1972 – Why Dontcha

1973 – Whatever Turns You On

1974 – Live 'n' Kickin'

With Leslie West

1975 – The Great Fatsby

1976 – The Leslie West Band

2005 – Guitarded

With Bartholomew plus III

1965 – "She's Mine" / "You're Not There"

1967 – "When I Fall in Love"

With Cork

1999 – Speed of THought

2003 – Out There

As Corky Laing

1977 – Making It On The Streets

2019 – Toledo Sessions

Finnish Sessions (2022)

With Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson and Felix Pappalardi

1999 – The Secret Sessions

With The Mix

1980 – American Glue

With The Perfect Child

2013 – Playing God

As Corky Laing's Mountain

2017 – Live in Melle

2019 - Live At Howard's Club H

Guest appearances

1969 – David Rea – Maverick Child,

drums

1971 – David Rea – By the Grace of God, drums

1972 – Bobby Keys – Bobby Keys, drums

1976 – Bo Diddley –

The 20th Anniversary of Rock N' Roll, congas

1987 – Charlie Karp

& the Name Droppers –

Charlie Karp & the Name Droppers, percussion

1991 – Men Without Hats –

Sideways, on "I Am the Walrus", drums

Other

2004: Jason Hartless Jr. – First Division

2012: Corky Laing and The Memory Thieves – House of Thieves

2018: Pompeii – The Secret Sessions

CORKY LAING

and TUIJA TAKALA

APPEAR WEEK OF

MARCH 20TH 2023

ON INTERVIEWING THE LEGENDS

WITH RAY SHASHO

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BOOK REVIEW

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Gold Award Winner