Howard Leese | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Howard M. Leese |
Born | Hollywood, California, U.S. | June 13, 1951
Genres | Rock, hard rock |
Occupation(s) | Guitarist, producer, singer-songwriter, performer |
Instrument(s) | Guitar, mandolin, keyboards, bass, vocals |
Years active | 1966–present |
Howard M. Leese (June 13, 1951) is an American guitarist, record producer, and musical director who played with Heart as guitarist and keyboardist for 23 years (1975 through 1998). He continues to record and tour as a solo artist, and as guitarist with The Paul Rodgers Band and Bad Company. In 2013, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Heart.
Howard received his inspiration to pick up the guitar during the 1960s after seeing Dick Dale, the guitarist in the surf band "the Del-Tones", and feeling the excitement from his playing. He studied violin and music theory at the City College, Los Angeles, and also played in a band called The Zoo.
Leese had his first recording contract with Ed Cobb's Sunburst label [1] at the age of 15, as the band The Zoo with friend and drummer Mike Flicker. Later, when Flicker went to work for Jack Herschorn at Mushroom Studios in Vancouver, Leese went with him as a production manager. While there, he and Shelly Siegel started Mushroom Records.
It was at Mushroom Studios in 1974 that Leese helped produce a demo for Heart. The next year, Mushroom Records signed Heart and released the group's first album Dreamboat Annie which Flicker produced. Leese was assistant producer on the album, and was asked to join the band later that year. He played with the band until 1998, when the Wilson sisters put the band on hiatus for several years to pursue other projects and devote more time to their personal lives. Leese was Heart's guitarist, backing vocalist, keyboard player (best known for playing the Mini-Moog solo on the hit song "Magic Man") and song arranger. Aside from the Wilson sisters, Leese was the longest serving member of Heart.
In 1998 he joined the Paul Rodgers Band and continued [ when? ] to tour with them as with Bad Company. [2]
As of May 2013, when not touring, Howard was performing in Raiding the Rock Vault which originated at the LVH Hotel, but moved to residency at Vinyl at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and then to the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas.
He splits his time between homes in Malibu, California and Kent, Washington, as of 2013. [3]
2009 saw the release of Leese's first solo effort, Secret Weapon, through Frontiers Records. The disc included special guest appearances by Joe Lynn Turner, Paul Rodgers, Jimi Jamison and Keith Emerson.
Howard is a longtime player and endorser of Paul Reed Smith Guitars.[ citation needed ] In 2009, Paul Reed Smith announced and launched the "Howard Leese Limited Edition Golden Eagle" in tribute to the No. 1 guitar that he played on stage for over 15 years. [4] In the late 1970s, he performed live with the rare Sardonyx guitar. [5]
Howard has used and endorsed Toadworks guitar effects since 2004. In January 2009, ToadWorks USA released the Howard Leese Signature Model analog flanger named Barracuda, after the Heart song of the same name).[ citation needed ]
HML Guitars was founded in 1994 by Howard Leese. As a woodworker and luthier, he participated in all aspects of construction as well as quality control. HML guitars were totally hand-built in Seattle by luthier Jack Pimentel. Pimentel has continued to build hand-crafted custom guitars under his own brand JP Guitars. [6]
Bad Company were an English rock supergroup that was formed in London in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, drummer Simon Kirke, guitarist Mick Ralphs and bassist Boz Burrell. Kirke was the only member to remain throughout the band's entire run, while he and Ralphs were the only members to appear on every studio album. Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, also managed Bad Company until 1982.
Paul Bernard Rodgers is an English-Canadian singer, songwriter and musician. He was the lead vocalist of numerous successful rock bands, including Free, Bad Company, the Firm and the Law. He has also performed as a solo artist and collaborated with the remaining active members of Queen under the moniker Queen + Paul Rodgers, from 2004 until both parties parted ways in 2009. A poll in Rolling Stone magazine ranked him number 55 on its list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". In 2011, Rodgers received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.
Michael Geoffrey Ralphs is a retired English guitarist, vocalist and songwriter, who was a founding member of rock bands Mott the Hoople and Bad Company. Though not a constant member, he appeared on every studio album by the latter band alongside drummer Simon Kirke.
Heart is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1973. The band evolved from previous projects led by founding members Roger Fisher (guitar) and Steve Fossen, including The Army (1967–1969), Hocus Pocus (1969–1970), and White Heart (1970–1973). By 1975, original members Fisher, Fossen, and Ann Wilson, along with Nancy Wilson, Michael Derosier (drums), and Howard Leese formed the lineup for the band's initial mid- to late-1970s success period. These core members were included in the band's 2013 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Nancy Lamoureux Wilson is an American musician. She rose to fame alongside her older sister Ann as guitarist and second vocalist in the rock band Heart.
Randy Meisner is the third and final solo studio album by Randy Meisner. It was released in mid 1982, on Epic in the United States, and in the United Kingdom. The album features a duet with Heart's lead vocalist, Ann Wilson.
Little Queen is the third studio album by American rock band Heart, released in May 1977 by Portrait Records. The album was recorded and mixed at Kaye-Smith Studios in Seattle, Washington, from February to April 1977. On June 29, 2004, a remastered version of Little Queen was released by Epic Records and Legacy Recordings with two bonus tracks.
Dreamboat Annie is the debut studio album by American rock band Heart. At the time, the band was based in Vancouver, British Columbia; the album was recorded in Vancouver and first released in Canada by the local label Mushroom Records in September 1975, eventually reaching number 20 on RPM's Top Album chart and earning a double platinum certification. It was released in the United States on February 14, 1976, through the US subsidiary of Mushroom Records in Los Angeles, peaking at number seven on the Billboard 200. It also reached the top 10 in the Netherlands and Australia in early 1977. The album contains three commercially successful singles, two of which, "Crazy on You" and "Magic Man", became staples on North American FM radio. Producer Mike Flicker helped the group to polish their sound and obtain a recording contract with the label.
Magazine is the second studio album by American rock band Heart. It was originally released on April 19, 1977, by Mushroom Records in unfinished form, without the band's permission. A second authorized version of the album was released on April 22, 1978. The album has been certified platinum in both the United States and Canada.
"Magic Man" is a song by the American rock band Heart released as a single off their debut album, Dreamboat Annie. Written and composed by Ann and Nancy Wilson, the song is sung from the viewpoint of a young girl who is being seduced by an older man, much to the chagrin of her mother, who calls and begs the girl to come home. In an interview, Ann Wilson revealed that the "Magic Man" was her then boyfriend, band manager Michael Fisher, and that part of the song was an autobiographical tale of the beginnings of their relationship. Roger Fisher came up with the alternative tuning EADGDG for his guitar part. The album version of "Magic Man" features an over-two-minute instrumental break which consists of a guitar solo and the usage of a Minimoog synthesizer, while the single version of the song edits out most of this break, cutting it down from 5:28 to 3:29.
"Crazy on You" is a song by American rock band Heart from their debut studio album, Dreamboat Annie (1975). It was released in March 1976 as the album's third single in Canada and the album's debut single in the United States. It reached the top 25 in Canada and the top 35 in the US. It found more success in the Netherlands and Belgium where it peaked at number 2 and 13, respectively, in early 1977 after its release as the second single from Dreamboat Annie in those countries. It is considered one of Heart's signature songs as it is one of the most played tracks on classic rock radio stations in the US.
Roger Fisher is an American guitarist primarily known as one of the founding members of the band Heart. His tenure lasted from 1967 until 1980. In 2013 Fisher was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Heart.
"Dreamboat Annie" is a song written and recorded by the rock band Heart. It is the title track from their debut album Dreamboat Annie and was released as its third single in 1976. The song had originally appeared as the B-side to Heart's debut single "Crazy on You" earlier that year.
"Heartless" is a song written and recorded by the rock band Heart in 1976 for their album Magazine. Issues with the band's previous record label Mushroom caused a delay in the album's release and "Heartless" was released as a single two years later, after the re-issue of their first single "Crazy on You".
The Dixon House Band was a prog-rock/pop group based in Seattle, Washington in the late 1970s. It issued one album on New York City-based Infinity Records in 1979 entitled Fighting Alone and had a minor chart hit with the song "Sooner Or Later".
Mike Flicker is an American music producer in Los Angeles who has numerous credits on music and film projects. He is critically acclaimed for his work with Heart.
The Sardonyx was an electric guitar made in small numbers in the late 1970s. The guitar was notable because of its small rectangular wood body that had "outrigger" aluminum tubes running parallel to the body. Popularized by Howard Leese, then guitarist for Heart, it was one of the two main guitars used by John Lennon during the recording of Double Fantasy. Other notable players were Ian Hunter and Wes Beech of the Plasmatics.
The Zoo was a 1960s rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Their music combined heavy soul music stylings with psychedelic rock influences. It consisted of guitarist Murphy "Chocolate Moose" Carfagna, drummer Mike Flicker, bassist Terry Gottlieb, guitarist Howard Leese, and vocalist Ira Welsley.