Corky Laing

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

He and guitarist/vocalist Leslie West were the only members to appear on every album.

A native of Montreal, Quebec, 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 the vocal group The Ink Spots in 1961, he later played in a group called Energy, which was 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.

After the band's first breakup the following year, Laing and Mountain bandmate Leslie West went on to form the 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 without Laing in 1973 for a Japanese tour releasing the live Twin Peaks.

Laing rejoined in 1974 recording Avalanche only for Mountain to break up again shortly after.

In late 1975, he played congas on several tracks on Bo Diddley's all-star album The 20th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll.

In late 1977, he recorded an album with Felix Pappalardi (former Mountain bass player), Ian Hunter (from Mott the Hoople) and Mick Ronson.

The band would once again reconvene with guitarist Leslie West and Laing in 1985 for the release of Go For Your Life, and Laing has continued with them, most recently working on the band's 2007 Bob Dylan cover album Masters of War.

In 1991, he was featured on Men Without Hats' cover version of The Beatles' song "I Am the Walrus" on drums.

This is available on the Sideways album.

This album was not released at the time but was subsequently released in the UK in 1999 as "The Secret Sessions".

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 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.

In 2016, he formed Corky Laing's Mountain, with former Mountain bassist Richie Scarlet, now on lead guitar, and the bass slot was filled in by Mark Mikel, Joe Venti, or Bernt Ek.

In 2019, he released his autobiography, Letters to Sarah.

Following the death of Leslie West in December 2020, Laing became the last surviving member of Mountain's classic lineup.