Posted on 06/21/2011 3:59:28 PM PDT by JimC214
Rock guitarist Leslie West, who rose to fame in the '70s power trio Mountain, has had his lower right leg amputated in a life-saving operation related to his diabetes, his wife said on Monday.
West, 65, underwent the emergency surgery after being admitted to a hospital in Biloxi, Mississippi, on Saturday when his leg started to swell and his foot went septic.
"The doctors tried for two days to save it to no avail. The decision to amputate was one that was necessary to save his life as the infection was spreading throughout his body," his wife, Jenni West, said in an email.
"The nursing staff and doctors have taken excellent care of him and should be called angels for their efforts and tenderness they showed us in this time of crisis."
West is expected to recover but faces extensive rehabilitation, a spokesman said.
Mountain is probably best known for its debut 1970 single "Mississippi Queen," a staple of classic rock radio. West has long struggled with his weight and type 2 diabetes. He named one of his solo albums "The Great Fatsby."
His next album, "The Unusual Suspects," featuring such guitarists as Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Slash of Guns N' Roses and Joe Bonamassa, does not yet have a release date.
"Leslie will, no doubt, bounce back with his unusually bionic blitz of guitarosciousness," Gibbons said in an email. "Leslie will always be playing and standing on higher ground."
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
No kidding.
I think Mississippi Queen was their only hit. Not one of my favorite tunes from the 70’s.
poor guy. i can hear the guitar riff from miss queen now in my head.
i lived near Leslie for a time when we both lived in Peekskill, NY....i was starting out working since graduating from college (around 1990) and was still going to the golf course on the weekends to make some extra cash caddying....
there was a bagel shop in Beach Shopping Center in Peekskill i would see Leslie at- except i was getting bagels and coffee starting the day and leslie was getting bagels to quell the munchies as he was just walking in at 7AM....
he wore black and white clown looking like pants and had long, straight hair....nice guy though....
Whoa. I saw him play at Atlanta Pop Festival. He rocked.
Dude!! Tell me about it!
Get well soon, Great Fatsby.
I’m not a fan of either his music either. But he sure got an amazing tone out of his vintage (’50s) Les Paul Junior.
I’m not a fan of his music either. But he sure got an amazing tone out of his vintage (’50s) Les Paul Junior.
They had about 3 hits. But a lot of people don’t know that he was on The Who’s, Who’s Next album.
My friend grew up in Wappingers Falls. He has fond memories of Mountain playing at his high school prom.
yah...me three...
I can’t recall how many times I saw Mountain back in the day...it always amazed me how Leslie West could move those enormous fingers so fast...
Used to be that on Friday night was live concert night at Cleveland Public Hall where there were always three bands for five bucks.
Sha-Na-Na opening for Mountain opening for Humble Pie...
J Geils opening for anyone who would let them.
Iggy, Savoy Brown, Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Frank Zappa and the Mothers, John McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, too many Motown bands to name...
And there were only 2 radio stations worth listening to: during the day it was CKLW AM, “The Motor City” out of Detroit, and all night long it was Joyce and Billy Bass on WMMR FM, Cleveland...first time I ever heard The Doors’ “LA Woman” was when Joyce debuted the album and played both sides, only stopping long enough to turn the record over...
yah...we’re really old....
Mississippi Queen is the only one that comes to mind for me. What were the other two?
My bad...WMMR is in Philadelphis...
WMMS is in Cleveland...slip of the keyboard...
Diabetes is a horrible bastard of a disease and is no respector of age, weight or gender. My wife is diabetic, it runs in her family. Her sugars are under control and we don’t lead a lifestyle where they would be high but it’s a constant concern. It could take her eyesight, feet and life. Diabetes could take her from me. I hate that disease.
“Mountain is probably best known for its debut 1970 single “Mississippi Queen,”
I liked both the original and the remake by WASP.
Also did some good stuff with West, Bruce, and Laing.
The Vagrants were the inspiration for both the Young Rascals and Vanilla Fudge, according to interviews I did with Felix Cavaliere and Mark Stein.
Side note: in 1973-5, our band "Rampage" had a guitarist who was overweight, looked a lot like Leslie, and sang JUST like him.
Hah! Found it. The keyboard player was Steve Knight and they WEREN’T a “power trio.” I knew it!
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