Derek "Lek" Leckenby (14 May 1943 – 4 June 1994)Chris Welch

''The Independent'', 9 June 1994. Retrieved 28 November 2010. was an English musician and lead guitarist, most famous for his work with English pop group

Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits are an English beat, rock and pop group formed in 1964 in Manchester, originally called Herman and His Hermits and featuring lead singer Peter Noone. Produced by Mickie Most, the Hermits charted with number ones in the UK a ...

Early life

Leckenby was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

. He was educated at

William Hulme's Grammar School William Hulme's Grammar School is a mixed all-through school in Whalley Range, Manchester, England. History William Hulme (1631–1691) of Hulme Hall, Stockport, was the founder of "Hulme's Charity" later known as the Hulme Trust. Follow ...

, Manchester, and commenced a

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

degree course at

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

before leaving to become a professional musician. He was performing with Manchester band The Wailers when music manager

Harvey Lisberg Harvey Brian Lisberg (born 2 March 1940) is an English talent manager and impresario, best known for discovering Herman's Hermits in 1963. In 1965, he signed songwriter Graham Gouldman, a founder member of 10cc, who Lisberg also managed, along w ...

recruited him for

Herman's Hermits

An accomplished lead guitarist and musician, he played on many of the band's early

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

and composed songs with bandmates

Keith Hopwood Keith Hopwood (born 26 October 1946) is an English pop and rock musician, singer-songwriter, composer, businessman and record producer, who served as the rhythm guitarist and backing vocals for the 1960s pop band, Herman's Hermits. Hopwood als ...

Peter Noone Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone (born 5 November 1947) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist and actor. He was the lead singer "Herman" in the 1960s pop group Herman's Hermits. Early life Noone was born in Davyhulme, Lancashire, ...

and

Karl Green Karl Anthony Green (born 31 July 1947) is an English songwriter, musician and bassist who was the bass guitarist and backing singer for the 1960s British band, Herman's Hermits. Biography Herman's Hermits consisted of Peter Noone (lead vocal ...

. He admired their record producer

Mickie Most Michael Peter Hayes (20 June 1938 – 30 May 2003), known as Mickie Most, was an English record producer behind scores of hit singles for acts such as the Animals, Herman's Hermits, the Nashville Teens, Donovan, Lulu, Suzi Quatro, Hot Chocolate ...

, but was bothered at times by Most's use of

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s on the band's mid-career hits, despite the Hermits' more-than-acceptable skills as players. Leckenby played on all the band's US and UK Number One hits and provided the solo on "

I'm Henry VIII, I Am "I'm Henery the Eighth, I Am" (also "I'm Henery the VIII, I Am" or "I'm Henry VIII, I Am"; spelled "Henery" but pronounced " 'Enery" in the Cockney style normally used to sing it) is a 1910 British music hall song by Fred Murray and R. P. Westo ...

". Karl Green commented on VH1's ''My Generation-Herman's Hermits'' that Most's use of session musicians on some of the band's records was unfair to Leckenby in particular. During the 1970s and 1980s, Leckenby tried to set the record straight with the rock media, explaining the large body of guitar playing he contributed to the band's records. Even the band's US

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

ABKCO failed to credit the Hermits' playing in the liner notes to its retrospective on the band. Leckenby's skills are apparent not only on Herman's Hermits records, but also on

videos Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

of the band's live appearances including the 1965 ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' music awards and the Herman's Hermits Hilton Show. Additionally, Leckenby can be heard on several releases by Hopwood's Pluto Music, including the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

''Vault 69''. Leckenby is credited with

arranging In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

the band's first big hit, "

I'm into Something Good "I'm into Something Good" is a song composed by Gerry Goffin (lyrics) and Carole King (music) and made famous by Herman's Hermits. The song was originally recorded (as "I'm into Somethin' Good") by Cookies member Earl-Jean on Colpix Records ...

". His skills on guitar and

dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...

are heard on releases such as the LP ''A Whale of a Tale'' and the later singles, such as "Ginny Go Softly" and "Heart Get Ready for Love". Despite the split with Noone, Leckenby always spoke highly of his friend and defended the singer's vocal abilities to

critics A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governme ...

. Noone also praised Leckenby's talent in numerous interviews over the years.

Death

Leckenby died of

non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tiredness. ...

on 4 June 1994 at the age of 51.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leckenby, Derek 1943 births 1994 deaths Musicians from Leeds English pop guitarists English male guitarists Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from non-Hodgkin lymphoma People educated at William Hulme's Grammar School Herman's Hermits members 20th-century English musicians 20th-century British guitarists Beat musicians 20th-century British male musicians