West, Leslie

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Leslie West

Guitar player, singer, songwriter

Leslie West imposed himself on the national music scene with a blistering performance at the Woodstock Festival in 1969. The rotund musician had made a name for himself on the East Coast as the lead guitarist for the Vagrants. He went solo in 1969 with an album titled Mountain, which featured bass playing and production by Felix Pappalardi, the multi-faceted individual who oversaw production of Cream's psychedelic blues masterpiece Disraeli Gears. Pappalardi applied the same studio mastery to Mountain, and netted a gig as West's studio and touring band bass player. The partnership eventually evolved into the heavy metal group Mountain, after drummer Corky Laing and keyboardist Steve Knight enlisted. Mountain enjoyed modest success as a critically panned Cream-wannabe band, but thrilled live audiences with such raucous fare as the single "Mississippi Queen." After Mountain broke up, West enjoyed a stint as leader of the power trio West, Bruce & Laing, featuring his Mountain drummer and former Cream bassist, singer, and composer Jack Bruce. Amazingly, the group met with little success, and West once again went solo. Since his professional heyday of the 1970s, West has released several critically well-received albums in between semi-regular re-formations of Mountain.

West was born Leslie Weinstein in Forest Hills, New York. West's uncle, Will Glickman, worked as a writer for the Jackie Gleason Show. West's grandmother took him to a filming of the show, only to find out that the scheduled filming had been canceled. Instead, he wound up sitting in the studio audience of Elvis Presley's inaugural television appearance on The Stage Show. Mesmerized, the young Weinstein took up the guitar. His first band, the Vagrants, initially began playing rhythm-and-blues cover songs, much like other Long Island, New York, bands such as the Young Rascals and Jay and the Americans. While playing a residency at the Rolling Stone Club in New York City, the band earned recording contracts with Vanguard Records and Atco. The latter was the American label for the British Rock power trio Cream, which featured Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Jack Bruce. The group's breakout single was supposed to be a cover of Otis Redding's "Respect," but Atco overshadowed the release by issuing Aretha Franklin's version. After several other singles failed to receive national attention, West recorded Mountain with production and bass playing by Pappalardi and drumming from N.D. Smart. Pappalardi, as noted previously, had produced Cream's Disraeli Gears, and the sound he captured for West's solo effort was a combination of Cream and fellow power trio the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Gail Collins, Pappalardi's future wife, contributed lyrics to the Cream single "Strange Brew." All Music Guide critic William Rhulmann characterized the Mountain outing as "dominated by West's throaty roar of a voice and inventive blues-rock guitar playing."

In order to tour behind the Mountain album, West recruited Pappalardi, Smart, and keyboardist Steve Knight. Dubbing the band Mountain, West debuted the group at impresario Bill Graham's Fillmore West in San Francisco. The group's fourth live performance occurred at the 1969 Woodstock Festival in upstate New York. The group convened shortly thereafter to record the official Mountain debut, Mountain Climbing, which featured the single "Mississippi Queen." The single attained modest success, rising to number 21 in its four-month stay on the Billboard charts, while the album entered the Top Ten and achieved gold status. The album also marked the permanent replacement of Smart with former Mountain roadie Corky Laing on drums. The group recorded several more albums and released subsequent singles, but never matched the success of Mountain Climbing. They broke up in 1972, but re-formed periodically until the death of Pappalardi in 1983 from a gunshot wound inflicted by his wife, Gail. West and Laing teamed with Jack Bruce to form the short-lived power trio West, Bruce & Laing, releasing two studio albums and one live album before disbanding. West and Laing formed Leslie West's Wild West Show before re-forming Mountain with Pappalardi, drummer Alan Schwarthberg, and keyboardist Bob Mann for the 1974 live set Twin Peaks, recorded in Osaka, Japan. Later that year West, Laing, Pappalardi, and rhythm guitarist David Perry banded together to record Avalanche before going their separate ways in 1974.

For the Record …

Born Leslie Weinstein on October 22, 1945, in Forest Hills, NY.

Guitarist and songwriter with group Vagrant, 1960s; recorded first solo album, Mountain, 1969; formed band Mountain with Felix Pappalardi, 1970; formed West, Bruce & Laing with bassist Jack Bruce and drummer Corky Laing, 1973; re-formed Mountain, 1973; released second solo effort, The Great Fatsby, 1975; re-formed Mountain with Laing and bassist Mark Cla, 1985; released solo album, As Phat as It Gets, 1999; recorded blues albums Got Blues and Blues Me in 2004 and 2005, respectively.

Addresses: Management—John M. Aubel, Forecast Productions Inc., P.O. Box 217, East Islip, New York 11730-9998; phone/fax: (631) 277-2352; e-mail: info @mountaintheband.com. Booking—Fantasma Tours, 2000 South Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, FL 33401-7714; phone: (561) 832-6397, fax: (561) 832-2043; e-mail: [email protected].

West and Laing retired to the studio to record the next two albums of West's solo career, The Great Fatsby and The Leslie West Band. The former album featured such guests as Mick Jagger on rhythm guitar, who also played on "High Roller," a track co-written by West, Laing, Jagger, Keith Richards, and Sandra Palmer. All Music Guide critic Joe Viglione called the song "a second cousin to 'Brown Sugar,' and for Rolling Stone fans, it's a must have, a rare '70s co-write and collaboration with another artist." Viglione added, "For Leslie West fans, the album is a departure from the Mountain onslaught and a treat." West covered songs from British bands Free ("Little Bit of Love") and Sharks ("Doctor Love"), and also rendered admirable interpretations of the Leadbelly chestnut "House of the Rising Sun" and Tim Hardin's "If I Were a Carpenter." The latter two songs featured vocal duets with female singer Dana Valery. The album closer was a soft, melodic instrumental titled "E.S.P.," which West performed on 12-string guitar with flute accompaniment. On the follow-up album, West performed the Beatles' song "Dear Prudence."

Throughout the 1980s West battled substance abuse problems, but resurfaced in the latter part of the decade with As Phat as It Gets. Gone was the legendary girth of guitarist, but the heavy sound he produced was intact. Portions of the album were recorded with George Thorogood's band the Destroyers and with Kim Simmonds of Savoy Brown. He returned to the failed Vagrants' single "Respect," and recorded covers of the T-Bone Walker blues song "Stormy Monday" and the Champs's "Tequila." In recent years West has focused on recording rock and blues covers, with varying success. The unfortunately titled Guitarded featured covers of the Beatles' "Old Brown Shoe," Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild," and a remake of the Mountain song originally sung by Pappalardi, "Theme for an Imaginary Western." Got Blooze featured Tim Bogert from Vanilla Fudge on bass, along with legendary British rock and blues drummer Aynsley Dunbar.

Selected discography

With Mountain

Climbing!, Columbia, 1970.
Nantucket Sleighride, Columbia, 1971.
Flowers of Evil, Columbia, 1972.
Mountain Live: The Road Goes on Forever, Windfall, 1972.
Twin Peaks, Columbia, 1974.
Avalanche, Columbia, 1974.
Go For Your Life, Scotti Brothers, 1985.
Man's World, Viceroy Architect, 1996.
Live, Double Classics, 1998.
Greatest Hits Live, King Biscuit, 2000.
Mystic Fire, Lightyear, 2002.
Eruption, Fuel 2000, 2004.

With West, Bruce & Laing

Whatever Turns You On, Windfall, 1973.
Why Dontcha?, Columbia, 1973.
Live'N'Kickin', Windfall, 1974.

Solo albums

Mountain, Columbia/Legacy, 1969.
The Great Fatsby, RCA/Phantom, 1975.
The Leslie West Band, RCA/Phanton, 1976.
Theme, Passport, 1988.
Alligator, IRS, 1989.
Live, Shrapnel, 1993.
Dodgin' the Dirt, Blues Bureau, 1994.
As Phat as It Gets, Lightyear, 1999.
Blues to Die For, Blues Bureau, 2003.
Guitarded, Voiceprint, 2005.
Got Blooze, Blues Bureau, 2005.
Blue Me, Blues Bureau, 2006.