Corky Laing
Encyclopedia
Laurence Gordon "Corky" Laing (born January 26, 1948) is a Canadian
rock
drummer
, best known as a longtime member of pioneering American hard rock
band
Mountain
. He is also noted with performing what would become one of the most sampled drum breaks in hip hop
history when he played on the live version of Mountain's song Long Red.
, Quebec
, Laing was the youngest in a family of five children. His eldest sister Carol was followed by triplet brothers, Jeffrey, Leslie, and Stephen, and then by Corky. According to Corky, his brothers called him "Gorky" because they could not pronounce his given name. "Gorky" eventually morphed into Corky, a moniker which has remained with him throughout his career.
Getting his break playing drums
for vocal group
The Ink Spots
in 1961, he later played in a group called Energy, who were produced by Cream
collaborator and Laing's future bandmate Felix Pappalardi
. Laing left Energy in 1969 to replace drummer N.D. Smart in hard rock
outfit and heavy metal
forerunner Mountain, who, with Laing at the drum kit
, released three albums and the classic song "Mississippi Queen
" between 1970 and 1971.
After the band's first breakup the following year, Laing and Mountain bandmate Leslie West
went on to form blues-rock
power trio
West, Bruce and Laing
with former Cream
bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce
. West, Bruce and Laing produced two studio albums and a live release before Mountain reformed in 1974 and released two more albums, Avalanche and the live
Twin Peaks
, only to break up again shortly after. The band would once again reconvene in 1985 upon the release of Go For Your Life, and Laing has continued with them to this day, most recently working on the band's 2007 Bob Dylan
cover album Masters of War
.
In addition to Mountain, he has recorded as the group Cork
, with Spin Doctors guitarist/vocalist Eric Schenkman and Noel Redding
, formerly bass guitarist of The Jimi Hendrix Experience
. In late 1975, he played congas on several tracks on Bo Diddley
's all-star album The 20th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll.
In 2003, Laing and Leslie West authored Nantucket Sleighride and Other Mountain on-the-Road Stories, a chronicle of their time with Mountain in its heyday and their careers in the years following.
Laing lives in Toronto's historic Liberty Village
and was interviewed for the 2006 documentary film Liberty Village - Somewhere in Heaven
. He contributed the music for the film from recordings of his band Cork
.
In 2007, Laing recorded Stick It!, the audio version of his memoirs with Cory Bruyea in Oakville, Ontario
.
(1970) Nantucket Sleighride (1971) Flowers of Evil
(1971; partially live) Avalanche
(1974) Go for Your Life
(1985) Man's World
(1996) Mystic Fire
(2002) Masters of War
(2007)
1973 - Whatever Turns You On
1974 - Live 'n' Kickin'
and West, Bruce and Laing
, see their pages.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
, best known as a longtime member of pioneering American hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
Mountain
Mountain (band)
Mountain is an American hard rock band that formed in Long Island, New York in 1969. Originally comprising vocalist and guitarist Leslie West, bassist Felix Pappalardi and drummer N. D. Smart, the band broke up in 1972 before reuniting in 1974 and remaining active until today...
. He is also noted with performing what would become one of the most sampled drum breaks in hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
history when he played on the live version of Mountain's song Long Red.
Biography
A native of MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, Laing was the youngest in a family of five children. His eldest sister Carol was followed by triplet brothers, Jeffrey, Leslie, and Stephen, and then by Corky. According to Corky, his brothers called him "Gorky" because they could not pronounce his given name. "Gorky" eventually morphed into Corky, a moniker which has remained with him throughout his career.
Getting his break playing drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
for vocal group
Vocal music
Vocal music is a genre of music performed by one or more singers, with or without instrumental accompaniment, in which singing provides the main focus of the piece. Music which employs singing but does not feature it prominently is generally considered instrumental music Vocal music is a genre of...
The Ink Spots
The Ink Spots
The Ink Spots were a popular vocal group in the 1930s and 1940s that helped define the musical genre that led to rhythm and blues and rock and roll, and the subgenre doo-wop...
in 1961, he later played in a group called Energy, who were produced by Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
collaborator and Laing's future bandmate Felix Pappalardi
Felix Pappalardi
Felix A. Pappalardi Jr. was an American music producer, songwriter, vocalist, and bass guitarist.- Early life :Pappalardi was born in the Bronx, New York...
. Laing left Energy in 1969 to replace drummer N.D. Smart in hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
outfit and heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
forerunner Mountain, who, with Laing at the drum kit
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, released three albums and the classic song "Mississippi Queen
Mississippi Queen
"Mississippi Queen" is a song by the American rock band Mountain. Considered a rock classic, it was their most successful single, reaching #21 in the Billboard Hot 100 record chart in 1970...
" between 1970 and 1971.
After the band's first breakup the following year, Laing and Mountain bandmate Leslie West
Leslie West
Leslie West is an American rock guitarist, singer and songwriter.-Biography:Originally named Leslie Weinstein, West was born in New York City, grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey, and in East Meadow, Forest Hills and Lawrence. After his parents divorced, he changed his surname to West...
went on to form blues-rock
Blues-rock
Blues rock is a hybrid musical genre combining bluesy improvisations over the 12-bar blues and extended boogie jams with rock and roll styles. The core of the blues rock sound is created by the electric guitar, piano, bass guitar and drum kit, with the electric guitar usually amplified through a...
power trio
Power trio
A power trio is a rock and roll band format where the traditional power trio has a lineup of guitar, bass and drums, leaving out the rhythm guitar or keyboard that are used in other rock music to fill out the sound with chords...
West, Bruce and Laing
West, Bruce and Laing
West, Bruce and Laing were a blues-rock power trio super-group consisting of Leslie West , Jack Bruce and Corky Laing . In 2009 West and Laing teamed up with Jack Bruce's son, Malcolm, and began touring as West, Bruce Jr...
with former Cream
Cream (band)
Cream were a 1960s British rock supergroup consisting of bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce, guitarist/vocalist Eric Clapton, and drummer Ginger Baker...
bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher "Jack" Bruce is a Scottish musician and songwriter, respected as a founding member of the British psychedelic rock power trio, Cream, for a solo career that spans several decades, and for his participation in several well-known musical ensembles...
. West, Bruce and Laing produced two studio albums and a live release before Mountain reformed in 1974 and released two more albums, Avalanche and the live
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks (album)
Twin Peaks is a live album by hard rock band Mountain. Their first release following their 1972 breakup and subsequent reformation, the lineup consisted of original member Leslie West and Felix Pappalardi joined by guitarist/keyboardist Bob Mann and drummer Allan Schwartzberg. The revamped Mountain...
, only to break up again shortly after. The band would once again reconvene in 1985 upon the release of Go For Your Life, and Laing has continued with them to this day, most recently working on the band's 2007 Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
cover album Masters of War
Masters of War (album)
Masters of War is a 2007 album by Mountain. The album consists entirely of Bob Dylan covers.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Bob Dylan# "Masters of War" 4:38# "Serve Somebody" 3:55...
.
In addition to Mountain, he has recorded as the group Cork
Cork (band)
Cork is a rock duo/supergroup consisting of Eric Schenkman and Corky Laing . Though not an official member, the duo have worked closely with Noel Redding , who has both toured with and recorded with Cork...
, with Spin Doctors guitarist/vocalist Eric Schenkman and Noel Redding
Noel Redding
Noel Redding was an English rock and roll guitarist best known as the bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience.-Biography:...
, formerly bass guitarist of The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Jimi Hendrix Experience
The Jimi Hendrix Experience were an English-American psychedelic rock band that formed in London in October 1966. Comprising eponymous singer-songwriter and guitarist Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until June 1969, in which...
. In late 1975, he played congas on several tracks on Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley
Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
's all-star album The 20th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll.
In 2003, Laing and Leslie West authored Nantucket Sleighride and Other Mountain on-the-Road Stories, a chronicle of their time with Mountain in its heyday and their careers in the years following.
Laing lives in Toronto's historic Liberty Village
Liberty Village
Liberty Village is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded at the north by King Street West, the west by Dufferin Street, the south by the Gardiner Expressway, the east by Strachan Avenue, and the northeast by the CP railway tracks...
and was interviewed for the 2006 documentary film Liberty Village - Somewhere in Heaven
Liberty Village - Somewhere in Heaven (film)
Liberty Village - Somewhere in Heaven is a 2006 documentary film about the Liberty Village neighbourhood in Toronto, Canada.The film was produced and directed by David Sloma and features interviews with residents of Liberty Village, such as "Corky" Laing of the supergroup Mountain, who contributed...
. He contributed the music for the film from recordings of his band Cork
Cork (band)
Cork is a rock duo/supergroup consisting of Eric Schenkman and Corky Laing . Though not an official member, the duo have worked closely with Noel Redding , who has both toured with and recorded with Cork...
.
In 2007, Laing recorded Stick It!, the audio version of his memoirs with Cory Bruyea in Oakville, Ontario
Oakville, Ontario
Oakville is a town in Halton Region, on Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area. As of the 2006 census the population was 165,613.-History:In 1793, Dundas Street was surveyed for a military road...
.
Collaborations
- Bo DiddleyBo DiddleyEllas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
- Mahogany RushMahogany RushMahogany Rush is a Canadian rock band led by guitarist Frank Marino. The band had its peak of popularity in the 1970s, playing such venues as California Jam II together with bands such as Aerosmith, Ted Nugent and Heart....
- John LennonJohn LennonJohn Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
- Bobby Keyes
- Ten Years AfterTen Years AfterTen Years After is an English blues-rock band, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, Ten Years After scored eight Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart...
- David Rea
- Mylon LeFevreMylon LeFevreMylon LeFevre is an American Christian music singer, who was the leader of the Grammy Award-winning band Mylon and Broken Heart. He is a member of the Gospel Music Association Hall of Fame. He currently travels around the United States, ministering, teaching and singing...
- Meat LoafMeat LoafMichael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
Studio albums
Climbing!
-Personnel:Mountain*Leslie West – guitars on all tracks except 6; vocals on all tracks except 6 and 7*Felix Pappalardi – bass on all tracks except 6 and 7; piano on tracks 1, 2 and 9; rhythm guitar and vocals on track 7; production...
(1970) Nantucket Sleighride (1971) Flowers of Evil
Flowers of Evil (album)
Flowers of Evil is the third album by American hard rock band Mountain. It was their first live outing, with the second vinyl side consisting of material recorded on October 10, 1971 at the Woods-Brown Amphitheater of American University, Washington DC....
(1971; partially live) Avalanche
Avalanche (Mountain album)
Avalanche is a 1974 album by Mountain, currently available on CD. It featured a reunion with drummer Corky Laing.- Track listing :# "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" - 5:05# "Sister Justice" - 3:58...
(1974) Go for Your Life
Go For Your Life (album)
Go For Your Life is a studio album released in 1985 by Mountain.-Track listing:# "Hard Times", 4,20# "Spark", 3,36# "She Loves Her Rock ", 3,39# "Bardot Damage", 3,59# "Shimmy on the Footlights", 4,13...
(1985) Man's World
Man's World (album)
Man's World is a 1996 album by Mountain. It was their first album for over 10 years. It featured a cover of the James Brown song "It's a Man's Man's Man's World."-Track listing:# "In Your Face" 4:19# "Nobody Gonna Steal My Thunder" 3:50...
(1996) Mystic Fire
Mystic Fire
Mystic Fire is a 2002 album by Mountain. It features the song "Immortal", which was cowritten with and originally performed by Clutch.The song "Immortal" was originally released with different lyrics, and a different arrangement, as the song "Baby I'm Down" on Mountain, Leslie West's first solo album...
(2002) Masters of War
Masters of War (album)
Masters of War is a 2007 album by Mountain. The album consists entirely of Bob Dylan covers.-Track listing:All tracks composed by Bob Dylan# "Masters of War" 4:38# "Serve Somebody" 3:55...
(2007)
With West, Bruce and Laing
- 1972 -
Why Dontcha
Why Dontcha is the first studio album by power trio West, Bruce and Laing.The album features "The Doctor," which received heavy FM radio airplay upon the album's release and became a signature song in live performance for the band...
Whatever Turns You On (album)
Whatever Turns You On is the second and last studio album by blues-rock power trio/supergroup West, Bruce and Laing.The album features a black-and-white comic strip on its front and back covers depicting the alleged "turn-ons" of the band's members - Leslie West's is food, Jack Bruce's alcohol, and...
Live 'n' Kickin'
Live 'n' Kickin' is a live album by the power trio West, Bruce and Laing, released in 1974. It was the band's final album, as they disbanded shortly before its release....
Selected discography
For his work with MountainMountain (band)
Mountain is an American hard rock band that formed in Long Island, New York in 1969. Originally comprising vocalist and guitarist Leslie West, bassist Felix Pappalardi and drummer N. D. Smart, the band broke up in 1972 before reuniting in 1974 and remaining active until today...
and West, Bruce and Laing
West, Bruce and Laing
West, Bruce and Laing were a blues-rock power trio super-group consisting of Leslie West , Jack Bruce and Corky Laing . In 2009 West and Laing teamed up with Jack Bruce's son, Malcolm, and began touring as West, Bruce Jr...
, see their pages.
- 1977: Makin' It On the Street
- 1999: The Secret Sessions
- 1999: Cork - Speed of Thought
- 2003: Cork - Out There