Corky Laing

Corky Laing

Laing; February, 2016, Hamburg
Background information
Birth name Laurence Gordon Laing
Born (1948-01-26) January 26, 1948
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genres Rock, hard rock, psychedelic rock, blues-rock, heavy metal
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter
Instruments Drums, guitar
Years active 1961–present
Labels Elektra, Epic, Lightyear
Associated acts Mountain, West, Bruce and Laing, Cork

Laurence Gordon "Corky" Laing (born January 26, 1948)[1] is a Canadian rock drummer, best known as a longtime member of pioneering American hard rock band Mountain.[1]

Biography

A native of Montreal, Quebec,[1] 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 "Gordon". "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 a 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.

Laing, with West, Bruce and Laing, Musikhalle Hamburg, April 1973

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 late 1977, he recorded an album with John Cale (former Velvet Underground member), Ian Hunter (from Mott the Hoople) and Mick Ronson.[2] This album wasn't released.

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.

2000s

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. Laing's interest in education led him to attend the KoSA Music Camp in Vermont for the summer of 2012.

Collaborations

Discography

With Mountain

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

With West, Bruce and Laing

With Leslie West & Leslie West Band

With Bartholomew plus III

Bartholomew was the well known Montreal guitarist Barry "Bull" Albert

With Cork

As Corky Laing

With I. Hunter, M. Ronson and F. Pappalardi

With The Mix

With Corky Laing and the Perfct Child

Guest appearances

Other

References

  1. 1 2 3 Nastos, Michael G. (2011). "Corky Laing Biography". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  2. ↑ WERKSMAN, Hans Fear is a man's best friend: Timeline: 1977
  3. ↑ thodoris (2014-06-20). "Interview:Corky Laing (Mountain,West Bruce & Laing, 'Playing God' Rock Opera) – Hit Channel". Hit-channel.com. Retrieved 2016-09-17.
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