Gerry Leonard | |
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 Leonard with Spooky Ghost in 2023. | |
| Background information | |
| Born | February 26, 1962 [1] Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland |
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| Years active | 1989–present |
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Gerry Leonard (born 26 February 1962) is an Irish guitarist known for his harmonic and ambient guitar style and for his work with David Bowie, Suzanne Vega, Rufus Wainwright, Laurie Anderson, Duncan Sheik and many others. He has a solo project called Spooky Ghost. He lives in New York.
Leonard was born and raised in Clontarf, Dublin. He played in bands as a teen and was influenced by a mixture of Led Zeppelin, punk, post-punk, and whatever was playing on Top of the Pops. [2] He worked as a tape operator in Lombard Sound Studios; one of his jobs involved recording a demo tape by a 16-year-old Sinéad O'Connor. [1]
As a producer, Leonard has also worked on albums for Donna Lewis ( In the Pink ), Ari Hest (The Fire Plays), Donnie Mortimer (Ten Eventful Years), Czech band Čechomor (Mistečko), and Pamela Sue Mann. When discussing Leonard's contribution to her album L'Oeuf, Laurie Anderson said, "I've always been a fan of Gerry Leonard's lush and groovy parts, so that makes the listening experience even deeper." [3]
Leonard has worked in film and theatre, with his guitar playing featured on Peter Nashel's scores for The Deep End and Bee Season, Trevor Jones's soundtrack for CrissCross , and Roger Waters's song for The Last Mimzy . [4] He wrote and performed the score for the Irish independent movie 32A , directed by Marian Quinn, [4] and for Quinn's earlier short film Come To (1998). He has also been involved with some of Duncan Sheik's theatrical works, including Whisper House , staged in San Diego in 2010. [4]
Leonard worked extensively with David Bowie, [5] featuring on the studio albums Heathen (2002), Reality (2003) and The Next Day (2013). [6] He toured with Bowie on the Heathen and Reality tours and was musical director for the Reality tour and DVD. [4] He has the only original writing credits other than Bowie on The Next Day for the songs "Boss of Me" and "I'll Take You There."
Bowie and Leonard were introduced by Mark Plati, and Leonard first worked with Bowie on a track from the abandoned album Toy, which Plati was producing. [7] [8] He was able to cover the more unique guitar parts on older Bowie songs, such as those initially played by Robert Fripp or Adrian Belew. [8] Leonard's first live appearance with Bowie was for the straight-through performance of the entirety of both Heathen and Low at the Roseland Ballroom in 2002. [8]
In 2013, Leonard participated in an April Fools' Day spoof involving an announcement that Bowie would be representing Germany in that year's Eurovision Song Contest. [9]
As a solo artist, Leonard works under the name Spooky Ghost, inspired by Donal Coughlan's description of Leonard's guitar sound. Leonard worked on the first Spooky Ghost album from 1996 to 1998, recording it in his East Village apartment. [10] The album, also titled Spooky Ghost, was primarily an exploration of ambient guitar atmospherics. [4] A second Spooky Ghost album, The Light Machine, was released in 2002. On this recording, Spooky Ghost expanded to a trio, featuring Jay Bellerose (drums, percussion and tabla) and Paul Bryan (bass, keyboards and production). Both musicians had already contributed to Spooky Ghost and the trio is the band's live configuration. [10] Bowie described The Light Machine as, "Quite the most beautiful and moving piece of work I have possessed in a long time." [4] Frank Goodman called it a "sonically brave, and innovative, and challenging" work that enables the jaded listener to hear music again. [10]
Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual approach to the instrument, his playing often resembling sound effects or noises made by animals and machines.
Reality is the twenty-fourth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, originally released in Europe on 15 September 2003, and the following day in America. His second release through his own ISO label, the album was recorded between January and May 2003 at Looking Glass Studios in New York City, with production by Bowie and longtime collaborator Tony Visconti. Most of the musicians consisted of his then-touring band. Bowie envisioned the album as a set of songs that could be played live.
Heathen is the twenty-third studio album by the English musician David Bowie, originally released in Europe on 10 June 2002, and the following day in America. His first release through his own ISO label, it reunited Bowie with the producer Tony Visconti for the two's first full-album collaboration since 1980. Recording took place at New York studios from August 2001 to January 2002 and featured guest musicians including Dave Grohl and Pete Townshend. Two tracks, "Afraid" and "Slip Away", evolved from Bowie's shelved Toy project, while three were covers of songs by Pixies, Neil Young and the Legendary Stardust Cowboy.
Carlos Alomar is a Puerto Rican guitarist. He is best known for his work with David Bowie from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s, having played on more Bowie albums than any other musician.
Earl Slick is an American guitarist best known for his collaborations with David Bowie, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and Robert Smith. He has also worked with other artists including John Waite, Tim Curry and David Coverdale, in addition to releasing several solo recordings, and two records with Phantom, Rocker & Slick, the band he formed with Slim Jim Phantom & Lee Rocker.
"I Dig Everything" is a single by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was his final single for Pye Records, released on 19 August 1966. The track was originally demoed with Bowie's then-band, the Buzz, but producer Tony Hatch was unhappy with their efforts and replaced them with session players. It is a pop song that musically and lyrically reflected the mid-1960s Swinging London era. The single was another commercial failure and resulted in the label dropping him. The original recording was included on the Early On (1964–1966) compilation in 1991.
"I've Been Waiting for You" is a song written by Neil Young, which he recorded for his 1968 debut solo album. In a song review for AllMusic, critic Matthew Greenwald described it as "One of the most powerful and well-crafted songs from Neil Young's self-titled solo debut ... A very strong and engaging melody is set against a striking, descending guitar riff, which serves as the song's hook."
"Shadow Man" is a song written by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was recorded on 15 November 1971 at Trident Studios in London during the sessions for The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972) and left unreleased until 2024 on the Rock 'n' Roll Star! box set. A folk ballad, the lyrics discuss topics of self-identity and doubling, and the impact one's present self has on their future lives, themes some linked to the Shadow concepts of Carl Jung.
"You've Got a Habit of Leaving" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, recorded and released as a single on 20 August 1965 through Parlophone. Released under the name Davy Jones, it featured his band at the time, the Lower Third, whose contributions were uncredited. Produced by Shel Talmy and recorded in early July 1965, the single marked a departure from the Americanised R&B of his two earlier singles into Who-style mod music. The original recording later appeared on the compilation albums Early On (1964–1966) (1991) and Nothing Has Changed (2014).
"Baby Loves That Way" is a song written by David Bowie in 1965 and released as the B-side of single "You've Got a Habit of Leaving" under the name Davy Jones with his band at the time, the Lower Third, who were uncredited. Bowie remade the song during the sessions for his Toy album in 2000, which was officially released in 2021.
"The London Boys" is a song by the English musician David Bowie. It was first released as the B-side of the single "Rubber Band" in the United Kingdom on 2 December 1966. It was originally written and demoed in 1965 with the Lower Third for potential release as the artist's debut single for Pye Records but it was rejected. After a year of rewrites, he recorded a new version with a new band, the Buzz, which helped secure him a record contract with Decca-subsidiary Deram Records. Unlike the A-side, "The London Boys" retains the Mod feel of Bowie's previous singles. The dark lyrics concern a 17-year-old who leaves home for London and becomes embroiled in the Mod scene, turning to pills to fit in. Like his previous singles, it failed to chart. Decca later issued it as an A-side in 1975.
Humming is the second album by American singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik. It was released on Atlantic Records in 1998.
A Reality Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie in support of his 2003 album Reality. The tour began on 7 October 2003 at the Forum Copenhagen, Denmark, continuing through Europe, North America, Asia, including a return to New Zealand and Australia for the first time since the 1987 Glass Spider Tour. At over 110 shows, the tour was the longest tour of Bowie's career. A heart attack in late June 2004 forced the cancellation of some dates near the end of the tour. Bowie retired from performing live in 2006, making this tour his last.
A Reality Tour is a DVD released in 2004 of David Bowie's performance at Point Theatre in Dublin, Ireland in 2003 during the A Reality Tour.
The Hours Tour was a small-scale promotional concert tour by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie comprising a handful of live performances and numerous television appearances in support of the album Hours in late 1999. Several live songs from the tour were included as b-sides to singles from the album, and concert recordings from the tour were released in 2020 as Something in the Air and in 2021 with David Bowie At The Kit Kat Klub .
The Heathen Tour was a 2002 concert tour by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie in support of his album, Heathen, and was also notable for the performances of all songs from the 1977 Low album.
VH1 Storytellers is a live album by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was released on 6 July 2009 and features a 23 August 1999 performance on Storytellers, a VH1 program.
Toy is a studio album by the English musician David Bowie, posthumously released in November 2021. It was recorded from July to October 2000 in New York City and featured re-recordings of songs Bowie recorded between 1964 and 1971, along with a couple of new tracks. The project was co-produced by Bowie and Mark Plati and featured musicians from Bowie's then-touring band—Plati, Earl Slick, Gail Ann Dorsey, Mike Garson and Sterling Campbell—with overdubs from Lisa Germano, Gerry Leonard and Cuong Vu.
The Next Day is the twenty-fifth studio album by the English musician David Bowie. Released in March 2013, it was Bowie's first studio release in ten years, as he had retreated from public view after undergoing a procedure to treat a blocked heart artery in 2004. Co-produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti, the album was recorded in New York City between May 2011 and October 2012. It featured contributions from session musicians, some of whom he had worked with in the past, including Gerry Leonard, Earl Slick, Gail Ann Dorsey, Steve Elson, Sterling Campbell and Zachary Alford. Recording took place in secret; all personnel involved signed non-disclosure agreements.
"Let Me Sleep Beside You" is a song written and recorded by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was recorded on 1 September 1967 at Advision Studios in London and marked the beginning of Bowie's working relationship with producer Tony Visconti, which would last for the rest of Bowie's career. A departure from the pop and music hall-influenced material of Bowie's 1967 self-titled debut album and other singles for Deram Records, the song displays a more rock-oriented sound with a cello arrangement from Visconti. The impressionist lyrics also depart from Bowie's prior works, describing love using the act of sleeping together rather than through emotional attachment. The song was rejected by Deram for release as a single, purportedly due to the risqué title. It remained unreleased until 1970's The World of David Bowie compilation.
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