Monday 1/11/2021 4pm ET: Across The Tracks – In Memoriam 2020

In this edition of Across The Tracks we salute the music artists that passed away in 2020.

Featured in the program:  Uriah Heep, Hal Ketchum, McGuire Sisters, Mountain, KT Oslin, Charlie Pride, Van Halen, Spencer Davis Group, Rance Allen, Billy Joe Shaver, Johnny Nash, Outfield, Helen Reddy, Mac Davis, Four Seasons, Kool & The Gang, Bay City Rollers, Sweet, Wayne Fontana, Fleetwood Mac, Charlie Daniels Band, Bobby Lewis, Millie Small, Bonnie Pointer, John Prine, Fountains of Wayne, Kingston Trio, Robert Parker and Rush.

Sunday 12/27/2020 2pm ET: Feature Artist: Mountain / Leslie West

Mountain was an American hard rock band that formed on Long Island, New York in 1969. Originally comprising vocalist and guitarist Leslie West, bassist and vocalist Felix Pappalardi, keyboardist Steve Knight and drummer N. D. Smart, the band broke up in 1972 and has reunited frequently since 1973. Best known for their cowbell-tinged song “Mississippi Queen”, as well as the heavily sampled song “Long Red” and their performance at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, Mountain is one of many bands to be commonly credited as having influenced the development of heavy metal music in the 1970s. The group’s musical style primarily consisted of hard rock, blues rock and heavy metal.

Leslie West – vocals, guitar (1969–1972, 1973–1974, 1981–1985, 1992–1998, 2001–2010)
Felix Pappalardi – bass, keyboards, vocals (1969–1972, 1973–1974)
Steve Knight – keyboards (1969–1972)
Corky Laing – drums, percussion, vocals (1969–1972, 1973–1974, 1981–1985, 1992–1998, 2001–2010)

In Memoriam: Leslie West (1945 – 2020)

Leslie West, an iconic guitarist-vocalist who was behind several ’70s rock anthems including “Mississippi Queen” with the popular band Mountain, has died. He was 75.

West was born in New York City to Jewish parents, but grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey, and in East Meadow, New York, Forest Hills, New York, and Lawrence, New York. After his parents divorced, he changed his surname to West. His musical career began with the Vagrants, an R&B/blue-eyed soul-rock band influenced by the likes of the Rascals that was one of the few teenage garage rock acts to come out of the New York metropolitan area itself (as opposed to the Bohemian Greenwich Village scene of artists, poets, and affiliates of the Beat Generation, which produced bands like The Fugs and The Velvet Underground). The Vagrants had two minor hits in the Eastern United States; 1966’s “I Can’t Make a Friend” and a cover of Otis Redding’s “Respect” the following year.

Some of the Vagrants’ recordings were produced by Felix Pappalardi, who was also working with Cream on their album Disraeli Gears. In 1969, West and Pappalardi formed the pioneering hard rock act Mountain, which was also the title of West’s debut solo album. Rolling Stone identified the band as a “louder version of Cream”.[4] With Steve Knight on keyboards and original drummer N. D. Smart, the band appeared on the second day of the Woodstock Festival on Saturday, August 16, 1969 starting an 11-song set at 9 pm.

The band’s original incarnation saw West and Pappalardi sharing vocal duties and playing guitar and bass, respectively. New drummer Corky Laing joined the band shortly after Woodstock. They had success with “Mississippi Queen”, which reached No. 21 on the Billboard charts and No. 4 in Canada. It was followed by “Theme For an Imaginary Western”, written by Cream bassist Jack Bruce. Mountain is one of the bands considered to be forerunners of heavy metal.

After Pappalardi left Mountain to concentrate on various production projects, West and Laing produced two studio albums and a live release with Jack Bruce under the name West, Bruce and Laing. West, along with keyboard player Al Kooper of Blood, Sweat & Tears, recorded with The Who during the March 1971 Who’s Next New York sessions. Tracks included a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Baby Don’t You Do It,” and early versions of “Love Ain’t For Keepin'” and The Who’s signature track “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. Though the tracks were not originally included on the album (recording restarted in England a few months later without West or Kooper), they appear as bonus tracks on the 1995 and 2003 reissues of Who’s Next and on the 1998 reissue of Odds & Sods.

West suffered a heart attack in his home near Daytona, Florida on December 20, 2020 and was rushed to a hospital in nearby Palm Coast where he never regained consciousness. After being contacted by Rolling Stone, West’s brother Larry West confirmed that Leslie West had died. A report by Variety based on social media posts made by Larry West states that Leslie West died on Tuesday, December 22, 2020.

Monday 10pm: LP Lounge with Willie B

Today on the LP Lounge, join Willie B for two classic albums, Redbone and Mountain.

Message from a Drum is the third album by Native American rock band Redbone released in 1971. It was released in Europe under the name The Witch Queen of New Orleans with the same track list and a different cover. The CD version released in the early 2000s has the European cover and title of the original LP and includes the single version of “Chant: 13th Hour” as a bonus track (the full version being from the second LP Potlatch).

 

The Best of Mountain is the first compilation by American hard rock band Mountain. It consists of material recorded throughout 1970-1971, culled from their first three LPs. On April 15, 2003, the album was remastered and reissued in an expanded edition with new liner notes and four bonus tracks, two of which are taken from Leslie West’s first solo album, 1969’s Felix Pappalardi-produced Mountain, the project which eventually led to the formation of the band.

Saturday 12pm / Sunday 6am: Brit Rock with Dominic Forbes

This week on Brit Rock – Michael Schenker Group, Scorpions, Focus, Concrete Kingdoms, Meme Detroit, Survival Code, Green Day, Guns ‘N’ Roses, Foo Fighters, Styx, Procol Harem, Marillion, Dio, Motorhead, Don Henley, Foreigner, Chicago, Queen, Deep Purple, Genesis, Night Ranger, Allman Bros Band, Fleetwood Mac, REM, Joe Cocker, Rolling Stones, Who, Ozzy Osbourne, Mountain, Rembrandts, C.C.S., Rod Stewart, Aerosmith.  Join Dominic Forbes 12pm or the encore Sunday 6am on RadioMaxMusic.