In 1976, after two solo albums, Ian Hunter joined forces with Mountain drummer Corky Laing and former Free bassist Andy Fraser in a band they named Pompeii. And, like the ancient Italian city, the album they recorded back then was recently unearthed.
Titled The Secret Sessions, it was Laing's attempt to stay with Elektra/Asylum records after the demise of Mountain. "My record company was preparing to bail on me, but before doing so, they asked if I wanted to form a so-called 'supergroup.' I had no choice, and so began the journey into The Secret Sessions."
They started recording with producer Bob Ezrin, but he soon left to work with Pink Floydon The Wall. Fraser also bailed, but Laing and Hunter turned to Felix Pappalardifrom Mountain and Mick Ronson from Hunter's previous band, Mott the Hoople. Also helping out were Eric Clapton, Dickey Betts, Todd Rundgren, John Sebastian and Mountain guitarist Leslie West, but the album was never released...until now.
Laing dug out the tapes and 1,000 copies will be released on April 21st -- Record Store Day. It contains the original 10 tracks along with four bonus tracks recorded by Laing and his current band.