When Van Halen released their groundbreaking self-titled debut album in 1978 everyone was shocked with the incredible guitar playing and were intrigued about how Eddie could play like that. It didn’t take long until other guitarists were inspired by his playing and started to play in a similar way.
One of them was the Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads, who was compared to Van Halen many times although he was really an incredible player who had many other influences as well, including classical music. But both guitarists had another thing in common, they loved one particular American guitarist.
The guitarist that Van Halen and Randy Rhoads loved
The guitarist that both Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen loved was the Mountain co-founder, guitarist and singer Leslie West. He not only was inspired by the guitarist but also became his friend. In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2011, he mentioned West as one of his influences.
“With Tony (Iommi), it’s the riffs, and the power of the music. And you’ve got people like Ritchie Blackmore (and) Leslie West. Leslie West has this incredible tone in Mountain. And Ritchie Blackmore I liked because of his vibrato bar use on ‘Deep Purple in Rock’. Also, they come out with great riffs. I mean, come on, ‘Smoke on the Water’ is one for the history books,” Eddie Van Halen said.
Although they were in the music business for decades together, they really became good friends in the 90s when both of them went to rehab. The story was told by West himself in an interview he gave back in 2002 when he performed Mountain’s classic “Never In My Life” with Eddie Van Halen. He had already performed “MississippiQueen” with Van Halen in 1995.
“I was going to rehab in Milwaukee. I stopped playing for six months. So I met Ed and I introduced myself. After I saw him it got me playing again. He was kicking me up a notch. So I called Randy Bachman. I said, ‘how’d you like a rhythm guitar player for nothing?'”
He continued:
“I just wanted to get on tour. He said great and I went out on the tour, and Eddie and I played every night in the room afterwards and we became friends. He hasn’t made any appearances for a long time. (So) he knows how to play ‘Never in My Life’, one of my songs the right way I forgotten how to play,” Leslie West said.
Leslie West was one of Randy Rhoads’ favorite guitar players of all time
The late legendary Ozzy Osbourne and Quiet Riot guitarist Randy Rhoads was also a big fan of Leslie West. He even said in an interview with John Stix in 1981 that the Mountain guitar player was one of his favorites 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. (…) Leslie West. Great feel, really moody and powerful. He was one of my favorites.”” Randy Rhoads told John Stix.
11 years older than Rhoads, Leslie West 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. Black Sabbath for example, even ended up being their opening act in the United States in the early 70s when they were still not big.
Leslie West and Randy Rhoads had the opportunity to meet each other back in the early 80s. In an interview with Guitar World in 2012, West 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.
