The Great Fatsby.....

Leslie West and Mountain in 1970, in their prime. 40 years later, Mountain consistently places in the top 25 all-time group polls in every the rock publication. Still one of my favorite guitarists, I was fortunate to see Mountain many, many times when they played on stage just like this clip......

Unfortunately, I saw Leslie West in the early '80's and he was a pretty sad figure. Never a small man to begin with, West was grossly way over 300 lbs., glassy-eyed, strung out on dope and alcohol, and missing most of his teeth. He could still play guitar at the intensity he always did, but at most of his concerts, he was too fucked up to either remember to, or be able to sing the words to songs he'd done a bazillion times. It was really painful to watch him perform.

Fortunately (unlike so many other fellow performers from the '60's), West went underground for a long time, lost all his weight, got sober, and got himself a new set of choppers. Still on the road with Corky Lang, his longtime drummer, and still tearing up the stage. Go see him if you ever get the chance. Meanwhile, turn this up LOUD........