Song of the Day 12/6: Mountain, “Nantucket Sleighride (To Owen Coffin)”
Long Island guitarist Leslie West was so impressed by Cream that he formed a band with Felix Pappalardi, who had produced the “Disraeli Gears” and “Wheels of Fire” LPs, on bass, to play the same kind of blues-soaked hard rock. Though they’re not much remembered today, Mountain was one of the bands that helped transform blues rock into heavy metal.
“Nantucket Sleighride,” the slang term for a harpooned whale pulling a whaleboat, was the highlight of the band’s second album, released in 1971. Owen Coffin was the name of a young sailor on the whales ship Essex, which was rammed and sunk by a sperm whale in 1820. The survivors drifted for months in lifeboats and resorted to cannibalism to survive; Coffin was the loser when the last four drew straws to determine who would die to feed the rest.
As an aside, the true story of the whaleship Essex supposedly provided the inspiration for Herman Meliville to write “Moby Dick.”
The excellent book by Nate Philbrick, “In the Heart of the Sea,” which told the story of the Essex, was made in to a 2015 motion picture of the same title. It’s worth seeking out.
All true, and I second the motion that the book is a worthwhile read. Never saw the film.
The movie actually ties in the Melville/”Moby-Dick” angle. Melville meets with Thomas Nickerson, the last surviving crew member of the Essex, in 1850, and offers him money for his story.
The movie is fairly well done, although it failed to recoup the production costs. It’s available on DVD and Blu-ray through the County library system
Is this the inspiration for the song “Timothy” as well? Timothy, Timothy, where on earth did you go-o-o-o?
They were actually down a mine, in the song “Timothy.” This topic has now gone way off the original post. 🙂 Next we should have the Monty Python skit “Still No Sign of Land.”
Captain: Listen, chaps, there’s still a chance. I’m done for; I’ve got a gammy leg, and I’m going fast. I’ll never get through, but some of you might. So…you’d better eat me.
Thompson: Yeuggh! With a gammy leg?
Captain: You needn’t eat the leg, Thompson. There’s still plenty of good meat. Look at that arm.
You know how it is — bring up cannibalism and it’s suddenly all people want to talk about.
There’s a great back story on that one. I promise to get to it soon.