WHEN LESLIE WEST passed away on December 23, 2020, at age 75, the list of guitar legends queueing up to honor him told its own story. Many of them are among the players who appear on the new release Legacy: A Tribute to Leslie West (Mascot label Group), featuring contributions from such luminaries as Slash, Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Steve Morse and Martin Barre, all of which highlights West’s towering influence over rock and roll’s many diverse strains. To the uninitiated, West is best remembered for “Mississippi Queen,” an essential hard rocker from the classic rock canon. Anyone with a deeper interest in the music West created, both as a member of Mountain and under various solo and band guises, would know his work is crammed with thundering riffs and exquisitely expressive soloing. It’s a veritable treasure chest packed with memorable, moving songs.

In acknowledging the guitarist’s monumental influence, nearly everyone sooner or later (and often immediately) seizes upon the same word: tone. The sound that West achieved with a P-90–loaded Gibson Les Paul Junior has been consistently cited as one of the most distinctive in rock music. His sonic signature is a thick, singing tone that has both weight and depth, and a vibrato that can sustain a note for days. His phrasing is all about economy. The man wasted not a single note to overplaying, or tried to dazzle with bombastic flurries of speed. As he said many times, his aim was to create solos that could be sung, and music that moved the heart and soul, rather than impressed minds with its technical prowess.

“I SAW ELVIS COME OUT AND GO, ‘WELL IT’S ONE FOR THE MONEY,’LESLIE WEST