Stick It

As Mountain's drummer, Corky Laing lived a life of sex, drugs, and rock & roll in the '60s and '70s. In 2002, he published his memoirs, here reformatted as an audio book. This two-CD set features Laing telling--actually reading in a relaxed and lively tone--several slices of the book, with musical illustrations picked throughout his recording career. Laing is a quirky character, the "funny uncle" type, a man who saw a lot, did a lot, was puzzled by a lot, and, here, rats it all out. His anecdotes about life on the road are crude and occasionally unflattering for his bandmates, but quite entertaining. Even if you don't know the man's work, his bouts of name-dropping will keep you in the loop, as you will also hear stories about Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, Meat Loaf, even Jesse Ventura, Salvador Dal¡, and actress Marilyn Chambers. Laing holds nothing back, and if most of the set is devoted to life-on-the-road stories (with Mountain, the Leslie West Band, and West, Bruce & Laing), the drummer also goes into deeper thoughts on drug use, creativity, the music business, and departed friends. There is nothing revelatory on STICK IT, as accounts of the rock life abound, but it makes for a pleasant and endearing listen, nonetheless.|

As Mountain's drummer, Corky Laing lived the high life of sex, drugs, and rock & roll in the '60s and '70s. In 2002 (a has been-turned-executive by then) he published his memoirs, here reformatted as an audio book. This two-CD set features Laing telling -- actually reading in a relaxed and lively tone -- several slices of the book, with musical illustrations picked throughout his recording career. Laing is a quirky character, the "funny uncle" type, a man who saw a lot, did a lot, was puzzled by a lot, and, here, rats it all out. His anecdotes about life on the road are crude and occasionally unflattering for his bandmates, but quite entertaining. Even if you don't know the man's work, his bouts of name-dropping will keep you in the loop, as you will also hear stories about Mick Jagger, John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, Meat Loaf, even Jesse Ventura, Salvador Dali, and actress Marilyn Chambers. Laing holds nothing back, and if most of the set is devoted to life-on-the-road stories (with Mountain, the Leslie West Band, and West, Bruce & Laing), the drummer also goes into deeper thoughts on drug use, creativity, the music business, and departed friends. There is nothing revelatory in Stick It, as accounts of the rock life abound, but it makes a pleasant and endearing listen. ~ Francois Couture