Leslie Hatchtel

Leslie West has gained fame the world over during his 30-plus year career as one of the most innovative and influential musicians in the history of rock music. He is most noted for his role as leader of the explosive hard rock trio, Mountain, which was named by VH-1 as one of the Top 100 Hard Rock Groups of all time.

Frequently classified as the first album by the group Mountain, which was named after it, Leslie West's initial solo album featured bass/keyboard player Felix Pappalardi, who also produced it and co-wrote eight of its 11 songs, and drummer N.D. Smart II. (This trio did, indeed, tour under the name Mountain shortly after the album's release, even performing at Woodstock, though Smart was replaced by Corky Laing and Steve Knight was added as keyboard player for the formal recording debut of the group, Mountain Climbing!, released in February 1970.) Pappalardi had been Cream's producer, and that power trio, as well as the Jimi Hendrix Experience, were the models for this rock set, which was dominated by West's throaty roar of a voice and inventive blues-rock guitar playing. Though West had led the Vagrants for years and cut a handful of singles with them, this was his first album release, and it made for an auspicious debut, instantly establishing him as a guitar hero and setting the style of Mountain's subsequent recordings.

Leslie West first gained recognition as the lead guitarist for the Vagrants, a locally popular 1960s Long Island group. One of that band's singles was produced by Felix Pappalardi, a bass player who also produced Cream. After the Vagrants and Cream split up, Pappalardi played bass on and produced West's debut solo album, Mountain (July 1969). Following its release, the two teamed up with drummer Norman Smart (soon replaced by Corky Laing) and keyboard player Steve Knight to form the band Mountain. They cut the albums Climbing! (February 1970, a gold-selling LP featuring the Top 40 single "Mississippi Queen"), Nantucket Sleighride (January 1971, which also went gold), and Flowers of Evil (November 1971). In 1972, Pappalardi left Mountain to return to producing.

Releasing "all covers" albums can amount to either one of two things. Either the artist doing the covering is buying time between real albums or the artist doing the covering really wants to give some attention back to his musical heroes, who helped shape his playing early on. Over the years, former Mountain singer/guitarist Leslie West has recorded quite a few covers, quite a few of which are featured on a 2005 release (that sported an un-PC title), Guitarded. Focusing on old blues numbers and rock tracks from the late '60s, West proves that he can still let his fingers fly all these years later. Standouts here include a fine, bluesy take of the Beatles' obscure "Old Brown Shoe," as well as West covering an old Mountain tune (which late singer/bassist Felix Pappalardi sang originally), "Theme for an Imaginary Western."

Grammy and Tony Award-winning vocalist, songwriter, author and actor Leslie Odom, Jr. drops his brand-new holiday album, The Christmas Album, via S-Curve Records/BMG. The 10-track album features a collection of beloved traditional favorites together with newly penned, original tracks “Snow” and “Heaven & Earth” that are sure to become instant holiday classics for years to come.

Originally released in 1989 on IRS' Illegal Records imprint, Leslie West's Alligator seemed then and still seems now, as evidenced by this straight reissue from Voiceprint Records, to be mostly West treading water. He plays some hot guitar here, of course, but then not as much as one might like, and he sings a lot here, too, perhaps more than one might like. It all adds up to a rather ho hum album without a single track that really takes your head off, although the flashy "Hall of the Mountain King/Theme from Exodus" mini-suite sure aims for sonic decapitation, as does the screeching "Whiskey" (featuring bass by Stanley Clarke), and West's cover of Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You" is certainly atmospheric enough, but in the end it all seems more like cage rattling than a substantial musical statement. Stick to the early Mountain records for West at his best.

The blues has informed Leslie West's work since the earliest days of Mountain, but Collection, which cherry-picks from his output for the Blues Bureau label (1993-2006), is the most concentrated assemblage yet of the guitarist's covers within the blues idiom. It's easy to imagine West putting plenty of muscle into classics like John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom," Robert Johnson's "Crossroads," and Muddy Waters' "Baby Please Don't Go," and he does. The latter especially burns, with West unreeling a screaming solo and strangled vocals, ably abetted by drummer Aynsley Dunbar, bassist Tim Bogert, and rhythm guitarist Kevin Curry. But some of the most surprising moments occur where you'd least expect them.