Leslie West

Leslie West (real last name Weinstein) is a American rock guitarist and singer.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He was born and raised in New York City, and grew up in Manhattan. His musical career

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

began with The Vagrants, one of the few teenage garage rock acts to come out of

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Manhattan itself (as opposed to the Greenwich Village scene of artists, bohemians, and

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Beat Generation types, which produced bands like The Fugs and The Velvet Underground).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

They had a minor local hit with a cover of Otis Redding's "Respect" in 1967.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Vagrants' recordings were produced by Felix Pappalardi, who was also working with Cream. West and Pappalardi would form the pioneering hard rock act Mountain in 1969. Heavily influenced by Cream, they made up one of the bands considered

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

to be part of early heavy metal. They had a massive hit with "Mississippi Queen" (later covered by

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ozzy Osbourne) and a medium sized hit with a cover of Jack Bruce's "Theme From An Imaginary

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Western".

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After the breakup of Mountain, West and drummer Corky Laing would form West, Bruce and Laing with

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Jack Bruce. Mountain reformed in 1975 to indifferent reactions.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

West also recorded with The Who on a cover of Marvin Gaye's "Baby Don't You Do It" in 1972. This

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

track was not originally included on Who's Next, but has appeared on recent CD reissues.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

West has continued to record and play in the years since the 1970s ended. Unlike in his heyday - when

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

he was known for his portly girth - he is fit and trim today.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New York City: :This is an article about New York City; see also NYC, New York, New York (disambiguation) and New York....

Manhattan: :For other uses, see Manhattan (disambiguation)....

The Vagrants: The Vagrants were a Long Island-based rock and blue-eyed soul group from the 1960s. The group was composed of Peter Sabatino on vocals, harmonica, and tambourine, Leslie West on vocals and guitar, Larry West on vocals and bass guitar, Jerry Storch on organ, and Roger Mansour on drums....

Leslie West related Images and Photos (experimental)

Leslie Bibb	Leslie Bibb	West c.1997	Leslie Howard
Leslie Parrish	Leslie Nielsen	West Point	West India
West Point (DVD)	Leslie Phillips	Joan Leslie	West Side Story