I remember the night that show ran. Mountain played two songs. The first was "Never In My Life", and I kind of half noticed, thinking it was a good cover. When they started "Mississippi Queen" , I looked again, and realized it was really them. I didn't even recognize Leslie West. I ran into him at NAMM during his fat, junkie years, and he was a real jerk. I rented his band my Acoustic 360, which they proceeded to blow up somehow.
In those same years, I was playing, and was managed by Top Drawer Management out of Champaign, Illinois. On their roster was this kid with a hummingbird tattoo on his forearm. In 1976, our managers said this kid was going to go places. It was Richie Scarlett.
Fast forward to 2001(?), and all my high school friends decided to have a reunion and go see Mountain in Madison. Leslie has become a lot friendlier. He let us talk to him before the show, and showed us his WB&L pin that he still wears on his jacket. I talked to Richie, and told him of our common connection. At that time, he was still in contact with the old managers here and there. At the show, Leslie introduced one song that he said he really hated at first. Over time, he said it grew on him, and it had become his favorite over the years. It was "Theme From An Imaginary Western". He was playing the Steinberger guitar most of the night, but did bring out the Les Paul Jr that Gail Collins painted at the end.
