No. 77: Mountain, ‘Mississippi Queen’ – Top 100 Classic Rock Songs

All hail the mighty guitar riff! With the right one, all things are possible. Mountain stomps onto our Top 100 Classic Rock Songs list with one of the mightiest riffs, as featured on 'Mississippi Queen.'

This 1970 classic that packs a whole lot of jolt into just two and a half minutes.The cowbell counts things off like an alarm, and then guitarist Lesile West delivers that famous and fantastic introduction.

Fresh from a legendary appearance at Woodstock the year before, Mountain were on the rise in 1970 and the very catchy, yet very heavy, 'Mississippi Queen' pushed the band up the ranks of rock royalty.

The song was the lead track from their first album, 'Climbing,' and the single reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 early in that year. West's savage guitar, along with the rhythm section of Corky Laing on drums and bassist Felix Pappalardi added up to one mighty fine power trio. The song would become an iconic slice of hard rock and influence many an aspiring guitar hero along the way.

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Watch Mountain Perform 'Mississippi Queen'