Biography
The Vagrants gained their greatest recognition through Leslie West's guitar work during the years before he launched Mountain. In the mid-'60s the Long Island, New York outfit enjoyed strong local popularity yet never achieved a national breakthrough despite issuing several respectable singles. Fellow New Yorkers the Rascals served as a clear point of reference, since both groups relied on prominent Hammond organ and leaned toward soul-infused rock; however, the Vagrants placed greater emphasis on guitar and adopted a rawer, more adolescent stance. Their later recordings occupied a stylistic middle ground between the Rascals and Vanilla Fudge.
As one of the rare rock acts on the traditionally folk-oriented Vanguard roster, the band produced a series of uneven 45s from 1965 through 1968 that lacked a consistent personality, ranging from Zombie-style tracks to punky stomps and soul-rock hybrids. Among those early sides, the track "I Can't Make a Friend" has appeared most frequently on garage anthologies. Their nearest brush with wider success came after Felix Pappalardi arranged a deal with Atco, yielding a rock treatment of Otis Redding's "Respect" that reached regional listeners in the East and later appeared on the inaugural Nuggets collection. The single could not match the impact of Aretha Franklin's 1967 version. Following two additional Atco releases, the group disbanded in late 1968; West promptly formed Mountain, which also featured Pappalardi. A substantial portion of the Vagrants' catalog saw reissue in the mid-'90s. Leslie West died on December 22, 2020 at the age of 75.
As one of the rare rock acts on the traditionally folk-oriented Vanguard roster, the band produced a series of uneven 45s from 1965 through 1968 that lacked a consistent personality, ranging from Zombie-style tracks to punky stomps and soul-rock hybrids. Among those early sides, the track "I Can't Make a Friend" has appeared most frequently on garage anthologies. Their nearest brush with wider success came after Felix Pappalardi arranged a deal with Atco, yielding a rock treatment of Otis Redding's "Respect" that reached regional listeners in the East and later appeared on the inaugural Nuggets collection. The single could not match the impact of Aretha Franklin's 1967 version. Following two additional Atco releases, the group disbanded in late 1968; West promptly formed Mountain, which also featured Pappalardi. A substantial portion of the Vagrants' catalog saw reissue in the mid-'90s. Leslie West died on December 22, 2020 at the age of 75.