LESLIE WEST
''UNUSUAL SUSPECTS''
SEPTEMBER 19 2011
47:48
1/One More Drink for the Road feat. Steve Lukather
Joseph Pizza / Leslie West /3:14
2/Mudflap Momma feat. Slash
Joseph Pizza / Jennifer West-Weinsten /3:06
3/To the Moon
Del Bronham / Leslie West /4:51
4/Standing on Higher Ground feat. Billy Gibbons
Billy Gibbons / Fabrizio Grossi / Leslie West /4:27
5/Third Degree feat. Joe Bonamassa
Eddie Boyd / Willie Dixon /5:10
6/Legend
Joseph Pizza 4:45
7/Nothin's Changed feat. Zakk Wylde
Joseph Pizza / Leslie West / 3:54
8/I Feel Fine
John Lennon / Paul McCartney /2:57
9/Love You Forever
Joseph Pizza / Leslie West /5:06
10/My Gravity
Jon Tiven / Leslie West /4:23
11/The Party's Over feat. Slash, Zakk Wylde
Willie Nelson /3:21
12/I Don't Know (The Beetlejuice Song)
Richard Christy / Lester "Bettle" Green / Leslie West /2:34
Kenny Aronoff /Drums, Percussion
Joe Bonamassa /Guitar, Vocals
David "Squiggy" Briglin /Guitar (Acoustic), Piano
Billy Gibbons /Guitar, Soloist
Fabrizio Grossi /Bass
Steve Lukather /Guitar (Acoustic)
Phil Parlapiano /Keyboards, Mellotron, Organ
Slash /Guitar
Leslie West /Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals
Zakk Wylde /Guitar
REVIEW
by Steve Leggett
Leslie West isn’t a particularly innovative guitarist, and his style and approach have barely moved an eyelash since he first broke into the public consciousness with Mountain back in the early '70s, but he gets a tone heavier than plutonium on his Les Paul, and when he sings, it’s a gear-shredding roar that would make John Kay proud. All of this is still very much in evidence on his newest album, Unusual Suspects, which finds him squaring off with several guest guitarists, including Billy Gibbons, Slash, Zakk Wylde, Joe Bonamassa, and Steve Lukather. Naturally, there are guitar lines aplenty here, which is what one expects from a Leslie West outing, but this set also has the autumn-like feel of summation, with West looking back on years of gigs and guitar slinging in autobiographical songs like “To the Moon” and “My Gravity,” both West originals (Jon Tiven was a co-writer on “My Gravity”), and a moving cover of Willie Nelson's “The Party’s Over.” West lost a leg to type 2 diabetes in June, and while that hasn’t slowed him down one bit on Unusual Suspects, it no doubt prompted him to look back at his life and times with an unfiltered eye. When all is said and done, though, one expects West to rock, and he doesn’t disappoint here, and song after song features his characteristically thick guitar tone, from the boisterous “Standing on Higher Ground” to the thunder of “Third Degree,” and the presence of so many other guitar stars on this project never pushes West's playing to the sidelines. There are only a couple missteps. The version here of the Beatles' “I Feel Fine” never seems to quite settle into the crispness of the original, while the final bonus track, “I Don’t Know (the Beetlejuice Song),” is simply a bad move that doesn’t add anything to what went before, and actually serves to negate the tone and feel of the album. West has joked that he now needs to learn how to play guitar on one leg. Unusual Suspects suggests he’s doing just fine at it.
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.
DoWnLoAd
''UNUSUAL SUSPECTS''
SEPTEMBER 19 2011
47:48
1/One More Drink for the Road feat. Steve Lukather
Joseph Pizza / Leslie West /3:14
2/Mudflap Momma feat. Slash
Joseph Pizza / Jennifer West-Weinsten /3:06
3/To the Moon
Del Bronham / Leslie West /4:51
4/Standing on Higher Ground feat. Billy Gibbons
Billy Gibbons / Fabrizio Grossi / Leslie West /4:27
5/Third Degree feat. Joe Bonamassa
Eddie Boyd / Willie Dixon /5:10
6/Legend
Joseph Pizza 4:45
7/Nothin's Changed feat. Zakk Wylde
Joseph Pizza / Leslie West / 3:54
8/I Feel Fine
John Lennon / Paul McCartney /2:57
9/Love You Forever
Joseph Pizza / Leslie West /5:06
10/My Gravity
Jon Tiven / Leslie West /4:23
11/The Party's Over feat. Slash, Zakk Wylde
Willie Nelson /3:21
12/I Don't Know (The Beetlejuice Song)
Richard Christy / Lester "Bettle" Green / Leslie West /2:34
Kenny Aronoff /Drums, Percussion
Joe Bonamassa /Guitar, Vocals
David "Squiggy" Briglin /Guitar (Acoustic), Piano
Billy Gibbons /Guitar, Soloist
Fabrizio Grossi /Bass
Steve Lukather /Guitar (Acoustic)
Phil Parlapiano /Keyboards, Mellotron, Organ
Slash /Guitar
Leslie West /Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals
Zakk Wylde /Guitar
REVIEW
by Steve Leggett
Leslie West isn’t a particularly innovative guitarist, and his style and approach have barely moved an eyelash since he first broke into the public consciousness with Mountain back in the early '70s, but he gets a tone heavier than plutonium on his Les Paul, and when he sings, it’s a gear-shredding roar that would make John Kay proud. All of this is still very much in evidence on his newest album, Unusual Suspects, which finds him squaring off with several guest guitarists, including Billy Gibbons, Slash, Zakk Wylde, Joe Bonamassa, and Steve Lukather. Naturally, there are guitar lines aplenty here, which is what one expects from a Leslie West outing, but this set also has the autumn-like feel of summation, with West looking back on years of gigs and guitar slinging in autobiographical songs like “To the Moon” and “My Gravity,” both West originals (Jon Tiven was a co-writer on “My Gravity”), and a moving cover of Willie Nelson's “The Party’s Over.” West lost a leg to type 2 diabetes in June, and while that hasn’t slowed him down one bit on Unusual Suspects, it no doubt prompted him to look back at his life and times with an unfiltered eye. When all is said and done, though, one expects West to rock, and he doesn’t disappoint here, and song after song features his characteristically thick guitar tone, from the boisterous “Standing on Higher Ground” to the thunder of “Third Degree,” and the presence of so many other guitar stars on this project never pushes West's playing to the sidelines. There are only a couple missteps. The version here of the Beatles' “I Feel Fine” never seems to quite settle into the crispness of the original, while the final bonus track, “I Don’t Know (the Beetlejuice Song),” is simply a bad move that doesn’t add anything to what went before, and actually serves to negate the tone and feel of the album. West has joked that he now needs to learn how to play guitar on one leg. Unusual Suspects suggests he’s doing just fine at it.
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.
DoWnLoAd
