Biography
Valerie Mountain emerged in the early to mid-'60s as an English pop and rock vocalist who traveled from her Bristol origins all the way to a performance at London's Royal Albert Hall, an achievement notable for someone who issued just two singles, one of them tied to a film that achieved cult status rather than widespread commercial triumph even within Britain. Her exceptional vocal ability nonetheless left a lasting impression on listeners, including this author, across more than four decades. Born in Bristol during 1942, she spent her formative years in the nearby resort community of Weston-super-Mare, roughly 18 miles from the city along the channel. While still a teenager she set her sights on a stage career, securing a place with the Cliff Adams Singers by 1960 and performing at Blackpool's Big Show, all while retaining her position at the Port of Bristol Authority. Events shifted decisively in 1961 when Rev. Ernest Marvin, minister at St. James Presbyterian Church in the Lockleaze district of northern Bristol, composed the play A Man Dies. This modern retelling of the Jesus narrative targeted younger viewers and featured an original rock & roll score. Mountain joined the premiere staging, performing all 16 songs alongside local musicians that included Ricky Forde and his group the Strangers. EMI's Columbia label issued a single that year containing "Go It Alone" backed with "Gentle Christ" from the score, and a full cast album soon followed that showcased both Mountain and Forde. She took part in five additional mountings of this pioneering rock "Passion Play," all occurring nearly a decade before Jesus Christ Superstar, and also appeared in a British ABC network broadcast of the production as well as on the EMI-Columbia recording. Her short-cropped dark hair projected an image that anticipated by nearly twenty years the stripped-down aesthetic later associated with new wave and punk, an effect that, paired with her commanding vocal delivery, created a striking stage persona. In early 1964 she performed A Man Dies with the company at the Royal Albert Hall.
While A Man Dies occupied much of her attention, Bristol served as the setting for the Anglo-Amalgamated Pictures feature Some People, released in 1962. Commissioned to support a Duke of Edinburgh community initiative directed at teenagers at risk of delinquency or already involved in it, the film starred Kenneth More, David Hemmings, Ray Brooks, and Angela Douglas. Ron Grainer supplied the title theme, which Mountain recorded with the local Bristol band the Eagles. Her resonant, forceful voice, which also supplied the vocals for Angela Douglas, conveyed both a robust and a somber quality. In an early 1964 interview with John Coe of the Bristol Evening Post she stated, "I just sing rather low, like a coloured [sic] singer," declining to assign any specific label to her approach or range. Although her Pye Records version of the theme grazed the British charts, alongside competing renditions by Carol Deene and former Shadow Jet Harris, neither the motion picture nor the single secured her an ongoing recording agreement. After marrying in 1964 she stepped away from any further pursuit of a pop or rock career, instead devoting herself to raising two daughters. The audience cultivated by A Man Dies sustained her following through subsequent years. Reports from 2008 indicated that she had lived for an extended period in the United States, where she developed recognized expertise in ikebana, the art of Japanese flower arranging.
While A Man Dies occupied much of her attention, Bristol served as the setting for the Anglo-Amalgamated Pictures feature Some People, released in 1962. Commissioned to support a Duke of Edinburgh community initiative directed at teenagers at risk of delinquency or already involved in it, the film starred Kenneth More, David Hemmings, Ray Brooks, and Angela Douglas. Ron Grainer supplied the title theme, which Mountain recorded with the local Bristol band the Eagles. Her resonant, forceful voice, which also supplied the vocals for Angela Douglas, conveyed both a robust and a somber quality. In an early 1964 interview with John Coe of the Bristol Evening Post she stated, "I just sing rather low, like a coloured [sic] singer," declining to assign any specific label to her approach or range. Although her Pye Records version of the theme grazed the British charts, alongside competing renditions by Carol Deene and former Shadow Jet Harris, neither the motion picture nor the single secured her an ongoing recording agreement. After marrying in 1964 she stepped away from any further pursuit of a pop or rock career, instead devoting herself to raising two daughters. The audience cultivated by A Man Dies sustained her following through subsequent years. Reports from 2008 indicated that she had lived for an extended period in the United States, where she developed recognized expertise in ikebana, the art of Japanese flower arranging.