Leslie West-Blue Me (2006)

Considered one of the greatest guitarists in American rock, Leslie West showcased his immense talent and genius for five uninterrupted decades, from his beginnings in the 1960s with the Vagrants, through his time leading the legendary Mountain in the 1970s and the iconic trio West, Bruce and Laing. In addition to all this, he had an extensive solo career, releasing a dozen albums, many of them veritable explosions of the best American blues rock. In 2006, West paid tribute to some of the blues classics with his album "Blue Me", featuring ten contemporary classics such as "Four Day Creep" by Humble Pie, "Hit the Road Jack" by Ray Charles, "Sinner's Prayer" by B.B. King, "Standing Around Crying" by Muddy Waters, and "Green River" by Creedence Clearwater Revival. In all of them, West demonstrates that so many years later he is still in enviable shape, with his peculiar and unique sound that he knew how to get out of his Gibson Les Paul and his tremendous voice that seems to have been born for the blues.

West, Bruce & Laing -Why Dontcha (1972)

Mountain were one of the most important bands in the development of American hard rock, comprised of two legends: Leslie West and Felix Pappalardi. They released two superb albums considered fundamental to the development of heavy metal: "Climbing!" (1970) and "Nantucket Sleighride" (1971). After releasing the latter album in 1971, the band broke up due to Pappalardi's health problems. However, Leslie West decided to continue and called on former Cream member Jack Bruce, who, along with his former Mountain bandmate Corky Laing, founded the band West, Bruce and Laing. Essentially, West aimed to continue the Mountain sound, with a style that drew from blues and Southern sounds, focusing on powerful, dense, and distorted hard rock. Thanks to the managers of Jack Bruce and Leslie West (Robert Stigwood and Bud Prager, respectively), they secured a lucrative contract with CBS/Polydor for one million dollars to release three albums. But before entering the studio, the band toured extensively, performing Cream and Mountain songs as well as covers of rock and blues classics. In 1972, they released their first album, and ultimately their best work, titled "Why Dontcha". It featured standout tracks like the psychedelic "Out Into The Fields" and "Pollution Woman", the rock and roll anthems "The Doctor", "Pleasure", and "Shake Ma Thing", and the blues rock tracks "Turn Me Over" and "Love Is Worth The Blues", all of which combined to create a superb record of the best American hard rock.