CGDustDevil
Buckeye
I didn't see any notations for Leslie West's passing back just before Christmas, so I thought I'd post something in his honor...
Leslie West was best known for his band Mountain which had a few hits, most notably Mississippi Queen which has become a bit of a standard in live performances by many bands... I got to see Mountain in Boston many years ago in an underground venue which had been converted from a grocery store. The place was truly a dive... No chairs, just small tables and foot rails around the many posts that held the ground floor of whatever was up above the place. They served beer only in pitchers only... No beer glasses. It was a wild place for a young fella on his first Harley! ;)
Mountain was there the night I was there, and I wish I'd been more sober. The place was rockin'... My ears rang for days afterward. But I remember 'the big guy' with the guitar... He was on fire. That was Leslie... Yep.
Leslie was a guitarist's guitarist. He wasn't known to many by name, but almost everyone has heard him at one time or another. West had a thing about tone and simplicity that fascinated fans and other musicians alike.
Leslie started out with a band called The Vagrants where he ran into future band mate and collaborator Felix Pappalardi who was involved with Cream on the Disraeli Gears record in 1967 or so. Leslie was a really big & heavy guy, and used the name Mountain first as his own band before Felix became a member. Thus, the band name "Mountain" stuck with Leslie throughout the remainder of his career.
The most well known configuration of Mountain was Leslie on guitar, Felix on bass and Canadian drummer Corky Laing hammering out the time. Felix and Leslie shared vocal duties. Felix left to return to producing records, and Leslie and Corky teamed up with Jack Bruce from the now defunct Cream in the early 70s as "West, Bruce and Laing" which featured Al Kooper from Blood, Sweat and Tears on keyboards.
Leslie was regarded as a guitar guru by nearly everyone in the business. I never heard anyone say a bad word about him. Leslie was high strung, yet personable, funny, unpredictable and enormously talented. He was as 'un-rock-star' like as you'd ever see. He suffered many health problems, many self induced over his career. He lost his right leg to diabetes in 2011, but he was back on the road in a wheel chair as soon as he could figure out how to make his stage stuff work.
Leslie died following a cardiac event at 75 a couple days before Christmas.
I've included 3 notable links... For those who might find themselves uncomfortable with foul language - Leslie was never bashful about saying what was on his mind! ;)
Leslie with Peter Frampton not too long after he lost his leg performing a blistering version of Mississippi Queen in 2013. Frampton can't quit smiling!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMhPgo2fofg
This link was from a tour he did in the 80s... He was doing some of his best work in spite of his problems with drugs and his health. This show was from the Hammersmith in London. This is Never In My Life... Perhaps the best version he ever did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP_Ezh4twgU
Lastly, this link was Leslie & Corky from Pasadena, Ca in 2003 doing a modified version of Nantucket Sleighride.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heH1yS5vXOU
He was one of a kind... RIP Leslie...
Leslie West was best known for his band Mountain which had a few hits, most notably Mississippi Queen which has become a bit of a standard in live performances by many bands... I got to see Mountain in Boston many years ago in an underground venue which had been converted from a grocery store. The place was truly a dive... No chairs, just small tables and foot rails around the many posts that held the ground floor of whatever was up above the place. They served beer only in pitchers only... No beer glasses. It was a wild place for a young fella on his first Harley! ;)
Mountain was there the night I was there, and I wish I'd been more sober. The place was rockin'... My ears rang for days afterward. But I remember 'the big guy' with the guitar... He was on fire. That was Leslie... Yep.
Leslie was a guitarist's guitarist. He wasn't known to many by name, but almost everyone has heard him at one time or another. West had a thing about tone and simplicity that fascinated fans and other musicians alike.
Leslie started out with a band called The Vagrants where he ran into future band mate and collaborator Felix Pappalardi who was involved with Cream on the Disraeli Gears record in 1967 or so. Leslie was a really big & heavy guy, and used the name Mountain first as his own band before Felix became a member. Thus, the band name "Mountain" stuck with Leslie throughout the remainder of his career.
The most well known configuration of Mountain was Leslie on guitar, Felix on bass and Canadian drummer Corky Laing hammering out the time. Felix and Leslie shared vocal duties. Felix left to return to producing records, and Leslie and Corky teamed up with Jack Bruce from the now defunct Cream in the early 70s as "West, Bruce and Laing" which featured Al Kooper from Blood, Sweat and Tears on keyboards.
Leslie was regarded as a guitar guru by nearly everyone in the business. I never heard anyone say a bad word about him. Leslie was high strung, yet personable, funny, unpredictable and enormously talented. He was as 'un-rock-star' like as you'd ever see. He suffered many health problems, many self induced over his career. He lost his right leg to diabetes in 2011, but he was back on the road in a wheel chair as soon as he could figure out how to make his stage stuff work.
Leslie died following a cardiac event at 75 a couple days before Christmas.
I've included 3 notable links... For those who might find themselves uncomfortable with foul language - Leslie was never bashful about saying what was on his mind! ;)
Leslie with Peter Frampton not too long after he lost his leg performing a blistering version of Mississippi Queen in 2013. Frampton can't quit smiling!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMhPgo2fofg
This link was from a tour he did in the 80s... He was doing some of his best work in spite of his problems with drugs and his health. This show was from the Hammersmith in London. This is Never In My Life... Perhaps the best version he ever did.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP_Ezh4twgU
Lastly, this link was Leslie & Corky from Pasadena, Ca in 2003 doing a modified version of Nantucket Sleighride.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heH1yS5vXOU
He was one of a kind... RIP Leslie...
