Elephant Mountain
The Youngbloods
1969
Album Summary
Elephant Mountain is an album by the American rock band The Youngbloods, released in 1969. It reached number 118 on the Billboard 200 chart.
WikipediaThis is an interesting album. I... I think I liked it? There are certainly no stand-out tracks. Nothing to point to and say, "that was a great song!" but, at the same time, I really enjoyed listening to it as background music. Nothing disagreeable in the album (apart from a brief saxophone solo which was as tasteful as that sort of thing can be). Nothing great either. So strange. Not entirely sure how to rate it so it's getting a middling 3.
Sublimely lowkey. Great background, great foreground. Sounds unique and yet matches its contemporaries. I love the folk, psychedelic, and Bluesy vibes going on here.
The sound is fantastic from the get go. Loved all the songs, very folksy. In the same breath, it sounds old and contemporary, it's just an excellent album.
I'd never heard of this album, or the band until now, but I'm glad I found out about them. The music is just so good! I can't believe how good this album has been, from start to finish!
Jammy, folksy, but totally not over the top. Light and fluffy like a merengue (am I good at album reviews???)
Already loving the bluegrass feel as soon as the album starts. Anything that sounds like Outlander is good. Singer sounds like Neil Young. It started like bluegrass but now it's turning into late '60s rock. I do like how every song has a different style, and each one is a pleasant little diddy. (Note after listening) Well that was awesome. The album escalated with each song and ended on a very high note. Will 100% listen again.
Great opening song, and the rest of the album is good vibing music, how have I never heard of this band?!?!?!?!!!
5/5 - Like some of this older folk music: it's good for what it is, but not my cup of tea.
From the lyrics to the music, how it plays with rock, and tries different sounds. I liked it.
Black Mountain Breakdown 👌 Seems like folk is pretty timeless accidentally listened to the whole thing twice
Folk rock. Late 60's. Psychedelic rock. Fun songs, love some of the harmonies. Mellow but upbeat. Perfect for helping keep things light and happy while working.
Absolutely beautiful album. My perception is that The Youngbloods are less cited than other popular counterculture musicians but they are great standard bearers for the movement. The lyrics are poetic and still relevant to our culture 50+ years later. I love everything about this album. The instrumentation is dated but that’s fine. It’s of it’s time. So much fun.
Really good album! Groovy blues and funky rhythms. It resembles me a bit of Creedence Clearwater Revival.
Did not know this album yet but it is excellent in every aspect and I have listened to it non-stop for several times.
dude so good and like crazy diverse, J can’t believe all these songs are on the same album made by the same band, that’s crazy - 10/10
This was a very nice surprise. I was expecting more boring Neil Young folk rock nonsense but instead I got: Blues, folk, jazz, country, soul, rock, funk, ragtime, psychedelic, 60s silliness. Will defo listen again.
Très belle découverte de cette liste. Honnêtement pas un mauvais moment sur l'album. Pourquoi ce n'est pas plus connu je ne comprends pas.
Mi sorprende che non conoscessi affatto questa band. Un album eclettico in cui ogni traccia rappresenta un genere diverso: folk, soul, perfino jazz. Sicuramente approfondirò la loro discografia.
Monta kuuntelua, aina tuli fiilis, et on pikkukekkulissa lauantaipäivänä auringonpaisteessa
Virkeligt fedt album. En smooth og easy listening plade med en blandet rock/jazz stil. Tæt på 5 stjerner
Great album. Amazing guitar and cool use of a variety of instruments. Definitely listening again
I enjoyed this slightly folkier/jazzier version of the Allman Brothers. Some really solid songs as well as some that were just low key and kind of fun. Favorite Tracks: “Darkness, Darkness,” “Smug,” and “Ride the Wind”
I knew the songs but couldn't tell you their name or the band, they are a classic, nice instrumentation and a powerful voice
Good folk music—fiddling, acoustic guitar, EYC. Sometimes reminiscent of Irish folk music
The little musical interludes were kind of fun breaks to actual tracks and I think set the album up well. I enjoyed the sorta lighthearted vibe, and the sound from these older albums just sounds good, so I really enjoyed it without knowing how to describe it. The Francis Drake one that was long and purely instrumental also caused me to dive into his Wikipedia page, so I’ll add an extra star for the potential LearnedLeague help.
Enjoyed it end to end... the first ~30 seconds were awesome, then from there I liked the bluesy parts, instrumentals, even the little slide whistle and the elevator music opening on the last track. Close to a 5 for me but I just didn’t hear the homerun song
Nog nooit iets van gehoord en aangenaam verrast. Ik hoorde er van alles in: Nick Drake, The Beatles, Aaron Neville etc.
a bit of a blur, but I vaguely recall this as pleasant and old school. need to listen again
Yet another I've never heard of that is incredibly impressive. I don't get all the hullabaloo around the 70s when the 60s seem to have stuff like this
Nice and chili folk rock. I specially liked the track 'on sir Francis drake'. A mellow instrumental whit jazz and psychedelic influences.
Darkness Darkness-Already impressed by the fiddle (?) ish start. The lyrics are so...dark. heh. liking that riff with the main vocals. i really should learn proper music terms lmao. Smug-has a country like melody to it so far. Damn that was so short! On Sir Francis Drake-its an instrumental piece? sounds not bad. and whoops two songs went by without me noticing. Beautiful-chill feel good piece. Rain song- lmao relistening to the album. i like it better than yesterdays bc rock still doesnt jive with me much. this ones like a mix of different genres altogether, jazz, some rock, swing? country, idk. nice tunes regardless. very alternative i think? oh lmao wiki says its folk rock/country rock/psychidelica? sounds about right actually. not bad. maybe this rock i can jive with.
Very trippy, jazzy, cool! Started with kind of a dark hippy Darkness Darkness (later covered by Robert Plant), got into loose jazzy improv-feeling Francis Drake…Beautiful is 60s bluesy Janis Joplin-esque (or JC superstar)
I like this … not listened to them before …. Great opening track … nice bass … Big Tim Buckley fan
This was a cool ass album, need to check it out some more, prob a 3 but ill be generous
25th October 2021 Listened on the living room speaker while working, quiet day. Started fight club work out. I really enjoyed this - combination of folk and Hill Country blues. Right up my alley.
I would listen to this again in a heartbeat, and it is getting saved in my library. Not every song is a masterpiece, but that's okay. I also started to get the vibe that some tracks sound like they could have been made yesterday, which is GREAT. I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but it sure is mine!
This was delightfully jolly. A surprise that it was as early as 1969....would go 4.5 stars if the scale went there
-"Darkness, Darkness" has an awesome distorted guitar sound -It gets kinda slow across the middle of the record -"If the world was peanut butter, we'd be sticking by each other" is a stunning lyrics from "Don't Let The Rain Bring You Down" -Cool sax and drummery in "Quicksand" -Great guitar and drum jamming in "Sham." It might be my favorite track from the album -Definitely some great moments, but needs more oomph or consistency to get to 5 stars
Five stars loaded in the nerf gun, ready to fire at will. We're overdue for a 1001 miracle. Who are these guys. The name suggests an underground classic. It's 1969. Great band name. It's all almost there. Some of the songs were perfect. Loved the jazzier business. Love anything in 6/8 time. Some Love. Some Canned Heat. Some Fairport Convention. Some of it fell flat, but a nice surprise from 1001. A-
Someone should have told them that delay effects on the first couple tracks sounds toilet
Never heard this one before. It feels like someone tried to distill the sound of 60's rock into a single album. Every song could be on a movie soundtrack to set the period.
What a great album! Weirdly, no one track stood out, bit the bright, free feeling of the whole thing made it zip by in a pleasing mix of crunchy guitar and bouncy organ. Nothing outstayed it's welcome. It was all very fun and joyous! An underrated gem.
Somewhat jazzy. I like it and it's not necessarily what I expected when compared to their biggest hit.
Entre la portada, la época del disco y el nombre de la banda, la neta esperaba más de esa onda de Crosby Stills Nash Young et. al. pero no, nada de eso. Me latió bastante el sonido como de predecesor del rock setentero, con algo como de Alabama como en Sunlight y Double Sunlight, los metales en Quicksand y las guitarras acusticas y pianos en general.
Pretty enjoyable, with two great songs. I do not know why it is a must-listen-to, but I liked it.
Good, fun 60's pop. Not particularly exciting or ground-breaking, but enjoyable and of good quality.
I feel like this is something y’all won’t like, so naturally it is right up my alley. 3.75
I enjoyed every song on this album, with no exception. Trillium was a highlight. I can certainly think of worse ways to spend 39 minutes than listening to solid folk rock.
This album was so nice. Not so much psychedelic as it was folk jazz? Not complaining at all. This was a great album!
When this started out I was thinking \"oh no, not another 60s folk rock album\" but this one really surprised me. Elements of jazz, blues, funk, country. It's quirky and interesting. I kept thinking it was over and Spotify had moved on to a new artist or album but it was the same album.
Super into "Darkness, Darkness." Love this style of folk rock (or whatever subgenre this would be).
Loving the soft vibe of this with its jazzy, bluesy folk rock influences. Favourites: "Darkness, Darkness", "On Sir Francis Duke", "Sunlight"
Whoa! The musical genres on this album are really diverse. It starts off with a folk music song, violin included! Followed by a country folk/rock song. The album then goes towards a more jazz style with a couple of songs/ballads. Then it takes a turn and treats it's listeners to a few rock songs. It then keeps floating a bit between the rock and jazz styles. I like it alot, although the album is rather short.
This album is a very eclectic range of sounds. A very pleasant listening experience. 4/5.
The Youngbloods - Elephant Mountain: I didn't expect to like this album at all, but like most of my presumptions, I couldn't have been more wrong. This album is a near-perfect amalgamtion of folk, country, and funk elements that, on tracks like "Beautiful", come into divine fruition that is hard to replicate. The entire album itself is complimenary in track listing, dancing around to more folk finger-style pieces, then speeding up to groovy sections with amazing organ playing melody that completely breaks through the mix. The vocal recording also is unique in that, due to technological limitations of the time, the microphone often peaks during the more soulful and sang-from-the-heart sections of each song. The bass tone is absolutely milky and smooth, suturing itself underneath the dry yet so full guitar on tracks like "Don't Let The Rain Bring You Down" and, (again), "Beautiful". Overall, this album is a time capsule of a once free-spirited and young America, living off rock, booze, and any drugs the people could find. The only gripes I have are a few of the songs become a bit repetitive at times. Rating: 8.5/10 Favorite Song: "Beautiful"
Surprising little gem. The singer’s voice is stronger on some songs than the other but I’m mostly fascinated by this album because it’s the only one the band produced
Liked this album, lots of variety. Could feel jazzy at times, folky, 60's classic rock. Good blend.
Felt unfamiliar with this band, aside from it being a name that popped up in the histories of several musicians. Didn't recognize any of this album, but I liked it and felt like it was ahead of its time. After listening I checked out their one hit and the penny dropped: totally familiar, but I'd never associated it with a band before.
Its fine, but I dont think im gonna come back to it, and I question its placement on the list a bit. The opening and closing tracks are pretty great though
Not familiar with this band very much at all. The lead track was quite good and I was very surprised to see they from NYC. Solid
I appreciate that it was groovy and short but I didn't think too much of it. I think Elephant Mountain should be a location in Breath of the Wild 2.
This was a good record. Not my favorite, but I didn’t dislike it. Probably wouldn’t listen again, but I can see the influence it has on a lot of artists of that time.
Very fun for background music, but can't say I paid much more attention to it than that. Not sure if that says more about the album or my mindset these past couple days, but a 3 feels fair
I liked this. Darker Darker is a very solid song. As is Sir Frances Drake. I will revisit this album and possibly some of their earlier work
Fine. Never heard of it. Some nice bits. Would not say it's one of the greatest albums of all time though!
At the cusp of psychedelic and country rock lies Elephant Mountain. It feels like a curio the straddles the line between Woodstock and the disillusioned singer-songwriter diaspora that would arise in its wake. Favourite song: Darkness, Darkness
Solid tunes on this one, a little blues-y guitar and folk elements that work really well. "Darkness, Darkness" is a great track, and enjoyed it overall.
The band and the music are new to me. Some of the music remined me of Van Morrison. I could tell that the album comes from the late 60s, but I'm not quite sure how to categorize the music. "Trillium" and "On Sir Francis Drake" caught my attention, and are potential repeats. I enjoyed listening to something new. I would be curious to hear additional tracks from the band, but I don't imagine returning to this album for a second listen any time soon.
From the psychedelia of “Darkness Darkness” to the gentle, soulful “Quicksand,” this shows Jesse Colin Young at his songwriting best. (His later solo work would flutter away into lightweight fluff.) Elephant Mountain would be an outstanding mix of the Youngbloods’ blend of experimental rock and jugband folk if it weren’t for the pointless (and pointlessly long) blues-based instrumental jam “On Sir Francis Drake.” Clearly, the drugs had taken hold when they decided to plop this bore into the sweet space between the jangly “Smug” and the gorgeous “Sunlight.” Sigh.
A bit southern, some Beatles-like sounds, and a few things all over the map. Interesting enough for another listen through.
This is a weird little album, but good to sit around a fire to. Some of the tracks are great (Darkness, Darkness and Trillium) and others are just weird. In a not sexy way, haha.
An interesting mix of influences leads to an LP with a surprise around every corner. Though the instrumentals shuffle on well past their end-by date, each track still blossoms with its own unique sense of adventure.
Simple, cozy little folk songs with the band. You can tell there was some cross-influence with The Doors here, what with the jazzy drums and electric organ freestyle. Nothing too crazy, just nice songs played well.
I’ve never heard of The Youngbloods. And seeing as their Top 8 songs is the same Get Together I doubt I would of stumbled across them. This album is fun, some of the songs trail off to become all over the place. Darkness Darkness is my favourite.
This was pretty good. I wasn’t familiar with the Youngbloods other than their one big hit song. Surprised they didn’t have more success. Some of this is a bit mellow and sounds a bit dated, but overall a solid effort. 3 stars.
3.7 - A fusion of genres that feels airy and unforced. Sunny California folk country that sounds like a blend of the Doors, Byrds and Van Morrison. Some excellent electric piano work on here as well.
Elephant Mountain sounds way ahead of it's time, and some tracks have aged impressively. Darkness, Darkness is exactly the type of psychedelic rock that I appreciate (sharp guitars, no duck sounds), and Sunlight is delightfully mellow. The rest is decent, not worth puting on many more times than once.
Bit of a curate’s egg this one. Like the country/bluegrass/blues. Could live without the light jazz/soul.
A pleasant enough album that feels very transitionary. You can hear late stage Beatles here as well as mid stage Zeppelin. Pseudo Psychadelic and Pseudo Folky.
Very late sixties/hippy indulgence. Not terrible, just not what grabs me. Main grip was they can't really decide what kind of style they are and sound enough like other bands of their era that I would rather delve deeper into those artists.
Started out strong but left me wanting after the A side. I’d listen again, but my expectations are a lot lower now.