LESLIE WEST
''COLLECTION''
SEP 2007
56:58
BLUES BUREAU INTERNATIONAL
1/Boom Boom
John Lee Hooker
2/Don't Start Me Talkin'
Sonny Boy Williamson
3/Crosscut Saw
R.G. Ford
4/Blues Before Sunrise
Leroy Carr
5/Hit the Road Jack
Percy Mayfield
6/Crossroads
Robert Johnson
7/House of the Rising Sun
8/Baby Please Don't Go
McKinley Morganfield
9/Sinner's Prayer
Lowell Fulson
10/Look at Little Sister
11/Whisky Train
Keith Reid / Robin Trower
12/Summertime
Ira Gershwin / DuBose Heyward
Art Groom /Hammond B3
Tim Bogert /Bass, Guitar (Bass)
Randy Coven /Bass
Kevin Curry /Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Rhythm), Guitar Arrangements
Andy Doerschuk /Drums
Aynsley Dunbar /Drums
Timothy Fahey /Bass
Steve Hunter /Dobro
Brian John Mitchell /Piano
Kevin Neal /Drums
Mike Onesko /Guitar (Rhythm), Producer
Brad Russell /Bass, Guitars
Tim Fahey /Guitar (Bass)
Leslie West /Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Producer, Slide Guitar, Vocals
Todd Wolfe /Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm)
REVIEW
by Jeff Tamarkin
The blues has informed Leslie West's work since the earliest days of Mountain, but Collection, which cherry-picks from his output for the Blues Bureau label (1993-2006), is the most concentrated assemblage yet of the guitarist's covers within the blues idiom. It's easy to imagine West putting plenty of muscle into classics like John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom," Robert Johnson's "Crossroads," and Muddy Waters' "Baby Please Don't Go," and he does. The latter especially burns, with West unreeling a screaming solo and strangled vocals, ably abetted by drummer Aynsley Dunbar, bassist Tim Bogert, and rhythm guitarist Kevin Curry. But some of the most surprising moments occur where you'd least expect them. The album ends with two songs that couldn't be more opposite in tempo: a rowdy take on Procol Harum's "Whisky Train" and a "Summertime" that puts more soul into the George and Ira Gershwin standard than anyone has since Janis Joplin. And Ray Charles' "Hit the Road Jack," stripped down to a core of West's guitar and Brian Mitchell's piano, and devoid of its familiar jumping rhythm, recasts the song in a mournful mode befitting of its finality.
BIOGRAPHY
by William Ruhlmann
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.
''COLLECTION''
SEP 2007
56:58
BLUES BUREAU INTERNATIONAL
1/Boom Boom
John Lee Hooker
2/Don't Start Me Talkin'
Sonny Boy Williamson
3/Crosscut Saw
R.G. Ford
4/Blues Before Sunrise
Leroy Carr
5/Hit the Road Jack
Percy Mayfield
6/Crossroads
Robert Johnson
7/House of the Rising Sun
8/Baby Please Don't Go
McKinley Morganfield
9/Sinner's Prayer
Lowell Fulson
10/Look at Little Sister
11/Whisky Train
Keith Reid / Robin Trower
12/Summertime
Ira Gershwin / DuBose Heyward
Art Groom /Hammond B3
Tim Bogert /Bass, Guitar (Bass)
Randy Coven /Bass
Kevin Curry /Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Rhythm), Guitar Arrangements
Andy Doerschuk /Drums
Aynsley Dunbar /Drums
Timothy Fahey /Bass
Steve Hunter /Dobro
Brian John Mitchell /Piano
Kevin Neal /Drums
Mike Onesko /Guitar (Rhythm), Producer
Brad Russell /Bass, Guitars
Tim Fahey /Guitar (Bass)
Leslie West /Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Producer, Slide Guitar, Vocals
Todd Wolfe /Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm)
REVIEW
by Jeff Tamarkin
The blues has informed Leslie West's work since the earliest days of Mountain, but Collection, which cherry-picks from his output for the Blues Bureau label (1993-2006), is the most concentrated assemblage yet of the guitarist's covers within the blues idiom. It's easy to imagine West putting plenty of muscle into classics like John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom," Robert Johnson's "Crossroads," and Muddy Waters' "Baby Please Don't Go," and he does. The latter especially burns, with West unreeling a screaming solo and strangled vocals, ably abetted by drummer Aynsley Dunbar, bassist Tim Bogert, and rhythm guitarist Kevin Curry. But some of the most surprising moments occur where you'd least expect them. The album ends with two songs that couldn't be more opposite in tempo: a rowdy take on Procol Harum's "Whisky Train" and a "Summertime" that puts more soul into the George and Ira Gershwin standard than anyone has since Janis Joplin. And Ray Charles' "Hit the Road Jack," stripped down to a core of West's guitar and Brian Mitchell's piano, and devoid of its familiar jumping rhythm, recasts the song in a mournful mode befitting of its finality.
BIOGRAPHY
by William Ruhlmann
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.
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