Rock guitarist Leslie West's lower leg amputated.

Reuters ^ | 06/20/2011 | Reporting by Dean Goodman

[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."

[Ransomed]

My favourite tune of theirs is Nantucket Sleighride (about whaling). Just an awesome tune.

Freegards

[JimC214]

Never In My Life and Theme From An Imaginary Western, that was written by Jack Bruce.

[Cruising Speed]

Get well soon, Leslie!

He's the only guy to take a Jack Bruce tune and do it even better than Jack (Theme for An Imaginary Western).

Liked Nantucket Sleigh Ride a lot, too.

Other than that, I put him in the same catagory as Alvin Lee---fast & loud, good but not superstar.

And let's not forget his good friend, Felix Pappalardi, RIP.

[Grizzled Bear]

Metal Ping

[Grizzled Bear]

Metal Ping

[Yardstick]

Wow, I don’t think I’ve heard either of those. I’ll have to look them up on YouTube.

Here’s a pretty cool cover of Mississippi Queen by Gov’t Mule:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuXhAfcnhYQ&feature=related

[BluesDuke]

Other than that, I put him in the same catagory as Alvin Lee---fast & loud, good but not superstar.

The Great Fatsby wasn't quite as fast as Alvin Lee (or a lot of other people), but he was one of the more tasteful players of his time. He could actually play hard/heavy rock with grace and even beauty, if you remember his solos on "Theme for an Imaginary Western" and the extended concert version of "Nantucket Sleighride" from The Road Goes Ever On.

He also performed the only version of "Stormy Monday" other than the T-Bone Walker original that doesn't make me want to puke for being yet another beaten-to-death-and-back remake of the Bobby Bland arrangement that the Allman Brothers Band turned into a must-do . . .

Mountain, "Stormy Monday," live at the 1970 Atlanta Pop Festival.

I wouldn't trade two lines of Leslie West for Alvin Lee's entire catalogue (post-Undead, which I still think is his best performance) of Chuck-and-T-Bone-on-amphetamines licks . . .

Did you know: Leslie West started playing Les Paul Juniors because of Felix Pappalardi---when they were working on the solo album that led to the forming of Mountain in the first place, Pappalardi gave West a Les Paul Junior, and West fell so much in love with it that he started buying up Juniors in pawnshops wherever he went. (Which was easy, at the time, since the original Junior, like the original Les Paul, went out of production until 1968, and the Junior didn't return for many years to come yet.)

I'm a big P-90s fan . . . I happen to play a guitar with those pickups, though it ain't no Junior . . . meet my baby! ;)

[dainbramaged]

“Also did some good stuff with West, Bruce, and Laing.”
I saw them in San Diego, 1972, maybe - great show and my buddy caught one of the drumsticks.
The opening act was Cold Blood, with a horn section and that hot blonde singer Lydia Pense. Dang near 40 years ago, where’s my zippo lighter?

[Yardstick]

Yeah, here's comment on YouTube:

"See that blonde guy on the keyboards? His name is Steve Knight . He was one fourth of the classic Mountain line up. It seems people go out of their way not to utter the man's name. (no, I'm not Steve,a friend nor a relative.)"

[Yardstick]

Very nice LP.

Here's my P90 axe:

[Viking2002]

I can dig it - I despise it, too. I had mine under control for years, and it came back to bite me in the ass three-fold. My doc just had to restart me on meds two weeks ago, only this time, it's a pill in the morning and a needle in the evening. Excuse me while I go harpoon my thigh now.

"But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away, for his name is Obama."

[RandallFlagg]

Well, since we're showing off our gear...

Here's my Epiphone Goth Explorer:

Changed out the pickups for EMG 60 and 81s. My playing is on my YouTube channel under the name, "RandalllFlagg."

[MV=PY]

Not sure about the hits, but my favorites are:

Mississippi Queen
Theme for an Imaginary Western (written by Jack Bruce)
Tired Angels
Travelin’ in the Dark

[OwenKellogg]

where’s my zippo lighter?

---

Probably still in the pocket of your fringe leather jacket!

[Popman]

70’s bump....

[Daaave]

Leslie West Interview Series

[trisham]

Poor man.

[smokingfrog]

I got to see them live at the Bradley University Field House in 1970 (Peoria, IL).

Old is right.

[Yardstick]

Well, we had a theme -- guitars with P90 pickups.

But since you've thrown the doors wide open, I'll see your sinister matte black Explorer and raise you a 1990 Les Paul Standard (with Burstbucker pickups):

[trisham]

I hear you. My husband has diabetes.