Leslie West with his band West, Bruce and Laing at the Rainbow in London in 1973. “I wanted to have the greatest, biggest tone,” he said of his guitar playing, “and I wanted vibrato like somebody who plays violin in a hundred-piece orchestra. Leslie West, whose meaty guitar riffs and snarling lead lines powered the hit band Mountain through “Mississippi Queen” and other rock anthems of the 1970s, died on Wednesday in Palm Coast, Fla. He was 75. The cause was cardiac arrest, said a spokesman, Steve Karas. Mr. West had battled various health problems over the years. In the early 2000s he had bladder cancer. In 2011 he had his lower right leg amputated because of complications of diabetes. read more https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/23/...0A6cgn6TJ92WDZpDAMTe3XnZEmZYKi-Xfddxxke1NDfhw