Leslie West and Jenni Maurer

Leslie West married his fiancée Jenni Maurer on stage after Mountain’s performance at the Woodstock 40th anniversary concert in Bethel, New York. West now lives in New Jersey. Over 15,000 people were present and the couple walked through a bridge of guitars held by Levon Helm, Larry Taylor and Corky Laing among others.

West was born in New York City, and grew up on Long Island, in East Meadow, Forest Hills and Lawrence. After his parents divorced, he changed his surname to West. His musical career began with The Vagrants, an R&B/Blue-eyed soul-rock band influenced by the likes of The Rascals that was one of the few teenage garage rock acts to come out of Manhattan itself (as opposed to the Bohemian Greenwich Village scene of artists, poets and affiliates of the Beat Generation, which produced bands like The Fugs and The Velvet Underground). The Vagrants had two minor hits in the Eastern US: 1966’s “I Can’t Make a Friend” and a cover of Otis Redding’s “Respect” the following year.