STEAMHAMMER - Mountains LP Rare UK Prog / Psych '70

$

28

Rare UK import STEAMHAMMER - Mountains LP (on B&C Records) in Excellent condition.

Hardly-played, 1-owner disc looks & plays Excellent. No skips / repeats, deep scratches or notable markings, & minimal surface noise.

Gatefold cover in VG+ condition. Minor flaws include some edgewear & corner-wear, & inside cover crease around one side / outline of disc (app. 6" long).

Tracklisting: I Wouldn't Have Thought, Levinia, Henry Lane, Walking Down The Road, Mountains, Leader Of The Ring, *Riding On The L & N, & *Hold That Train.

*Tracks recorded live @ Lyceum; rest of album consists of studio tracks.

From Allmusic.com: Blues-rockers Steamhammer formed in 1968 in the British town of Worthing. The band was made up of several blues and folk band veterans who were interested in playing something new. The band was pulled onto the road almost directly after their inception by blues legend Freddie King, who needed a backing band for his European tour. By spring of the next year, they signed a contract with CBS Records and released an eponymous debut. They mixed their own material with several standards, but failed to find an audience in the over-saturated blues-rock scene. The band did become quite the live sensation, despite a lineup shift that saw original members Michael Rushton and Martin Quittenton leave the band. Their second album was another stab at the same formula, with slightly different results due to new saxophonist Steve Jollife's incredible technical skill. By the time 1970 rolled around, they recorded their "definitive" album, the critical favorite Mountains. This album gave them some minor mainstream exposure, and revealed a band who was ready to adopt the rock side of their sound much more than before. They toured afterward, but lost most of the band members throughout the journey. By the time it was over, they only had original guitarist Martin Pugh and drummer Mick Bradley in the fold. They released one more album, 1972's Speech, to poor reviews and an indifferent public. The band broke up before they could even promote the album, and Bradley died the same year of leukemia. The band never attempted to reunite, but many of the members would go on to work with each other in projects like Armageddon.

AMG review of Mountains: Starting out as an electric blues group in the '60s, Steamhammer transformed into a hard progressive rock group on this 1970 album. A highly collectable album in the British prog scene, the guitarist and vocalist of this group were both, in fact, hardworking session musicians who made their names working with Rod Stewart on his debut solo album. Guitarist and vocalist Martin Pugh and Martin Quittenton co-wrote "Maggie May" with Rod Stewart, and extraordinarily this, the group's third album, features ex-Tangerine Dream keyboardist Steve Jolliffe, who was responsible for the progressive, keyboard-dominated sound of the album. Although throughout they maintain their electric blues roots, this album is a fairly awkward and mediocre transition period for the group. However, hardcore collectors of progressive rock will find much to delight in.

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International p&h: charges available upon request (app. $12.). All orders over $50.00 will be charged additional $10. to send Registered Mail.