For those of you who haven't heard, Jack Bruce has been diagnosed with liver cancer. He underwent a successful (at least to this point) liver transplant on October 16 and is recovering as we speak. Needless to say, our prayers and best wishes go out to Jack and his family. For updates on his condition or to leave a get well message, you can check in at jackbruce.com
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When I started this site back in 1998, it was built primarily from the remnants of another major project (and one which I am extremely proud of), the Felix Pappalardi Dedication Website. I, along with my Pappalardi website partner Bob Schatzle, had compiled some photos and miscellaneous bric-a-brac on Leslie that was not really germaine to our project.
So, rather than have them sit around unused in my little private archive, I decided to start a small site and share them with you guys. Which made sense, because there really wasn't very much out there on Leslie and Mountain. The old "Pomeroy site" had long been abandoned and left for dead, and there really wasn't much else to check out. My ol' buddy Queeney (Dave Queen, webmaster of the Leslie West Mountain Eruption site, which is a very kick-ass site itself) pretty much just had a few photos at the time. Well, shit...before you know it, I've got a network of Mountain fans and collectors sending me articles and photos and other cool items from their private stashes. And then it wasn't long before I was out scouring the web (a lot of time and dough on ebay long since seperated form yours truly).... flea markets, garage sales, book stores, you name it...for hard-to-find items pertaining to Leslie and Mountain. And the site starts growing...
Then, out of the blue, an e-mail from Leslie himself telling me he thought the site was really cool. We began e-mailing (along with a phone call or 2) each other and I began integrating some of his suggestions into the site. This led me to think that this site could become THE prime internet source for comprehensive and up-to-date information on Leslie and whatever projects he might be involved with at the moment. There were even some discussion about this becoming his "official" (whatever the fuck that means) website. But, as you can imagine, Leslie is a pretty busy guy (as am I), and information on tour dates and locations, upcoming recording projects and things of this nature...things that I had hoped to be able to provide you all...became extremely hard to come by. So I found myself 'sitting on the fence' so to speak. What the fuck was this? A "fan" site or an "artist" site?
I had people in droves coming to me, hungry for information, and I just couldn't get it consistently and in a timely manner from the powers that be. I was a little frustrated with the whole thing, but what are ya gonna do? Pack your Glock and go to New York and tell Leslie and his people "this is how it's gonna be?" Nah. Not me. I mean, I do have a life, you know...so I just said to myself, 'fuck it, man...if I can't get the 411 on the guy then I'll just roll with what I have. Keep it a fan site. Keep it on a free server complete with pop-up ads and the whole nine yards (Oh by the way...to those of you bitching in the guestbook about the ads, fuck you. Send me a check to cover expenses or shut the fuck up. My time is my investment here). The only problem is that I didn't get around to conveying these sentiments to you guys, because you were still writing and posting, wanting fresh info that I was not privy to...So that is the purpose of this note to you all. From this point forward, please consider this a fan archive site. Feel free to visit as often as you wish, as I will still be accepting any photos, articles and other objects of interest that anybody cares to send in. And if I stumble upon some tour dates, I'll gladly post them up. But please, please, please: DO NOT e-mail me or ask, by way of the forum or guestbook, when Leslie and Corky are coming to Pocatello, Idaho (or wherever), because your guess is as good as mine. I am now considering this to be, for lack of a better term, an "archive" site with some occasional new photos or an odd interview sprinkled in now and then.
Let me stress that I have no bad feelings or ill will towards LW or anyone associated with him. As a matter of fact, Richie DeMartino (who is very tight with Leslie and happens to be one of the nicest cats I've ever known) and I still kabbitz pretty regularly. So really, it's no big whoop. So if you're in need of information such as tour dates and new or upcoming news and releases, check out the new official Mountain website. Thanx, people...
