“A MOUNTAIN HERE, A MOUNTAIN THERE...”

Skiing season is almost here, and in the Georgian Bay region of Ontario, there is no better place to ski then Blue Mountain.  Beautiful ski hills, great accommodations, excellent restaurants (and no, I’m not being paid for this endorsement.  I believe it).  So, in light of all that, this time out, the questions are all about songs and/or groups that deal with mountains.  It’s actually a lot easier than you think.  All these songs and/or groups all made the Top Twenty singles chart, so let’s climb that mountain and go get ‘em.    

QUESTIONS:

1.  Berry Gordy Jr., the man who launched the Motown Records empire wrote this 1960 Top Twenty ‘mountain’ song.  Marv Johnson was the artist who sang it.  This artist hit the Top Twenty 3 times and was the first artist released on Gordy’s Tamla label.  So ‘move’ your butt and come up with the name of the song.                                                                                                                  

2.  Our question this time is not about a song, but a group.  Their biggest hit was “Mississippi Queen” in 1970.  They performed at Woodstock, but their bass player is more famous as the producer of 3 Cream albums.  Think about our current topic and you’ll easily come up with thr name of the group.        

3.  This ‘mountain’ song was planned to be producer Phil Spector’s ultimate masterpiece, but it sank like a stone in a mountain lake.  Ike & Tina Turner are listed on the record label as the artists’, but only Tina performed.  Phil had Ike barred from the studio.  The song, released in 1966 climbed only to # 88 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart, although it made it to # 3 in England.  ‘Deep’ thought will bring forth the title of this song.  

4.  This California based male/female duo had several hits during the 1960’s, but their ‘mountain’ song in 1961 was their biggest ever hit.  Another one of their hits was “Thou Shalt Not Steal” in 1965.  No need to get ‘high’ to guess the answer to this ‘mountain’ song title.    

5.  This country/pop ‘mountain’ hit ‘climbed’ all the way to # 6 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart, # 3 on the Easy Listening chart and # 1 for 9 weeks on the Country singles chart in 1962.  It’s a song about Clifton Clowers and his daughter.  That ole Clifton’s ‘mighty handy with a gun and a knife”.  It was the biggest hit for singer Claude King, who co-wrote the song.  Can you name it?    

ANSWERS

1.  Marv Johnson had the # 20 hit, “(You’ve Got To) Move Two Mountains” in the fall of 1960.  Marv’s two biggest hits also happened in 1960 – “You Got What It Takes” made it to # 10 and the follow up, “I Love The Way You Love” went to # 9.  The Detroit native was the first artist released on Berry Gordy’s Tamla label (#101) with the song, “Come To Me” in 1959, which made it to # 30.  Berry Gordy either wrote or co-wrote all of Marv’s hits, except for two of his British successes, “I’ll Pick A Rose For My Rose” (written by J. Dean, M. Weatherspoon and Marv Johnson) and “I Miss You Baby” (written by Motown writer/producer Clarence Paul).  Marv Johnson died in May of 1993 at the age of 54.                                                                                                               

2.  The group was called Mountain.  The members of the band were Leslie West – guitar whiz, Felix Pappalardi – bass, Steve Knight – keyboards, and drummer N.D. Smart, who was replaced after their Woodstock performance by Canadian drummer Corky Laing.  “Mississippi Queen´ was their biggest hit, reaching #21 on Billboards Top 100 chart.  The album that that song came from, “Climbing” went to # 17 on the album chart.  Felix Pappalardi produced 3 Cream albums, “Disraeli Gears”, “Goodbye” and “Wheels of Fire”.  He was shot in the neck by his wife in their East Side Manhattan apartment on April 17, 1983 and died at the scene.     

3.  “River Deep, Mountain High” was a NON hit for Ike & Tina Turner in North America in 1966.  The song, co-written and totally produced by the legendary Phil Spector (now a California prison inmate convicted of murder), was planned to be his biggest triumph.  Although it was a medium success in Great Britain, the song only made it to # 88 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart.  The British band, Deep Purple took the same song to # 54 in 1969 and two years later, in 1971, The Four Tops & The Supremes re-did it and it shot to # 14.     

4.  “The Mountain’s High” was the first charted hit for Dick & DeeDee, going all the way to # 2 in 1961.  Dick St. John and DeeDee Sperling were Dick & DeeDee.  Two of their other hits were: “Young And In Love” (# 17 in 1963) and “Thou Shalt Not Steal (# 13 in 1965).     

5.  “Wolverton Mountain” is an actual mountain in Arkansas, although it’s spelled Woolverton.  Clifton Clowers.  The song was written by Claude King and Clifton’s nephew, Merle Kilgore Clowers.  Clifton was a veteran of WW I and he was also a Deacon in his Baptist Church.  He lived on the northern edge of the mountain and died at the age of 102 in 1994.