Mountain can be seen as somewhat of a successor to Cream. The band emerged out of the Long Island-based psychedelic/garage band the Vagrants. The group never took off, despite a strong local following, but lead guitarist Leslie West, who was transformed by Eric Clapton (who, in case you didn't know was part of Cream before going on to experience a successful solo career,) met Cream associate and producer Felix Pappalardi in 1968 and signed the group to Atlantic soon afterward. That year West left the Vagrants to pursue a solo career, releasing the solo effort Mountain for which Pappalardi played keyboard and bass in addition to producing. When the duo realized it sounded a lot like Cream, they formed a partnership called Mountain. Mountain's first lineup featured N.D. Smart on drums and Steve Knight on keyboards while Pappalardi stuck with bass.

Mountain played their fourth-ever live performance at Woodstock (not a bad early gig!) and then replaced Smart with Corky Laing before they signed with Windfall and released their debut album Mountain Climbing! in 1970 along with their debut single "Mississippi Queen." With its fusion of rock and blues, the album peaked at number 17 and also spawned radio hits "Theme from an Imaginary Western" and "Never in My Life." After performing at the Atlanta International Pop Festival in 1970, they released 1971's Flowers of Evil, which didn't match the success of its predecessor. Mountain's next release was Mountain Live (The Road Goes Ever On), and the band broke up soon after its release largely due to Pappalardi's hearing problems. After releasing a Best of Mountain LP, the group was back together in 1973 with West, Pappalardi, Bob Mann on keyboards and Allan Schwartzberg on drums for a tour of Japan. A live album resulted featuring a 32-minute version of "Nantucket Sleighride." West, Laing and Pappalardi came together in 1974 for Avalanche and continued to team up for live shows although in 1983 Pappalardi was shot and killed by his wife. The most recent incarnation of Mountain was in 2002, when West and Laing released Mystic Fire.