The Dec. 30 edition of The Boris Rock Show featured a tribute to Leslie West who passed away on Dec. 23 at the age of 75.
The Dec. 26 edition of Greasy Tracks also honored West. Click here to check out an archive of the program, while a playlist is here.
Best known for his work with the band Mountain, West, born Leslie Weinstein, began his recording career in 1964 with The Vagrants, a Long Island-based band that also included his brother, Larry, on bass and vocals. The group, which blended blue-eyed soul with rock, recorded a handful of singles and played the metro-New York City club circuit before breaking up in 1968.
The paths of West and Felix Pappalardi crossed when Pappalardi did some production work during recording sessions by The Vagrants. Pappalardi — who also played bass and sang — was best known for his production work on Cream’s Disraeli Gears and Wheels of Fire, would produce West’s debut solo album, Mountain, in 1969. Less than a month after its release, West and Pappalardi — who were heavily influenced by Cream — along with drummer Norman Smart and keyboardist Norman Landsberg formed Mountain.
By the time the unknown Mountain appeared at Woodstock — it was their third-ever gig, but they had the same booking agent as Jimi Hendrix — Steve Knight had replaced Landsberg and soon Corky Laing took over on drums. In the spring of 1970, the band delivered their debut album, Climbing!, which featured what would become the band’s signature song: “Mississippi Queen.”
The track eventually reached No. 21 in the Billboard Hot 100, while the album went to No. 17 on the Billboard Top 200.
In a 2020 interview with Guitar Player, West remarked about the song: “(It) has just everything you need to make it a winner. You’ve got the cowbell, the riff is pretty damn good, and it sounds incredible. It feels like it wants to jump out of your car radio. To me, it sounds like a big, thick milkshake. It’s rich and chocolatey. Who doesn’t love that?”
Along with Climbing!, this “classic” line-up released what are regarded to be the best studio efforts by the band along with Nantucket Sleighride and Flowers of Evil which each came out in 1971.
By early 1972, the band broke up, but West and Laing linked up with ex-Cream bassist Jack Bruce to form West, Bruce & Lang. The trio released a pair of largely pedestrian studio albums and a forgettable live offering before splitting up.
West regrouped Mountain in 1973. Between 1974-2007, the band — with a veritable rotating door of different members — released five studio albums, culminating with Masters of War, a collection of Bob Dylan covers, and four live collections. In all, West released nearly 20 studio and live albums as a solo artist.