LESLIE WEST chose to re-track the classic MOUNTAIN hit ‘Long Red’ for his October 29th solo release Still Climbing, His motive, to reclaim as his own one of the most sampled rock tracks in the history of hip hop. Originally released on Mountain (1969), the song has found a renewed relevance with consistent usage year after year on platinum recordings. Some of the artists who have sampled the track include JAY-Z on 2003's The Black Album with ‘99 Problems’, DE LA SOUL with 2004's The Grind Date with ‘Verbal Clap’, THE GAME's 2006 album Doctor's Advocate with ‘Wouldn't Get Far’, and 2007's Finding Forever from COMMON with "’he People’. Recently, LANA DEL REY samples West's voice saying "Louder" on the title track of Born To Die, while ASAP ROCKY's massive hit ‘Ghetto Symphony’ from Long Live ASAP samples ‘Long Red’. The wide usage is best presented via a sample map presented by Ethan Hein below. Mascot Label Group has created a Spotify playlist exhibiting the usages, which can be streamed here.

On the steady usage of the track throughout the past two decades, and continued relevance today, West simply shares, "In 1969, when I wrote the song, there was no hip hop."

Leslie West released Still Climbing on October 29 via Provogue Records / Mascot Label Group. On November 13, West will appear at New York City's Iridium for one-set at 8PM. For more information visit TheIridium.com. Additional tour dates will be announced as they are confirmed.

Originality, excitement, honesty and survival are all part of what makes a legend, and those qualities ripple through every song on West’s release. The disc is also a testimonial to the strength and durability of West’s artistry. Born October 22, 1945, west recently celebrated his 68th birthday, West has packed some of the most soulful and searing vocal performances of his half-century career into these eleven tracks, and his guitar has never sounded more massive or riff-propelled. On the re-recording of ‘Long Red’, West is joined by his brother, and former Vagrants band mate, Larry on bass. He shares, "It was time for me to let people hear that song the way I do it now. I used a B-3 organ on it again, but this time it has a lot more balls."

Still Climbing tracklisting:

'Dyin’ Since The Day I Was Born' (with special guest Mark Tremonti)

'Busted, Disgusted Or Dead' (with special guest Johnny Winter)

'Fade Into You'

'Not Over You At All'

'Tales Of Woe'

'Feeling Good' (with special guest Dee Snider)

'Hatfield Or McCoy'

'When A Man Loves A Woman' (with special guest Jonny Lang)

'Long Red'

'Don’t Ever Let Me Go' (with special guest Dylan Rose)

'Rev Jones Time (Somewhere Over The Rainbow)'

A lyric video for the album track 'Dyin' Since The Day I Was Born', featuring ALTER BRIDGE and CREED guitarist Mark Tremonti, is streaming below: