Singer, songwriter and guitarist Leslie West, best known as the front man of the early 1970's hard rock group Mountain, died today following a heart attack several days ago. He was 75.
West grew up on Long Island where in early adulthood he along with his brother Larry formed a garage rock band called The Vagrants. While with The Vagrants, West would meet Felix Pappalardi who would was instrumental in signing them to Atco Records. By the end of the 1960's, West and Pappalardi would form Mountain and make an appearance at Woodstock.
In 1970, Mountain would have its biggest hit with "Mississippi Queen" with West on lead vocal and cowbell in abundance. Although Mountain did not have a long peak at the top they had a profound influence on the development of heavy metal music with West's guitar playing being a great deal of that influence. In later years, West would also leave a legacy in hip-hop as his vocal and the drum break in "Long Red" was sampled hundreds of times. So indeed there is a straight line from Leslie West to Kanye West. The heavyset West's attempt at a solo career fizzled. Aside from a brief collaboration with fellow Mountain alum Corky Laing and Cream's Jack Bruce in West, Bruce & Laing, West spent the rest of his career performing with various iterations of Mountain.
I leave you with West singing "Don't Look Around" during a 1971 appearance by Mountain on the West German TV show Beat Club. R.I.P.
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