"Mississippi Queen" is a song by the American rock band Mountain. Considered a rock classic, it was their most successful single, reaching number 21 in the Billboard Hot 100 in 1970. The song is included on the group's debut album and several live recordings have been issued. Drummer Corky Laing explained that he had developed some of the lyrics and the drum part prior to his joining the band. Later, when guitarist Leslie West was looking for lyrics for a guitar part he had written, Laing pulled out "The Queen" and the two worked out the song together; bassist/producer Felix Pappalardi and lyricist David Rea also received songwriting credits. "Mississippi Queen" was recorded during the sessions for Mountain's 1970 debut album Climbing!, but without keyboard player Steve Knight. Pappalardi provided the piano part and during the recording, he insisted on numerous takes. Growing weary, Laing started using the cowbell to count off the song; Pappalardi liked it so much he left it in the mix, creating the song's recognizable intro. Leslie West, explained: "The cowbell in the beginning was just in there because Felix wanted Corky to count the song off. So we used the cowbell to count it off - it wasn't put in there on purpose. And it became the quintessential cowbell song." Mississippi is a special place for Leslie West not only because of this song, but because it's where he had part of his leg amputated. On June 18, 2011, the day after playing a show at the Hard Rock Cafe in Biloxi, West's right leg began to swell and he was taken to the emergency room in a Biloxi hospital, where it was amputated below the knee to save his life (West is diabetic). West told Songfacts: "When I play 'Mississippi Queen' now, I think about Jesus Christ. Of all places to lose my leg, it was Mississippi." West stated in a Guitar Player magazine interview about the gear and production of the song that, “It’s only one guitar track on the rhythm – a [Gibson] Les Paul TV Jr. into a 50-watt Marshall that went into a Sunn 12-inch cabinet." The guitar leads were later overdubbed. "Mississippi Queen" appears at number 10 on a 1995 chronological list of the "50 Heaviest Riffs of All Time" by Guitar magazine editorial staff. Author Scott R. Benarde describes the song as "an enduring anthem" with a "guitar riff that sounded like a carnivore choking on dinner". The song is ranked 230th in The Top 500 Heavy Metal Songs of All Time by biographer Martin Popoff; it also appears at number 10 on the Ultimate Classic Rock 2011 list of the "Top 10 Southern Rock Songs". Spin magazine described it as "the cowbell jam to end all cowbell jams. Mountain are to the cowbell what Dostoevsky is to the Russian novel" in naming it number one on its 2004 list of the "Fifteen Greatest Cowbell Songs of All Time". Ozzy Osbourne recorded "Mississippi Queen" for his 2005 album Under Cover, with a guest appearance by West on guitar. The song reached number 10 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. Leslie West explained how "Mississippi Queen" came together: "When Corky (Laing, drummer) brought me the idea, it was a one-chord dance song. We got real high, took out a napkin, and I came up with the main riff and the chords. Then we fit the words over the sound." Laing says of the song: "I was madly in love with The Band, and I decided to put a 'Cripple Creek' feel behind it. Later on, I told Levon Helm that I felt bad about ripping him off, but he said that he didn't hear any similarity between the two songs, and that we didn't owe them any money!" Corky Laing started working on this song with David Rea, who was a friend of the band and frequent collaborator - he and Mountain bass player Felix Pappalardi were in Ian & Sylvia's band. The only Mississippi city mentioned in the song is Vicksburg, which according to Rea is because that's what he came up with when Laing asked him if he knew any towns in the state. Vicksburg is a small city on the Mississippi River known as the site of a famous Civil War battle in 1863. TV, movie and video game uses of this song include: The title of a episode of the anime series Cowboy Bebop The Simpsons in the 1996 "Homerpalooza" episode The Dukes of Hazzard movie in 2005 Guitar Hero III in 2007 Rock Band in 2007 The Expendables movie in 2010 Regular Show in "Weekend at Benson's," 2012 This was used in a popular commercial for Miller Genuine Draft beer where some guys traveling in a jungle open a bottle of the beer to magically freeze the body of water separating them from some lovely ladies who beckon. This song got a music video for the first time on Aug 27, 2020, when Mountain posted a collage-style animated clip on YouTube. Mississippi Queen Mountain Written by: Leslie A. Weinstein, Felix Pappalardi, David Rea, Laurence Laing Album: Climbing! Released: 1970 Mississippi Queen If you know what I mean Mississippi Queen She taught me everything Way down around Vicksburg Around Louisiana way Lived a Cajun lady... txt limit

This artwork was produced before the War in Ukraine. My theory is that much of the incorporation of the graphene driven injections with mRNA were studies and perfected at the University of Kiev by and through incentives for the local population to undergo medical experiments for payment. Notice all the eerie "organic" paintings. Looks like Igor may have worked in a Medical Lab or been influenced by those cut away pictures you always see hanging in the exam room of the doctor's office. "My name is Igor Vitkovskiy, I'm digital and traditional artist based in Ukraine, Kyiv. I worked 4 years as a professional concept artist and illustrator in the game industry. Now I'm focused on personal projects and art. Also I'm author of a lot powerful photoshop brushes and tools for digital artists. My works was featured in the worlds best digital art artbooks - EXPOSE 10 & russian artbook ARQUTE." Q. What got you started in the wonderful world of digital art? A. Oh, this was a long time ago! At school at the age of 8-10 I discovered Microsoft Paint when I got my first PC at age 10-11. I used Paint to create slides for my cartoon that I animated in Microsoft movie maker, also added some music and effects and had a lot of fun :) Then I discovered a software called Game Maker... I used to paint all my pixel art and sprites inside Photoshop back then, all my paintings was very bad and I didn't really expect that I could be a professional artist one day. I also painted a lot of fan art, sci-fi, my own board game cards and so I had some traditional painting basics before doing digital art. Then I got a Genius Tablet… I think I made like 2-3 artworks and forgot about this horrible tool. Then I went through 4 years of web & graphic design… I needed money to play WoW on official servers, so I was making banners for adult websites and other small gigs using Photoshop for 1$ - that was a start. Then were collages, matte-paintings and I was finally able to get a Wacom tablet at the age of 18. This is the start of my real digital art path. I think I've tried everything: 3D, animation, VFX, web design, matte, but got only one true love – Digital concept art & illustration. Q. What is your best advice for young artists looking to build a career doing art? A. Doing art is simple, doing good art is very hard. Learn your basics & tools as much as you can, try to paint every piece as best as you can and try to always make any new painting better than the previous. It doesn't matter it's personal art, free work or paid work. You're doing art commissions for 10$? Spend as much effort as if you were getting paid $1000 instead. Never stop growing and you will succeed. Q. Do you have a ritual or a particular steps you take before you paint to boost your creativity? A. Mostly – no. For client work it's easy – you have a description – gather some references – thumbnails – done! For personal art I'm working mostly with abstract shapes, just doodling with no idea just waiting to catch something interesting. Laying on a couch in silence helps my brain generate some nice ideas and designs. I just have to make sure not to lose them later when I do art. Q. Favorite food? A. Hmm…fried potatoes & vegan salads mostly, pea soup cooked by me & my girl :) Q. During what time of the day are you the most creative? A. Mid day from 1 to 6 PM & evening/night from 8 PM to 5 AM. I've tried all sleeping modes, from waking up in the evening at 6-8 PM and going to sleep in the morning at 10-11 am (most horrible and depressive of life ever) to waking up early in the morning at 5-6 AM (you feel really fresh, but very lazy most of the day, and not very productive) and going to sleep at night at around 9-11 PM. My most comfortable and productive schedule is waking up in the morning at 8-10 AM and going sleep at 12-5 AM. Q. How did you end up creating awesome brush packs for other artists to use? A. It started when I realized that mostly all packs of brushes from different artists are similar…same trees, same basic brushes, clouds, oil brushes, they were all using and sharing the same ones and calling it their own. So I started to actually create my own custom brushes to replace those from other artists in my brush set, with the goal to only have unique and useful tools made for me, by me. Interesting brushes can also impact your in a cool way, so experimenting with brushes is always good if you want to make your art and stronger. I have a huge number of custom brushes but most are still yet to be released. They will be soon! I have only 1 experimental set of gouache & acrylic emulation brushes, but I will update it soon also because this is was only my first try and it can be improved. For fun I made a few crazy brush packs like Shia Labeouf Motivation brushes, Most Depressive PS Brushes, Game of thrones brushes - all created in a few hours and made available for free. Text Limit