Elephant Mountain (1969)

Elephant Mountain is the third studio album by the American rock band The Youngbloods, released in 1969. It reached number 118 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Background and recording

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. The four tracks credited to Young, Banana, and Bauer are all instrumentals.

Levinger's "On Sir Francis Drake" is an instrumental named after Sir Francis Drake Boulevard of Marin County, 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 only other song on the album not co-written by Young 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, though uncredited in the liner notes, performs "on a couple of Elephant Mountain tracks, notably singing the vocal with Young on 'Smug'."

Unlike their previous albums, there are 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).

In 2014, RCA of Japan released a 19 track version of the album.

Composition and music

The album's style is characterized as "blending affective pop/rock melodies and lyrics with their good time jug band roots." Jesse Colin Young's basslines are described as "propulsive" and Joe Bauer's drum work is described as "nimble." The album makes use of electric piano and harpsichord. Some of the material present on the album has been described as "jazzy." The album's third track, "On Sir Francis Drake," is an instrumental, and the ninth track "Trillium" employs musical improvisation from the band. "Sham" is described as a "straightforward rocker," drawing comparisons to other Bay Area music acts such as Stoneground. "Ride the Wind" takes stylistic cues from Latin music.

Critical reception

Reviewing for The Village Voice in 1969, Robert Christgau wrote, "In the manner of tight groups, the Youngbloods stretch thinner all the time. Not only have they lost Jerry Corbitt, but their own expertise has become somehow attenuated. Banana used to be the most tasteful electric pianist in rock. Now he has become so tasteful he can sound like Roy Kral on a lazy night." Lester Bangs was more enthusiastic in Rolling Stone, saying "this is one of the most encouraging albums I have heard in months. ... This album exudes that supremely rare commodity in these dark, bored, destructive times – joy."

Years later, Rolling Stone said the album "bridges the gap between the last days of psychedelia and the outbreak of country-rock that had afflicted artists like the Byrds and Neil Young." In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Lindsay Planer praised the album, and gave the album four and a half stars out of five, feeling that it "contains some of the band's strongest material to date". The New York Times described the album as their "1969 folk-rock touchstone".

Sundazed 2008 Reissue

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

RCA Japan 2014 Reissue

• "Darkness, Darkness" (Jesse Colin Young) – 3:51
• "Smug" (Young) – 2:13
• "On Sir Francis Drake" (Lowell Levinger) – 6:44
• "Sunlight" (Young) – 3:07
• "Double Sunlight" (Levinger, Young, Joe Bauer) – 0:41
• "Beautiful" (Young) – 3:49
• "Turn It Over" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 0:15
• "Rain Song (Don't Let the Rain Bring You Down)" (Corbitt, Pappalardi, Collins) – 3:13
• "Trillium" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 3:08
• "Quicksand"* (Young) – 2:41
• "Black Mountain Breakdown" (Levinger, Young, Bauer) – 0:40
• "Sham"* (Young) – 2:44
• "Ride the Wind" (Young) – 6:37