RIP Leslie West

[farmall]

It's impressive he lasted this long, but what a life!

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...-dead-1106777/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa7pDgF8rrY

[Hoghead]

Another one of the greats gone. RIP.

[DoomBuggy]

Live hard, die young, but leave a lasting legacy. RIP big man.

[69Glide]

It is wonderful how certain songs evoke certain memories and feelings -

I was 19 in 1972 and me and my closest bro had been active in the chopper / biker scene along the Wasatch Front in UT and in SE Idaho for a couple of years. For various reasons we decided it would be best if we left the area for awhile so we joined the Navy on the buddy plan.. Boot camp in San Diego - he went to tech school in San Diego and moved on to a DDG USS Fox homeported in San Diego. I went to tech school in Memphis TN and ended up back in San Diego stationed at Ballast Pt Submarine base.

I reported to sub base in Oct 73 and over Thanksgiving long weekend we went to northern Wyoming to bring back our motorcycles so we could get some ridin done in sunny SoCal.

We were driving his 63 Chevy Van - we had 4 8-track tapes. "Mountain Climbing", "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath, "Machine Head" by Deep Purple, and "Are You Experienced" by Jimi Hendrix. We had a baggie full of Black Beauties, a couple of bottles of wine, and some good pot.

It was 1001 miles one way from 32nd Street Naval Station to the garage in Wyoming where we had our bikes stored. I rode a 1938 Knuck chopper and he had a 1950 Panhead chopper. We left late Fri evening, loaded the bikes, and were back for Tuesday morning muster.

Whenever I hear the opening measures of "Mississippi Queen" I'm back in that van "speedin' my young life away" driving through the NV dessert. My bro was killed in a crash in 1986 and I still miss him But we had a lot of adventures together and I still see him riding next to me when I hear any of the songs off of any of those albums.

RIP Leslie West - I appreciate the memories....

[DustyDave]

I saw him when he was well over 300 pounds in 69 or 70 at the OU Field house and they made his roadies build a stage in front of the regular stage cuz they were afraid he would break the regular stage. Saw him again years later and he was more normal sized but still made a stage ripple and shake. Yep with the drugs, weight, diabetes and amputation it is certainly amazing that he lasted this long.
Dusty

[rockman96]

Live hard, die young, but leave a lasting legacy. RIP big man.

"Die young" in the same sentence with Leslie West is an oxymoron.

But, Leslie was a bad motherfucker on guitar, a pioneer. The story about his Sunn amplifiers is interesting. Although this is old news, it still sucks. Thanks for the memories Leslie.

[rockman96]

Ha! Just ran across this LW vid from 1964!

https://youtu.be/Y171dIB4SFE

[GroveRat87]

RIP LW, truly a mountain of a guitar player! What we need is More Cowbell!!!

[1954bmw]

It is wonderful how certain songs evoke certain memories and feelings -

I was 19 in 1972 and me and my closest bro had been active in the chopper / biker scene along the Wasatch Front in UT and in SE Idaho for a couple of years. For various reasons we decided it would be best if we left the area for awhile so we joined the Navy on the buddy plan.. Boot camp in San Diego - he went to tech school in San Diego and moved on to a DDG USS Fox homeported in San Diego. I went to tech school in Memphis TN and ended up back in San Diego stationed at Ballast Pt Submarine base.

I reported to sub base in Oct 73 and over Thanksgiving long weekend we went to northern Wyoming to bring back our motorcycles so we could get some ridin done in sunny SoCal.

We were driving his 63 Chevy Van - we had 4 8-track tapes. "Mountain Climbing", "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath, "Machine Head" by Deep Purple, and "Are You Experienced" by Jimi Hendrix. We had a baggie full of Black Beauties, a couple of bottles of wine, and some good pot.

It was 1001 miles one way from 32nd Street Naval Station to the garage in Wyoming where we had our bikes stored. I rode a 1938 Knuck chopper and he had a 1950 Panhead chopper. We left late Fri evening, loaded the bikes, and were back for Tuesday morning muster.

Whenever I hear the opening measures of "Mississippi Queen" I'm back in that van "speedin' my young life away" driving through the NV dessert. My bro was killed in a crash in 1986 and I still miss him But we had a lot of adventures together and I still see him riding next to me when I hear any of the songs off of any of those albums.

RIP Leslie West - I appreciate the memories....

69Glide- I knew there was something I liked about you, I joined the Navy in March of 72 at age 17, Memphis A school , legal drinking age was 18, 3 1/2 years as an airdale in Norfolk, Va.

[69Glide]

69Glide- I knew there was something I liked about you, I joined the Navy in March of 72 at age 17, Memphis A school , legal drinking age was 18, 3 1/2 years as an airdale in Norfolk, Va.

I was a Tradevman. I worked on simulators as a junior enlisted. I was an instructor after I made E6. I taught basic and advanced ship control and navigation to submarine crews at Sub Base Ballast Point for several years. I was in for 15 years and spent it all in San Diego except my "A" school time. I was never on a Navy ship underway as a sailor. I got out and went to work as a civilian consultant and was deployed on the USS New Jersey within 18 months.. Deployed many times with Navy and Marine Corps over the next several years. Had a great time but deploying with the military is a young man's game - I retired from all that at 50 and worked as a consultant to USN Unmanned Systems Chief Engineer for about 15 more years. Retired from that and now I work off and on for an Indy shop, ride my bike, and sped time with the grandkids..

[1954bmw]

Yep, I was a jet mechanic in a training squadron so we never went to sea except for carrier quals, my longest cruise was 8 days on the sorry Sara. My youngest son did two Persian Gulf cruises on the Nimitz and they do a Tiger Cruise, (family rides the boat from Pearl Harbor home to San Diego), I got to do that twice. The second time I got to stand on the LSO platform during flight ops, that's badass. Older son joined the Army just to piss me off. Thank you for your service.

[69Glide]

Yep, I was a jet mechanic in a training squadron so we never went to sea except for carrier quals, my longest cruise was 8 days on the sorry Sara. My youngest son did two Persian Gulf cruises on the Nimitz and they do a Tiger Cruise, (family rides the boat from Pearl Harbor home to San Diego), I got to do that twice. The second time I got to stand on the LSO platform during flight ops, that's badass. Older son joined the Army just to piss me off. Thank you for your service.

Very cool. Military service is an honorable thing. I've always felt good about mine, I'm sure you do as well. My youngest son just got out of the Navy. He was in for 9 years was a sonar tech on submarines. He served on 2 different fast attack/spec ops boats (Los Angeles class) and did an augment tour on a boomer (Trident class). He liked the Navy and subs - but the deployment schedule (sea- shore rotation) was insane. After sub school he was deployed for close to 6 years and he didn't want to continue that pace. Now he works as a contractor doing sonar system upgrades on submarines.. No sea tours other than system certs for short time periods..

Thank you for your service as well..

[1954bmw]

Sorry for hijacking the thread.