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Thursday, December 24, 2020

R.I.P.: Leslie West, Influential Guitarist For Mountain


 

Mountain guitarist Leslie West, whose “Mississippi Queen” is a hard-rock classic, died Wednesday. He was 75, according to The NY Daily News.

West had a heart attack Monday and was rushed to a hospital near his home in Daytona, Fla. He never regained consciousness.

West was born Leslie Weinstein in Forest Hills, Queens, and he also grew up in New Jersey and Long Island. He formed Mountain on Long Island in 1969, and their third career act was playing Woodstock, which West credited to sharing an agent with Jimi Hendrix.

“The song’s got three chords. Any idiot can play it. I just happen to play it better than anybody,” West told Guitar Player of “Mississippi Queen” earlier this year. “[It] has just everything you need to make it a winner. You’ve got the cowbell, the riff is pretty damn good, and it sounds incredible. It feels like it wants to jump out of your car radio.”


West wrote the song with Mountain drummer Corky Laing, bassist/producer Felix Pappalardi and lyricist David Rea.

“Mississippi Queen” appeared on the group’s debut album, “Climbing!” Though Mountain’s initial run lasted only three years, the group reformed at various times during the ensuing decades.

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