Hear Slash and Marc LaBelle’s biting cover of Mountain’s Mississippi Queen

The guitar-hero-packed Legacy: A Tribute To Leslie West was released on Friday (March 25) and now you can hear Slash’s contribution to the record – a cover of the classic Mountain hit, Mississippi Queen.

Compared to the laid back roll of West’s original recording, the Guns N’ Roses man’s take on the 1970 classic feels more immediate and vicious. In addition, Slash is accompanied by an energetic (and appropriately sleazy) vocal from Marc LaBelle of fast-rising rock band Dirty Honey.

Mississippi Queen was recorded during the sessions for Mountain’s debut album Climbing! It became a breakthrough hit for the band, cemented Leslie West’s place in music history and (perhaps relatedly) is the best use of a cowbell this side of (Don’t Fear) The Reaper.

As such, Slash is not the first megastar to cover the track. Previous versions have been recorded by Bachman-Turner Overdrive, W.A.S.P. and Ozzy Osbourne – who had a hit in 2005 with the song, when it featured on his Under Cover album.

The track follows advance singles from Legacy that included Zakk Wylde’s take on Blood Of The Sun and Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke’s soulful interpretation of Silver Paper. 

The album is packed with guitar talent and elsewhere features contributions from Marty Friedman, Martin Barre, Steve Morse, Elliot Easton, Randy Bachman, George Lynch and Yngwie Malmsteen.

Legacy: A Tribute to Leslie West is available to stream now.