Leslie West

The King Of Queens Reclaims His Throne

JAM Magazine's Lisa Miller Speaks Candidly With Mountain Man Leslie West

BW Photo of Keith Moon and Leslie West by Bob Gruen
Color Studio Photo Courtesy of Leslie West

On August 26, 2011 at 10:30 am, JAM Magazine's Lisa Miller conducted a live phone interview with the legendary Leslie West, lead vocalist and guitarist for the classic 70's rock band Mountain. This is part one of a four part series where Leslie West talks about his soon to be released CD, "Unusual Suspects" and is amputated leg that nearly cost him his life.

Listen to JAM's Exclusive Interview with Leslie West.

A Brief Biography
Originally named Leslie Weinstein, West was born in New York City, grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey, and in East Meadow but has always called NYC home. After his parents divorced, he changed his surname to West. Leslie's career spans over 45 years from his early days with The Vagrants, an R&B/Blue-eyed soul-rock band which followed the pioneering hard rock group Mountain, which featured the late Felix Pappalardi and new drummer on the scene, Corky Laing. They had success with "Mississippi Queen", which reached #21 on the Billboard charts and #4 in Canada. One of the highlights of Mountain's peak was their appearance at the legendary Woodstock Festival when they performed on Saturday, August 16, 1969 to a crowd of half a million rock and roll fans.

In The Works
With many ups and downs throughout the years, today Leslie West has a new CD titled "Unusual Suspects" that includes Slash, ZZ Top's Billy F. Gibbons, Black Label Society's Zakk Wylde, Steve Lukather, and Joe Bonamassa, alongside drummer Kenny Aronoff. CD due for release September 20th. This fall, West teams up with Michael Schenker and Uli Jon Roth where the trio will perform on stage for what will be a spectacular concert event for all rock guitar lovers.