Leslie West, singer and guitarist for Mountain, whose 11-song set at Woodstock cemented their place in rock history, died Tuesday at the age of 75, his brother Larry told Variety on Wednesday. West Weinstein. West’s brother had previously shared that the musician was in poor health, writing on Facebook on Sunday: “I ask for all your prayers. Jenni [West’s wife] is by his side in Florida but it doesn’t look good. Thanks Jenni, he wouldn’t have been this far without you. His heart has failed and he is on a ventilator. May not spend the night. “
While Mountain’s original run only lasted from 1969 to 1972, Variety noted that the group was seen as a touchstone in the development of ’70s hard rock with its characteristic heavy sound. In 2019, West looked back on his performance at Woodstock with Rolling Stone in honor of the festival’s 50th anniversary: ”Woodstock was only our third job, and it was truly a thrill,” he told the time. “Mountain was on the show because our reservation agent was also looking after Jimi Hendrix.… I think I had the most amplifiers of anyone. It was paralyzing because this scene, this setting, was a kind of natural amphitheater. The sound was so loud and shocking to be afraid. But once I started playing, I kept going because I was afraid to stop. “
West is often regarded as one of the best guitarists in rock, but in a 1987 interview with Guitar World magazine, he downplayed his own skills. “I’m not a great guitarist technically,” he says. “I only play with these two fingers [index and ring]. But you wanna know why people remember me? If you take a hundred players and put them in a room, 98 or 99 of them will sound the same; the one that plays differently, has its own, this is the one you will remember. “
Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen” continued to be a hit not only in the rock genre, but as a popular sample in the hip-hop and pop genres. “It’s a song that keeps on giving. A lot of people picked it up, ”West told Guitar Player this year. “I like most of the versions, but I really like the Ozzy Osbourne version. I even played on it. The song has been sampled something like 2,000 times. Whenever I hear it, I call my accountant. ”
West’s health has long been a problem. Although he admitted to having “stopped making fun of narcotics” since the late 1970s, he would develop diabetes in the mid 1980s, which would eventually lead to the amputation of his right leg. Following the amputation, he lost 85 pounds, but his weight fluctuated over the years.
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