Leslie West

Leslie West - Sixty Minutes With - 2007 - Voiceprint

Arguably one of the most influential rock guitarists of all time, Leslie West is probably best known for his work with the great hard rock band Mountain which Rolling Stone once called a ‘louder version of Cream’, and its classic “Mississippi Queen.” Leslie has played with many great rock musicians, from ex-Scorpion Michael Schenker to the one and only Jimi Hendrix. "Sixty Minutes With" is a great, mostly covers compilation album. There's some classic songs here composed by artists including George Harrison, Free, Jimi Hendrix, Jack Bruce & Pete Brown, Willie Dixon, Jagger & Richards, T-Bone Walker, Charlie Carp, and Warren Haynes. Joe Bonamassa recorded Warren Haynes' "If Heartaches Were Nickels" together. Leslie West released it on Guitarded (2005), and Joe Bonamassa on A New Day Yesterday (2000). All of these tracks have appeared on previous albums, but if you've forgotten how good artists like Leslie West and Mountain are, this album is a great reminder. Listen to Leslie's "Blue Me" album and Mountain's great "Climbing" album. Keep on rockin' in the free world! [All tracks @ 192 Kbps: File size = 85.8 Mb]

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Cell - Leslie West, Jon Tiven, Sally Tiven 4:14
2 Old Brown Shoe - George Harrison 5:33
3 Stealer - Andy Fraser, Paul Rodgers, Paul Kossoff 2:17
4 Red House - Jimi Hendrix 4:39
5 Theme for an Imaginary Western - Jack Bruce & Pete Brown 6:53
6 Spoonful - Willie Dixon 7:32
7 Honky Tonk Woman - Mick Jagger & Keith Richards 3:17
8 Stormy Monday - T-Bone Walker 7:09
9 Sea of Fire - Leslie West & George Cintron 4:58
10 Talk Dirty - Charlie Carp 3:36
11 If Heartaches Were Nickels - Warren Haynes 7:52
12 Alligator - Leslie West 3:23

For a full list of musicians on Leslie's albums, check out http://www.softshoe-slim.com/lists/w/west_leslie.html

BIO

Leslie West first gained recognition as the lead guitarist for the Vagrants, a locally popular 1960s Long Island group. One of that group's singles was produced by Felix Pappalardi, a bass player who also produced Cream. After the Vagrants and Cream split up, Pappalardi played bass on and produced West's debut solo album, Mountain (July 1969). Following its release, the two teamed up with drummer Norman Smart (soon replaced by Corky Laing) and keyboard player Steve Knight to form the band Mountain, which cut the albums Climbing! (February 1970; a gold-selling LP featuring the Top 40 single "Mississippi Queen"), Nantucket Sleighride (January 1971; which also went gold), and Flowers of Evil (November 1971). In 1972, Pappalardi left Mountain to return to being a producer. (Posthumous record releases included Mountain Live (The Road Goes on Forever) [April 1972] and The Best of Mountain [February 1973].) West and Laing joined with former Cream bassist Jack Bruce to form West, Bruce & Laing. The trio recorded two studio albums, Why Dontcha (October 1972) and Whatever Turns You On (July 1973). (A live album, Live 'N' Kickin', was released in April 1974.) Bruce quit in the summer of 1973, and West and Laing briefly formed Leslie West's Wild West Show. Then West, Pappalardi, Alan Schwartherg (drums), and Bob Mann (keyboards) re-formed Mountain, recording a double live album, Twin Peaks (February 1974), in Osaka, Japan, in August 1973. This was followed by a Mountain studio album, Avalanche (July 1974), made by West, Pappalardi, Laing, and Knight. Then Mountain split again, and West formed the Leslie West Band, releasing The Great Fatsby (April 1975) (which featured Mick Jagger) and The Leslie West Band (1976) (which featured Mick Jones, later of Foreigner). Bedeviled by substance abuse problems, West retired from music for a time, then cleared up and again re-formed Mountain with Laing and bassist Mark Clarke (Pappalardi had died in 1983) for Go for Your Life (March 1985). The group broke up again, and West made Theme (1988), again teaming with Jack Bruce. West then participated in the Guitar Speaks (1988) and Night of the Guitar (1989) recordings of legendary rock guitarists for IRS Records' Illegal subsidiary. His next solo album was Alligator (August 1989), followed by Dodgin' the Dirt (1994). In 1994, West and Laing teamed with ex-Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding in another edition of Mountain, recording two tracks for the compilation Over the Top (1995). The solo As Phat as It Gets followed in 1999. After an album for Voiceprint, Guitarded, in 2004, West released two blues-inflected albums for Blues Bureau International, 2005's Got Blooze and 2006's Blue Me. West lost a leg due to complications from type 2 diabetes in June of 2011, but it didn't slow him down much. He released Unusual Suspects, which featured guest spots from guitarists Billy Gibbons, Slash, Zakk Wylde, Joe Bonamassa, and Steve Lukather three months later in September. © William Ruhlmann © 2012 Rovi Corp | All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/leslie-west-mn0000255371