Description
Features special guests: Joe Bonamassa, Zakk Wylde, Slash, Billy Gibbons, Steve Lukather.
Nobody sounds like rock n roll legend Leslie West. Absolutely nobody.
West has been in command of one of the biggest, boldest electric guitar tones known to man or beast from 1969s Woodstock festival, which introduced his group Mountain to the pages of music history, through his riveting new album Unusual Suspects. His voice is even more recognizable a powerful mix of honey and gravel that falls somewhere between Otis Redding and King Kong. At age 65, West stands entirely undiminished on Unusual Suspects, a proud mix of boogies, blues, rockers and ballads that puts his song writing skills at the fore in tunes like the hard rocking Mississippi Queen flashback Mudflap Mama and the sweet, soulful love song You and Me.
Wests title for the album was inspired by his handpicked roster of A-list six-string co-stars, which includes ZZ Tops Billy Gibbons, Slash, ex-Ozzy Osbourne foil Zakk Wylde, blues-rock firebrand Joe Bonamassa and LA session giant and Toto leader Steve Lukather. The other distinguished guest is drummer Kenny Aronoff, whose powerhouse style has made him a first-call accomplice for John Fogerty, John Mellencamp, Willie Nelson, Rod Stewart and many others. These guys dont show up to play on everybodys albums, West declares. Theyre all stars in their own right, and fantastic players every one with their own sound and style, and about as far from the usual suspects as it gets.
They also have deep musical and personal connections to West. He and Mascot/Provogue labelmate Lukather, who adds acoustic guitar to the piano-based boogie One More Drink For The Road, have been friends for decades. As for Gibbons, he and West met during ZZ Tops first major tour, when Gibbons band got its big break opening for Mountain. Slash of Velvet Revolver, Snakepit and Guns N Roses fame has cited West as an influence on his own brawny playing. Ditto for Wylde, who affectionately refers to West as Dad. Bonamassa was so moved by Wests earlier recording of Willie Dixon and Eddie Boyds blues standard Third Degree from a West, Bruce and Lang album that he requested they cut it again for Unusual Suspects.
The album was named Unusual Suspects because very rarely do you get an assemblage of this pedigree of players on one album. Wests legacy as a musician was built by injecting rocket-fueled guitar into classic Mountain performances like Mississippi Queen and the epics Nantucket Sleighride and Theme From An Imaginary Western all still part of his live concerts. Several of his new songs, including Unusual Suspects opener One More Drink For The Road and Legend, were written by Wests long time friend and former classmate Joe Pizza.
As far as my voice goes, when I open my mouth, thats want comes out period. Plus, Ive always loved the great soul and blues singers, so thats instinctively how I got my phrasing, he explains.
The recent amputation of his right leg above the knee has not stopped Leslies drive to release this album.
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