Mississippi Queen

UCRs top 100 classic rock songs list brings us to #77: Mountain "MISSISSIPPI QUEEN"

Mountain stomps onto our list with one of the mightiest riffs of all time, as featured on "Mississippi Queen."

This 1970 classic packs a whole lot of jolt into just two and a half minutes.The cowbell counts things off like an alarm, and then guitarist Leslie West delivers that famous and fantastic introduction. Fresh from a legendary appearance at Woodstock the year before, Mountain were on the rise in 1970 and the very catchy, yet very heavy, "Mississippi Queen" pushed the band up the ranks of rock royalty.

The song was the lead track from their first album, Climbing, and the single reached No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 early in that year. West's savage guitar, along with the rhythm section of Corky Laing on drums and bassist Felix Pappalardi added up to one mighty fine power trio.

"Mississippi Queen" became an iconic slice of hard rock, influencing many an aspiring guitar hero over the following years and decades.