Elephant Mountain

History

With the departure of member and co-founder Jerry Corbitt, Jesse Colin Young became the primary songwriter of the band, penning seven of the 13 tracks on the album, and co-writing four more with Lowell "Banana" Levinger and Joe Bauer. Young's songwriting ranges from jazzy acoustic ballads ("Sunlight" and "Ride the Wind"), to country/folk pop ("Smug" and "Beautiful") and bluesy hard rock ("Sham"). "Darkness, Darkness" and "Quicksand" are songs dealing with depression and suicide, quite at odds with the optimistic to happy-go-lucky image of the band created by songs like "Get Together" and "Grizzly Bear" (though not unlike other early songs such as "All My Dreams Blue" and "Foolin' Around"). The four tracks credited to Young, Banana, and Bauer are all instrumentals.

Levinger's "On Sir Francis Drake" is another instrumental named after Sir Francis Drake Boulevard of Marin County to where the band had recently moved. At 6:44 it is the longest track on the album, consisting of two sections, the first an electric piano-based waltz, the second a blues jam with some bass soloing by Young. The remaining song on the album is "Rain Song (Don't Let the Rain Bring You Down)", which is similar to their earlier "jug band" style songs like "Euphoria" and "The Wine Song"; it was co-written by Jerry Corbitt, Felix Pappalardi and Gail Collins, his wife.

According to the liner notes on the Sundazed reissue, the album was "begun in New York early in 1967, then finished in RCA's Hollywood studios after the band moved to San Francisco, but not released until 1969." Liner notes writer, Jud Cost mentions that original member, Jerry Corbitt, even though uncredited in the liner notes, performs "on a couple of Elephant Mountain tracks, notably signing the vocal with Young on Smug".

Unlike their previous albums, there were no covers of songs by other artists.

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

Although not specified on the album cover, the mountain depicted is Black Mountain (locally called Elephant Mountain), located west of the Nicasio Reservoir in Marin County.

Sundazed released a remastered version in 2008 with "Previously Unissued Bonus Tracks," including "Pool Hall Song" and "Beautiful" (alternate version).

Reception

Writing for Allmusic, music critic Lindsay Planer praised the album and wrote; "This effort contains some of the band's strongest material to date ..."

Side one

1. "Darkness, Darkness" (Jesse Colin Young) – 3:51
2. "Smug" (Young) – 2:13
3. "On Sir Francis Drake" (Lowell Levinger) – 6:44
4. "Sunlight" (Young) – 3:07
5. "Double Sunlight" (Levinger, Young, Joe Bauer) – 0:41
6. "Beautiful" (Young) – 3:49
7. "Turn It Over" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 0:15

Side two

1. "Rain Song (Don't Let the Rain Bring You Down)" (Jerry Corbitt, Pappalardi, Collins) – 3:13
2. "Trillium" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 3:08
3. "Quicksand"* (Young) – 2:41
4. "Black Mountain Breakdown" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 0:40
5. "Sham"* (Young) – 2:44
6. "Ride the Wind" (Young) – 6:37

Sundazed 2008 Reissue

1. "Darkness, Darkness" (Jesse Colin Young) – 3:51
2. "Smug" (Young) – 2:13
3. "On Sir Francis Drake" (Lowell Levinger) – 6:44
4. "Sunlight" (Young) – 3:07
5. "Double Sunlight" (Levinger, Young, Joe Bauer) – 0:41
6. "Beautiful" (Young) – 3:49
7. "Turn It Over" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 0:15
8. "Rain Song (Don't Let the Rain Bring You Down)" (Corbitt, Pappalardi, Collins) – 3:13
9. "Trillium" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 3:08
10. "Quicksand"* (Young) – 2:41
11. "Black Mountain Breakdown" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 0:40
12. "Sham"* (Young) – 2:44
13. "Ride the Wind" (Young) – 6:37
14. "Pool Hall Song" (Young) – 3:04
15. "Beautiful" (Alternate Version) (Young) – 9:31

Personnel

Additional musicians

Additional Personnel

Charts