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Lots of material here, from former Mountain guitarist, the late (and decidedly great) Leslie West. It’s probably fair to say that, since the original dissolution of Mountain in the early ’70s, his career has never quite reached the same level of mainstream success, with his solo albums (of which there have been many) often flying under the radar of all but the most dedicated West Watchers. This is an injustice, however, as a listen to almost any of his recordings (and certainly any of the original Mountain The first surprising thing is that there is no room for West’s very first solo album, entitled Mountain, from 1969. Giving rise to the band’s name (and named for his famously considerable size), the album is highly regarded and gave rise to several Mountain songs such as Long Red, Dreams Of Milk And Honey and Blood Of The Sun, and featuring Pappalardi on it. It is often thought of as the ‘unofficial’ Mountain debut album, but one would imagine that licensing issues precluded its inclusion here. The first al The follow up, 1976’s The Leslie West Band, recorded by the band of that name which he had by now formed – including Mick Jones on second guitar, ex of Spooky Tooth and later of Foreigner – is cut very much from the same cloth. Indeed, it is close in terms of quality, with arguably higher peaks but perhaps a touch more filler. Cream of the crop here is the guitar genius of Sea Of Heartbreak, which is so good that it seems a crime when it finishes after only three and a half minutes. West’s guitar here is so Fast forward now to 1988, with the album Theme, recorded with Jack Bruce on bass and vocals. Unsurprisingly given the title, Bruce’s song which Mountain made their own, Theme From An Imaginary Western, makes an appearance here, though despite Bruce’s excellent vocal, it cannot compete with Mountain’s own version. Similarly, live recordings of Red House and Spoonful pad things out rather, and despite standouts Talk Dirty, Motherload, I Ate It and a surprisingly well done if brief Love Me Tender, it’s the wea For the last album of the set we hurtle forward a full fifteen years to 2004 for the questionably titled Guitarded. In fact, in addition to the title, the cover of a ‘disabled sign’ wheelchair used holding a guitar make this one of those ‘did they know what they were thinking?’ moments. Had it been after Leslie lost his leg to diabetes it would have had a self-mocking humorous point, but is wasn’t. Still, that is of no consequence as the material here – all thirteen tracks of it , lasting a full 70 minutes In summary, the Five Originals set is the one for the casual fan. Apart from Guitarded, the other albums are all either too patchy or too short to be recommended as stand-alone buys, but collected in this way they give a very healthy serving of exceptional music. The absolute best way of getting hold of this material, and certainly recommended. Got Live is much more for the dedicated fan, as the sometimes poor recording quality and sloppy execution of the likes of … Sleighride would probably test the uninit Overall though, a fine tribute to a man larger than life in more ways than one. RIP Leslie, you were a talent to behold. LESLIE WEST / FIVE ORIGINALS

Product Identifiers

Record LabelVcp, Voiceprint UK

UPC0805772061729

eBay Product ID (ePID)25048591824

Product Key Features

Release Year2021

FormatCD

GenreRock

ArtistWest, Leslie

Release TitleFive Originals

Dimensions

Item Height0.94 in

Item Weight0.39 lb

Item Length5.59 in

Item Width4.96 in

Additional Product Features

Number of Tracks49

Number of Discs3

Tracks1.1 Money (Watch Gonna Do) 1.2 Dear Prudence 1.3 Get It Up (No Bass Whatsoever) 1.4 Singapore Sling 1.5 By the River 1.6 The Twister 1.7 Setting Sun 1.8 Sea of Heartbreak 1.9 We'll Find a Way 1.10 We Gotta Get Outta This Place 1.11 Don't Burn Me 1.12 House of the Rising Sun 1.13 High Roller 1.14 I'm Gonna Love You Thru the Night 1.15 E S P 1.16 Honky Tonk Women 1.17 If I Still Had You 1.18 Doctor Love 2.1 Talk Dirty 2.2 Motherload 2.3 Theme from An Imaginary Western 2.4 I'm Cryin' 2.5 Red House 2.6 Love Is Forever 2.7 I Ate It 2.8 Spoonful 2.9 Love Me Tender 2.10 Sea of Fire 2.11 Waiting for the F Change 2.12 Whiskey 2.13 Alligator 2.14 I Put a Spell on You 2.15 All of Me 2.16 The Stealer 2.17 Hall of the Mountain King / Theme from Exodus 2.18 Dream Lover 3.1 Allergic 3.2 Cross Cut Saw Blues 3.3 Stormy Monday 3.4 Honky Tonk Women 3.5 Hang Me Out to Dry 3.6 If Heartaches Were Nickels 3.7 The Cell 3.8 Dragon Lady 3.9 Goin' Down 3.10 Third Degree 3.11 Born to Be Wild 3.12 Old Brown Shoe 3.13 Theme from An Imaginary Western

NotesThe subject of this five album set - guitarist / vocalist / songwriter Leslie West passed away on 23rd December 2020, aged seventy-five, suffering cardiac arrest at his home near Daytona, Florida. As a musician and front man, he was impossible to ignore. At his peak, West weighed in at a gargantuan 320 lbs, and his musical skills and burly, raw-throated vocal style were of a similar gravitas. His weight didn't stop him from becoming a musician greatly respected by his peers, or from fronting Mountain, a fearsome rock combo that made an extremely successful noise in the early seventies.