Added: 3 years ago
From: fredvs
Views: 51,274
Sort by time | Sort by thread (beta)

Link to this comment:

Share to:

All Comments (139)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • THIS IS INCREDIBLE!! I'VE LOOKING FOR VIDEO FOR MY ARCHIVES!! I REMEMBER THE NITE WELL U SEE I'M THE BASS PLAYER!!

  • WAX MUSEUM or BAYOU CLUB? I saw MOUNTAIN 9SANTA MONICA CIVIC9TOMMY BOLIN -ZEPHER & WOLFGANG) 1979 11-72 WEST-BRUCE & LAING "ANAHEIM CONVENTION CENTER" 1980 NEW MOUNTAIN "RESEDA COUNTRY CLUB" SO GOOD! 1989 he gigged with my then client GINGER BAKER at FAIRFAX H S AUDITORIUM with EDGAR WINTER . 1996 HOUSE OF BLUES "EARLY SHOW" WITH DOUG BADY my client

    who via HOWaRD STERN knew leslie. A diff band did the late show/ cool cause this was early for doug & dave and late 4 me! always the best.

  • way cool video, and the story is rightous, I was able to see Leslie in a little club in Austin, TX years ago and man he can play!~!~! It was a great show..probably no more than a couple of hundred people..

    davido

  • If you don't think this fat boy has great feel on the guitar and tone from his fingers, your full of shit. This guy is better than you might think.

  • He was a Mountain who you kidding when he was a kid he was mountain aka: MT Leslie. Today he is thin :)

  • I think the song is "Whale Blues".Leslie wasn't fat,he was pleasantly plump,husky and big-boned.

  • Great.

  • Leslie "Mountain" West!!!!

  • pesado.

  • comparisons are useless, there's no best or better , just the whole soul behind the notes, god bless 'em all....and I luv Leslies fat  tone

  • By chance was this at Louies Rock City ( Alex., VA )? I remember seeing him there about this time.

  • What year is this?

  • Great score man.

    I love Leslie.

    I had the privlidge of watching him and Corky extremely close.

    Once in 78' me and two friends waited for him to walk the back staircase.

    We he came up, he was out of breath.

    One of my friends lit up a joint and Leslie and his two bounces smoke it up with

    us.

    Awesome'

  • It's distressing to see the name-calling and nastiness that sometimes creeps in here. Can't we just enjoy Leslie West without comparing him to everyone? It's not enough to love Leslie for some people. If we don't WORSHIP him we are idiots, evidently. Hendrix was in a class of his own and Mister West knew/knows it. That does NOT take anything away from Leslie. Fucking relax, and you should know who I mean...

  • big man...big sound.....LESLIEFUCKINWEST....­plays the shit outta that gee'tar..

  • What year is this? It's before Leslie lost the weight. Was this his band or is he just sitting in? Pretty amazing stuff.

  • some kind of solo

  • Vamp funny noone has come to your aid. Guess you on an island by yourself. No shocker there.

    48 people like vs ZERO that doesnt like. SHOCKER there big boy, huh? considering in 38,000+ views not a single person clicked dislike. Hahaha You friggin DUMB ASS.

  • @depper I don't really need anyone to "come to my aid" , the word's pretty much out there on Hendrix by now, but maybe you missed the memo, huh? No surprise, ya SHIT-TARD.

  • @vampyros1 I love how ass-clowns like this insult musicians, but find the time to keep coming back for "one more listen!"

    Amazing.

  • @depper You insult anyone who isn't wholly enraptured by LW's playing. I like LW's playing, and I love his voice, but let me make it PAINFULLY CLEAR to you, since you're dumber than a rock; all told ... tone, finesse, taste, innovation, vibrato bar, feedback, blues, rock, effects, lead, rhythm, compositionally, Gibson, Fender and all the rest, LW is not NOW fit to grovel at the feet of the Hendrix of 40 YRS. AGO. Your milage may vary, but you're sure as hell not going to give me my opinion.

  • @vampyros1 Tools like yourself should not listen to music like this. You don't understand it. Out of 32,919 views as of this post, not a single thumbs down. You are no fan of LW, that's for sure. You think Leslie is boring here, do ya? Show me how to improv better there Mr. Air Hendrix.

  • @depper "It was a long time ago, but I worshipped Clapton and Hendrix, and they're STILL the best".  Leslie West

  • @vampyros1 So you clicked thumbs down right after I mentioned it? Really? What a complete camel-nut.

  • @depper "It was a long time ago, but I worshipped Clapton and Hendrix, and they're STILL the best". Leslie West

  • Playing a bunch of chords like this is just boring to me; he has improved though, and has always been a great vocalist.

  • @vampyros1 theres a LOT more going on here than chords....

  • @depper Barely, and most of it's boring >to me<.

  • @vampyros1 Ohhh really? Then why come back, twice? Either you are full of shit or hard of hearing. one or the other bubs.

  • @depper Well, ya know ... Leslie and I have something in common; we agree that Hendrix was the greatest electric guitarist who ever lived, and not by a little, but by a longshot. And it's not just feigned modesty on West's part. Now, maybe you disagree with Leslie and I -- that's your prerogative, and you get your opinion. But I get mine too --- you got that shit-for-brains?

  • I think this dude has something to with Micheal schenker's guitar playing?

  • @dannyhood66 Yes indeed. Shenk was a HUGE fan. He's said many times Leslie was one of his biggest influences. You can actually see them jam onstage if you look on my channel.

  • @depper Cool!

  • @depper

    >Shenk was a HUGE fan. He's said many times Leslie was one of his biggest influences.

    The influence is especially evident on UFO's "Phenomenon" and "Force It."

  • One thing about Leslie, he didnt take any prisoners. It was all out.

  • I want leslie west not some random fat man!

  • @TerrorcausT What?? This IS Leslie West! How many "random" anybodies do you see that look like Leslie West!?

  • @depper Haha man i'm just fucking around, he's lost loads of weight now so its kinda weird to look before and after :P

  • That's fucking awesome to be able to that on a guitar that's not even HIS!

  • i wanna move this mountain....in my room

    awesome!

  • lol. He threw your guitar on the ground.

  • P I O N E E R

  • Wow !!!

  • man thats good.

  • i think hes better than hendrix and clapton were at that time, yet hes so under rated compared to them

  • @guithero11 I have to agree with you, love Hendrix, saw Clapton once but was never a big fan, Leslie West has the sound I always liked most, and best of all, even today he has the same style, some guys go soft as they get older, but West still Rocks.

  • Tone Monster ! Whatever he picks up.

  • First of all that is absolutely Leslie at his roundest. Second of all that ABSOLUTELY NOT A TELECASTER.......IT'S A STRATOCASTER.!!!!!

  • thank you for sharing this . He really makes that guitar talk. You can hear how much he was influenced by Jimmi Hendrix. Love that.  i love just watching this man play. What can I say.

  • Put brian may on a tele he still sounds like Brian May.

  • ... right, but sometimes a player can push an instrument "further"... make it do things noone else could.

  • @depper yeah but thats NOT leslie west.....idiot

  • In his video Big Phat Ass Guitar, Leslie makes the remark that as far as he's concerned, "Fenders are for cars."

  • The sound comes from within. It doesn't matter what guitar Leslie plays he puts his signature sound on it.

  • You ARE right tho, it IS the player that makes the instrument. No question about that. :)

  • First...you CANNOT include (as much as I LOVE him!) PAUL MCCARTNEY as a Les Paul PLAYER! Yeah ..he played one on tour,but so what! We associate him with either Hofner or Rickenbacker 4001. Paul is an excellent BASSIST and a rudimentary guitarist at best!

    This can be discussed ad infinitum/ad nauseum...Fender vs. Gibson. so why bother!

    Fender AND Gibson BOTH have earned their place in rock history as the tools of the trade!

  • Haha you are right, you cant get an argument out of me my friend because I agree with you on the whole ... both instruments definitely deserve their spotlight... :)

  • I agree with you about LP's and Strat's...where I disagree with you is when you call McCartney a rudimentary guitarist? I would like to see you perform Michelle, Blackbird or Yesterday solo in front of 100,000 people (guitar and singing) just to see how RUDIMENTARY you would sound . McCartney is not Van Halen or SRV but like Neil Young or Paul Simon for example he is a very decent acoustic guitarist..playing in your living room and entertaining a crowd is very different..it takes TRUE talent

  • @bsharporbflat I CAN play Blackbird, Yesterday, and Michelle. All 'must learn' Beatles songs for the beginning guitarist!

    Playing these easy song in front of 100,00 people does NOT upgrade your GUITAR skills one bit. It DOES say much for your PERFORMANCE skill to be able to do that.

    Paul is the greatest....I love him....but a GUITARIST.....NO! Casually strumming some chords does NOT make you an awesome guitarist!

  • @bsharporbflat

    Guys,

    Paul played the guitar solos on Taxman, Good Morning and basically every other Beatles song with a piercing tone.

  • Let's face it...Leslie could play a crappy Carlo Robelli and still sound AWESOME!!

    But , to me, he just doesn't seem too "at home" on a Strat! And believe me...I LOVE Strats! He just sounds more like 'himself' on a L.P. Junior (P-90's) or something with humbuckers!

  • Agreed, to me EVERYBODY sounds the same on a strat. Thats what I dont like. The tone always sounds the same to me. Some can just do MORE with it, and Leslie's a fine example of this.

  • Gotta call you on that statement.

    Strat players (SRV CLONES aside!) do NOT all sound alike!!

    SRV and Robin Trower are prime examples of opposite ends of the spectrum.

    David Gilmour and Rory Gallagher, Ritchie Blackmore and Buddy Guy....different as night and day!

    It's all how you play the instrument!

    Strats are ICONIC rock instruments that are responsible for more than their share of shining moments in classic rock!!

  • Im just not a fan of Strat tone. To me too many sound the same. Of course you are correct to mention strats have been played by MANY of the greats and I LIKE many of those greats, from Hendrix to SRV.

    To me though... I'll take a Les Paul anyday for the richer highs.

    Leslie West, Jeff Beck, Duane Allman, Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Jerry Garcia, Chuck Berry, Charlie Daniels, Rick Derringer, Billy Gibbons, Paul McCartney, Randy Rhoads.. just a snippet of legends who made the Les Paul wail!

  • @depper Anyway Telecaster rules..........Clapton, Beck, Richards, Presley, Gilmour, Walsh, Summer, Springsteen, Muddy Waters, Haggard, Buchanan, Derringer, Albert Lee, McCartney!, Harrison, 90% of Nashville guitarists, myself and too many to name....The Tele (then called the Esquire) was the first solid body ever (usable on stage) and the Tele is still one of the best reliable and versatile guitar around...its not glammerish like the LP's or Strats, but it delivers my friend....

  • Love telecasters. Does it "rule?" All 3 rule.

    But Leslie West + Les Paul Jr = one of the greatest tones in the history of Rock.  I'll leave the rest of the report card to the Saint of Rock n Roll when I get my chance to enter the milky white way...

  • @bsharporbflat It's A STRATOCASTER DUDE

  • I know that, I'm just puting my grain of salt saying that ANYWAY the Telecaster is the best Guitar, not the LP or Strat....:) just taking part in a childish argument....

  • Leslie could back off on his Jr for a Strat sound, but nobody can turn a single-coil into a Jr - not even at full volume. Leslie + P90 = awesome!

  • what was that song @ 3:55-4:45

    i remember hearing it on radio many years ago, but cant remember the name of it.

  • @cydonianman House of the rising sun

  • ah, yes.

    thanx

  • WOW! Brings back a lot of memories. I remember seeing him play like this. He will always be my guitar hero! Long live Leslie.

  • who is the drummer on this?

  • yes he is

  • Leslie is the man.

  • This is pure gold!!!

    Thank you very much for posting fredvs!

    Leslie is sooo underrated!

    ...and Jack White is overrated, for the record!

  • No mic needed for vocs! lol

  • That's great!! Man, you'd never wash that guitar again!!

  • great stuff!!

  • Jack White riffs about 7:48

  • Jack White riffs? LMAO! Jack is an ok songwriter... but as far as guitar, Jack White is almost as lame as Kirk H of Metalica

  • Jacck White riffs? Nono... you got that backwards. Jack White wasnt even peeing in his diaper when Leslie recorded this. Jack may have been copying Leslie!

    That is all.. :)

  • You're excused. I was being sarcastic. Since I graduated from High School in 1970 I am somewhat familiar with Leslie West.. What I didn't know was that he could cut loose like that and just wail and that Jack White stole his riffs even though they are something that would naturally come out when you were wailing like that. Jack is pretty cool too. Peace.

  • I figured you were being sarcastic :) Yea Jack White was a fun listen, too.

  • Great clip but it doesnt have that Leslie tone without the Les Paul Jr. imho.

  • What unique footage !!! it would be nice to see what else he could do with a Strat. Just to hear some diffferent phrazing with the Strat neck scale,pickups, etc.

  • what year was this recorded?

  • a very interesting doc. ; the real job of a every day musicians in club. The history of the stolen guitar and the prodigal strat is great.

    The fall of the strat at the end of the set show how fucked up he was during the show and how the real owner was concerned by his instrument. great clip ...

  • great! On a strat with single pick ups.!The man knew/knows how to work the dials on a head. Master of the lyrical riff.

  • @BlueRoseRocketBand2 i wanna move this mountain....in my room

    awesome!

  • That was awsesome to see the big man playin a strat!!! He is one of the greatest for sure!!

  • That's a wicked guitar sound, they were so heavy for the time.

  • What year was this, and what nightclub? Thanks for the upload.

  • "The Great Fatsby"

  • WEST IS THE BEST, BUT THE STRAT IS NOT HIS GUITAR.. just not the same.

    though it was good to see him trying a different sound.

  • 7:51 There is not much Rock you will find out there that sounds better than Leslie belting out Jingle bells... That tone is utterly untouchable... EVEN on a strat.

  • Jesus H Christ. A borrowed guitar no less. Plays it like he's had it attached to him for twenty years. Love watching this guy. He is fuc###ng great.

  • I really jumped when I saw him playing a Fender. But after reading the comments I understand why.

    Wonder why he favoutited the Les Paul Jr though, it´s not a very common choice.

  • Leslie's reason? It was the only thing he could afford when he started out. It was the R&R classic story of playing what you can afford. After spending the time he did with the instrument, he decided to stick with it. Not many could argue that Leslie + Les Paul Jr + Sunn amps was one of the very top guitar sounds in R & R history.

  • Jingle bells!...Hehe.Great stuff!

  • awesome Leslie West!

  • i wonder if the dude who stole his guitar knew who it belonged to? lol...the fucktard probably sold it at a pawn shop for 50 bucks. think of what its worth now.

  • He kicked A-- with someone's brother's guitar! Too bad for the poor ------ who stole his!

  • What year was this???

  • What year was this???

  • 1969

  • nightclub blues.....

  • 7:52 we see JUST how much tone you can squeeze out of a strat. Daym!

  • Thanks for posting Great stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Fantastic !Thank you for posting this.

  • Thanks a million for posting this! Never thought I'd see Leslie play a Strat. And of COURSE he sounds just like Leslie West.

  • Maybe LW sold his guitar for smack. This would have been his junkie days. Between West, Bruce, & Laing albums, perhaps? It seems like I saw Mountain with Pappalardi still in it around 1975?

  • Naah this is after West, Bruce, & Laing. Leslie was on his own at this point, and it was the end of the original Mountain era. Mountain would be back strong in the 80's though. This was the beginning of a very bad time for Leslie.

  • That being said, his chops were still there. His ability to grab tone from a guitar was inimitable. I must say I love seeing him pull tone out of a boring Strat (sorry vonrex1, I love your story! But to me all strats are boring. Les Paul Jrs for the win!)

  • Well to each his own but a fellow named Hendrix managed to get what I thought were some rather interesting sounds out of a humble strat! :)

  • Hendrix made great feedback. He could have done the same with a Les Paul or any other guitar. Hendrix would have been Hendrix whatever guitar he played. Feedback is just that, feedback. Leslie relied on the blues, guitar tone and vibrato far more than Hendrix did. And Leslie is as tied to a Les Paul Jr as Colonel Sanders is tied to chicken.

  • I don't hear any feedback in The Wind Cries Mary or Little Wing. And I hear some hellified blues in Red House. To say that Hendrix only played feedback is just wrong. Listen to him on the twelve string acoustic... But I ALSO love Leslie West and his Gibson sound. And as you say, it's not the guitar, it's the guy playing it. I think a Gibson and a Fender are both nice to hear. I have played both for years. They're just different. To me it was fun to hear Leslie play a Fender once.

  • One more thing, just a matter of interest, perhaps... Leslie told me the guitar that was stolen at the airport that night was a black Les Paul that Peter Frampton had given him. It would have been fun to hear him play THAT too, no? But then my brother probably wouldn't have videotaped him... So maybe we're better off with a one-time divergence from form.

  • HGey Vonrex, ya know I just CANT disagree with you. Sure Hendrix played more than just distorted sound effects, and he was daym good at the blues when he played them. But lets be honest, he was known more for the esoteric sounds he could get out of his strat than anything else. Leslie was known for his Gibson tone and vibrato. Hell these two sit at the "tippy-top" of the guitar world. And they always will.

  • Agreed!

  • Actually put differently, NOONE EVER got more out of a Strat then Hendrix, and NOONE EVER got more from a Gibson then Leslie West. Noone.

  • That black Les Paul might be the axe I saw him playing twice in the 70's, both in Maryland. One show Blackfoot opened for him, before they went big--outrageous set. Medlocke & Hargett came out after their set to stand by Leslie's amps & watch him play. He played a short set, no encore, & there was a riot when they announced he'd left. The other time he closed an arena show (lineup: Rush, Ted Nugent, Blue Oyster Cult, REO Speedwagon, LW.) That night he blew up his Marshall during his big solo!

  • That's my strat there- my brother made the tape and he randomly grabbed bits of the show-he didn't have the battery life for his vcr to get it all unfortunately- so what you see is what there is. Leslie dropped the guitar on the floor and the end of the set which pissed me off natch and I ran up and grabbed it and yelled at him and he said it was an accident- the strap came loose. Whatever- it was cool to see him play my guitar even if he did drop it!

    This was circa 1976.

  • That was Corky on drums? Who else are with him here?

  • West came to the club alone. It was just the "house band" backing him up.

  • I could swear Corky was behind him on the drums?

  • Don't think so. I'm pretty sure LW showed up by himself. I'[ll ask my brother, who taped taped what you saw...

  • Thanks!

  • Hey! Okay, my brother assures me that Leslie West showed up alone at the "Classics Three Supper Club" (near Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland - close to Washington DC) for the gig and the band was the house band.

  • Ok, thanks for letting me know!

  • Leslie dang near blew up yer geetar !

  • thats just 5 stars... i recommend uploading full songs... let the quality speak for itself. This is the rarest of the rare. It needs to be seen. Leslie at his primal best.

  • Whoa....another unwxpected youtube treat! Thank you thank you thank you fredvs, both for this video AND having a "spare guitar" to lend Leslie!

Loading...
Alert icon
0 / 00Unsaved Playlist Return to active list
    1. Your queue is empty. Add videos to your queue using this button:
      or sign in to load a different list.
    Loading...Loading...Saving...
    • Clear all videos from this list
    • Learn more