Zharth's Music Log (Revisited)
Week 87: To The Mountains
(Originally finalized on July 30, 2024)
Preface: In a more perfect world, I'd be spending my vacations on the beach. But I don't live that close to the coast; I have to go up into the mountains instead. Luckily, I enjoy nature, so it's a pretty good consolation prize. Here are a few songs from a playlist I put together that I like to listen to every time I'm driving up to the mountains.
Monday: Stonefield - To The Mountains [Stonefield, 2013]
Comments: I'm honored to have an opportunity to showcase this little-known Australian band of four sisters (in the vein of The Pleasure Seekers), that got started as teenagers (like The Runaways) playing retro rock. I just wish I could find the album version of this song on YouTube - they seem to be focused on pushing their later, more psychedelic material; which is a shame, because their self-titled debut album from 2013 is one of my top favorite rock albums from the 21st century - up there with Silvertide's Show And Tell and Going To Hell by The Pretty Reckless. At least this version gives you a taste of Amy Findlay's amazingly powerful rock vocals.
Tuesday: Led Zeppelin - Misty Mountain Hop [Untitled, 1971]
Comments: One of Zep's songs that famously references Lord of the Rings (along with Ramble On and The Battle of Evermore), the lyrics describe something more akin to a classic 1960s love-in. From their massively successful untitled fourth album, this song features a world class band firing on all cylinders. These days, the title conjures up images in my head of driving across scenic byways with rolling mountains vanishing into the distance in a blue haze.
Wednesday: Joe Walsh - Rocky Mountain Way [The Smoker You Drink, The Player You Get, 1973]
Comments: The first track off of the first album released under his own name (to the chagrin of the rest of the band), during his transition period after leaving The James Gang and before he became a member of The Eagles, this song (which notably features usage of the talk box guitar effect) became a huge hit for Joe Walsh. Although I live among the Appalachians, and this song was written for the Colorado Rockies, I still find it playing through my head every time I'm hiking a rocky mountain trail.
Thursday: Joe Bonamassa - Mountain Climbing [Blues Of Desperation, 2016]
Comments: If it wasn't obvious from my British Blues theme, I'm a huge fan of Joe Bonamassa - both his music (with its emphasis on blues-drenched guitar rock) and his dogged work ethic, for which this song could be considered an apt metaphor. There have been times when I've considered one of his songs for this or that theme, only to pass it over in favor of something more era-consistent. But this time he's made the cut. Persistence always pays off - eventually.
Friday: Steamhammer - Mountains [Mountains, 1970]
Comments: I like to say that Steamhammer is my favorite obscure band that nobody's heard of. They have a real mellow sound that I like, that's not shy on the guitar accompaniment (guitarist Martin Pugh later played in Armageddon). It's a testament to YouTube that you can even find their songs on the website. Anyway, this title track from the band's third album has a plodding rhythm, suggestive of a slow but steady climb. "Higher, we're getting higher; we could almost touch the sun."
Saturday: Cream - Sitting On Top Of The World [Wheels Of Fire, 1968]
Comments: There are two songs not specifically about mountain climbing that always run through my head when I get to the top of a mountain, and look at the vista that spreads out below me. One of them is Cream's version of the blues standard Sitting On Top Of The World, popularized by Howlin' Wolf. Your troubles seem a little bit smaller when you scale a mountain peak, and it's hard not to revel in the awe and majesty of our planet while standing on a rock taller than any building. There's a peace and tranquility that comes to you up there that keeps me going back again and again.
Sunday: The Who - I Can See For Miles [The Who Sell Out, 1967]
Comments: The other song I think about while sitting on top of the world is I Can See For Miles. I don't think it quite lives up to its promise of being one of The Who's all-time greatest songs, despite its layered production - the band had not yet reached its zenith in 1967. But the title really says it all, doesn't it? On top of a mountain, you can literally see for miles. That is, if the viewing's clear - I visited the top of the highest peak east of the Mississippi once and it was surrounded by a dense fog. I was basically stuck inside of a cloud...
Honorable Mentions: I have about twice as many songs on my playlist as I've shared here, but these are, I think, the best distillation of the theme. Notable omissions include the likes of I Want To Take You Higher by Sly & The Family Stone, Lance Lopez's cover of Stevie Wonder's Higher Ground, and The Climb by Miley Cyrus (I know that's a bit of a genre non sequitur, but I'm a huge Miley Cyrus fan). I also put Jesus' Chariot by Neil Young & Crazy Horse at the end - from the 2012 album Americana, in which Canadian-born Neil reinterprets a bunch of old American folk tunes to, in my opinion, spectacular effect - because the line "she'll be comin' 'round the mountain when she comes" reminds me of driving those twisting roads back down out of the mountains.