Mount Rushmore - High On/69' (1969 us, heavy raw bluesy garage psych, 2002 edition)

This third generation, late 60s San Francisco rock group comprised Glen "Smitty" Smith (vocals), Mike "Bull" Bolan (guitar), Terry Kimball (bass) and Travis Fullerton (drums). Although they failed to garner the same commercial or artistic plaudits of many contemporaries, the group's two albums revealed a competent, if unadventurous, act. Mount Rushmore disbanded in 1969 following the release of their second album, although Fullerton later found success as a member of Sylvester And The Hot Band. 

Opening a debut LP with Jimi Hendrix's "Stone Free" is a bold move and a curious choice, establishing the territory that the band will mine and exactly how they measure up to the gold standard (in Mount Rushmore's case, nowhere near). However, High on Mount Rushmore contains some tracks of interest to the dedicated psych-rock historian. "I Don't Believe in Statues" closes out side one and functions as a manifesto of sorts, an indignant outsider cry set to charging riffs that sound like an Amboy Dukes record warped by the sun. 

by Fred Beldin

Tracks
1. It’s Just The Way I Feel (Glenn Smith) - 4:33
2. 10:09 Blues (Glenn Smith) - 5:55
3. Toe Jam (Glenn Smith, Mike Bolan, Travis Fullerton, Terry Kimball) - 5:48
4. V-8 Ford Blues (Willie Lowe) - 2:36
5. Love Is The Reason (Dotzler, Phillips, Bolan, Levin, Esterlie) - 4:00
6. I’m Comin’ Home (Glenn Smith, Mike Bolan) - 7:29
7. King Of Earrings (Warren B. Phillips) - 3:58
8. Somebody Else’s Games (Glenn Smith) - 4:35
9. Stone Free (Warren B. Phillips) - 4:01
10.Without No Smog (Glenn Smith, Mike Bolan) - 5:29
11.Ocean (Glenn Smith, Mike Bolan) - 4:10
12.I Don’t Believe In Statues (Warren B. Phillips) - 4:11
13.Looking Back (Glenn Smith, Mike Bolan, Travis Fullerton, Terry Kimball) - 9:37
14.(‘cause) - She’s So Good To Me (Bobby Womack) - 3:40
15.Medley: Funny Mae (Buster Brown) / Dope Song (Glenn Smith) - 7:20

Mount Rushmore
*Mike Bolan "Bull" - Guitar
*Glenn Smith "Smitty" - Vocals, Guitar
*Travis Fullerton - Drums, Percussion
*Terry Kimball - Bass

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