The guitarist Randy Rhoads was born in Santa Monica, California in 1956 and started his musical career in 1972. He first achieved fame as a member of Quiet Riot, band he helped to form in 1975 and left in 1979 to join Ozzy Osbourne’s band.
After recording the first two Ozzy solo albums, which were extremely successful and influential, Rhoads sadly died in a plane crash in 1982 at the age of 25. With a short career, the musician didn’t have the chance to talk a lot with the press but he once revealed in an intervieW with John Stix in 1981, that the Mountain guitarist Leslie West was one of his favorite guitarists of all time.
Why Randy Rhoads said that Mountain’s Leslie West was one of his favorite guitarists of all time
“Leslie West was one of my all time favorite guitar players. I loved his feel. He used a lot of classical. I can feel he’s really into it when he does those little classical lines. It’s melodic but mean. Beck is also one of my favorites. They’re not idols, but I really like their playing. Beck and Michael Schenker, he’s very classical,” Randy Rhoads told John Stix.
Leslie West was 11 years older than Rhoads and helped to form Mountain in 1969, when Black Sabbath, for example, still hasn’t released their debut album. With songs like “Mississipi Queen”, “Never In My Life” and “Nantucket Sleighride”, they became one of the most influential groups of the 70s, inspiring countless bands over the decades. Black Sabbath was curiously Mountain’s opening act in the early 70s in the United States.
During that same conversation with John Stix, Rhoads was asked which artists were important to him and he once again mentioned West. “Leslie West. Great feel, really moody and powerful. He was one of my favorites.”
They had the chance to meet each other
Rhoads and West had the chance to meet each other in the early 80s. The Mountain singer and guitarist recalled that in an interview with Guitar World in 2012. He even said that Randy was prettier than most girls. “We were on tour with them, and that’s where I met Randy and Sharon and we all became friends. All of a sudden, he was gone too quick. I used to think he was prettier than most girls. He played really well; he played a lot of classical lines. I seem to gravitate toward that, so we hit it off,” Leslie West said.
When Randy Rhoads passed away in 1982, Mountain was in the middle of their first reunion, which lasted from 1981 to 1985. They were touring celebrating the band’s legacy, since they had at the time only released four studio albums in the 70s. After that the band still released four more records. “Go For Your Life” (1985), “Man’s World” (1996), “Mystic Fire” (2002) and “Masters of War” (2007).
West curiously ended up performing with Ozzy Osbourne in 2005. He played the guitar on Ozzy’s cover of Mountain’s classic song “Mississippi Queen”, which was featured on his covers album “Under Cover”.