667 - WHY DONTCHA

 

 

 

CLICK ON PICTURE TO GO HOME

WEST, BRUCE & LAING, THE JOCKERS, SILVER PHANTOM, PATRICK JOHANSEN, OMNIMAR, JOE BONAMASSA, JOE LYNN TURNRER, JIMI JAMESON, WITHIN TEMPTATION, THE PRETTY RECKLESS, DESERT DRAGON, BLACK RAIN, NICKELBACK, SAINT

"TOP 11 COUNTDOWN WITH "

" DOCTOR "

 

WEST, BRUCE & LAING, THE JOCKERS, SILVER PHANTOM, PATRICK JOHANSEN, OMNIMAR, JOE BONAMASSA, JOE LYNN TURNRER, JIMI JAMESON, WITHIN TEMPTATION, THE PRETTY RECKLESS, DESERT DRAGON, BLACK RAIN, NICKELBACK, SAINT

"TOP 11 COUNTDOWN WITH "

" DOCTOR "

ROCKSTORY

"(West, Bruce & Laing (WBL) BIOGRAPHY)"

"West, Bruce & Laing (WBL) were a Scottish–American blues rock power trio super-group formed in 1972 by Leslie West (guitar and vocals; formerly of Mountain), Jack Bruce (bass, harp, keyboards and vocals; ex-Cream), and Corky Laing (drums and vocals; ex-Mountain). The trio agreed to work together in London in January 1972 near the end of Mountain’s 1971–72 European tour supporting their album Flowers of Evil (1971), after Mountain’s bassist/vocalist/producer Felix Pappalardi announced he would leave the band at the tour’s end. (Pappalardi had, by late 1971, become addicted to heroin.) Pappalardi had produced all but one of Cream's albums, and occasionally also performed with them in the studio. Subsequently, as Mountain's producer, Pappalardi would fashion his new band's sound after that of Cream, in particular scoring a 1970 hit with a cover version of Bruce’s song "Theme for an Imaginary Western" Upon signing with CBS, WBL began work on their first album, Why Dontcha (November 1972). The album took longer than expected to complete, in part from inefficiency due to drug use by the band and their production team; upon its delivery to the label, CBS was dissatisfied with the album's quality and did not heavily promote it. In spite of this, however, Why Dontcha performed respectably in the marketplace, peaking at #26 on the Billboard album chart and staying on the chart for twenty weeks. WBL continued to tour North America and Europe extensively during late 1972 and early 1973 in support of Why Dontcha. However, the band's heavy drug use hurt their performances, and apparently at times even influenced their tour schedule. The band took a break from touring in the spring of 1973 to record a second studio album, Whatever Turns You On, in London. The sessions became contentious – they became "really nasty because of the smack" according to the album's co-producer Andy Johns. The album was released in July 1973, peaking at #87 on the Billboard chart. The Whatever Turns You On sessions would be the last time West, Bruce & Laing would work together. However, news of the band’s breakup would be publicly withheld until early 1974, with the band’s posthumous live album Live 'n' Kickin' released shortly thereafter. Following the breakup of WBL, West and Laing would again reform Mountain in 1985 (without Pappalardi, who died in 1983), and sporadically played together in the band until 2010. Jack Bruce resumed a solo career after WBL's demise and sadly died in 2014. In 2009 West and Laing teamed up with Jack Bruce's son, Malcolm Bruce, and toured as West, Bruce Jr. and Laing. Leslie West died in 2020, leaving Corky Laing as WBL's only surviving member."