Howard M. Leese (born June 13, 1951, in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States) is an American guitarist, record producer, and musical director who played with

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

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 Bad Company are an English rock supergroup that was formed in 1973 by singer Paul Rodgers, guitarist Mick Ralphs, drummer Simon Kirke and bassist Boz Burrell.Bad Company ''AllMusic'' Peter Grant, who managed the rock band Led Zeppelin, also ...

. In 2013, he was inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...

as a member of Heart.

Career

Howard received his inspiration to pick up the guitar during the 1960s after seeing

Dick Dale Richard Anthony Monsour (May 4, 1937 – March 16, 2019), known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scale (music), scales and experimenting with reverb eff ...

, 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 Edward C. "Ed" Cobb (February 25, 1938 – September 19, 1999) was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer, most notably during the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for writing the song "Tainted Love" for Gloria Jones, which later ...

's Sunburst label at the age of 15, as the band ''The Zoo'' with friend and drummer

Mike Flicker Mike Flicker (born 1950) 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.Mushroom Studios Mushroom Studios was a music recording facility located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with a long history in Canadian music. It has now been relocated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The studio hosted the recording of many classic albums ...

in Vancouver, Leese went with him as a production manager. While there, he and Shelly Siegel started

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival Mu ...

. It was at Mushroom Studios in 1974 that Leese helped produce a demo for

. The next year, Mushroom Records signed Heart and released the group's first album ''

Dreamboat Annie ''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 Se ...

'' 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. He continues to tour with them as with

. As of May 2013, when not touring, Howard was performing in ''

Raiding the Rock Vault ''Raiding the Rock Vault'' is a jukebox musical based on classic rock songs, featuring a cast of musicians from well-known rock bands. Since its debut in 2012, the show has appeared mainly at casinos in the Las Vegas area. History The concept ...

'' which originated at the

LVH Hotel The Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino is a hotel, casino, and timeshare resort in Winchester, Nevada. Located near the northern end of the Las Vegas Strip, it is owned by Westgate Resorts. It opened in 1969 as the International Hotel, and was ...

, but moved to residency at Vinyl at the

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and ro ...

and then to the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas. He splits his time between homes in

Malibu, California Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...

and

Kent, Washington Kent is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue metropolitan area and had a population of 136,588 as of the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest municipality in greater Seattle and t ...

, as of 2013.

Solo career

2009 saw the release of Leese's first solo effort, ''Secret Weapon'', through

Frontiers Records Frontiers Music – formerly Frontiers Records – is an Italian record label, predominantly producing hard rock. It was founded in 1996 by Serafino Perugino and is based in Naples. History In 1996, Serafino Perugino started working in the m ...

. The disc included special guest appearances by

Joe Lynn Turner Joe Lynn Turner (born Joseph Arthur Mark Linquito, August 2, 1951) is an American singer known for his work in the hard rock bands Rainbow, Yngwie J. Malmsteen and Deep Purple. During his career, Turner fronted and played guitar with pop ro ...

, Paul Rodgers,

Jimi Jamison Jimmy Wayne Jamison (August 23, 1951 – September 1, 2014) was an American singer. Best known as Jimi Jamison, he earned recognition as the frontman for the rock bands Target, Cobra, and Survivor from 1984 to 1989, performing the songs " Burn ...

and

Keith Emerson Keith Noel Emerson (2 November 1944 – 11 March 2016) was an English keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became ...

Instruments

Howard is a longtime player and endorser of Paul Reed Smith Guitars. 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. In the late 1970s, he performed live with the rare

Sardonyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a Silicate minerals, silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has pa ...

guitar. Howard has used and endorsed Toadworks guitar effects since 2004. In January 2009, ToadWorks USA released the Howard Leese Signature Model analog

flanger Flanging is an audio signal processing, audio effect produced by mixing two identical audio signal, signals together, one signal delayed by a small and (usually) gradually changing period, usually smaller than 20 milliseconds. This produces a s ...

named Barracuda, after the Heart song of the same name).

HML Guitars

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.

Albums

; The Zoo : *''The Zoo Presents Chocolate Moose'' (1968) – by

The Zoo ''The Zoo'' is a one-act comic opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by B. C. Stephenson, writing under the pen name of Bolton Rowe. It premiered on 5 June 1875 at the St. James's Theatre in London (as an afterpiece to W. S. Gilb ...

; Mad Dog : *''Dawn of the Seventh Sun'' (1969) – by Mad Dog ;

: *''

'' (1975) *''

Little Queen ''Little Queen'' is the third studio album by American rock band Heart, released on May 14, 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 ...

'' (1977) *''

Magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

'' (1978) *'' Dog and Butterfly'' (1978) *'' Bebe Le Strange'' (1980) *''

Private Audition ''Private Audition'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Heart, released on May 20, 1982, by Epic Records. The album reached number 25 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, spending 14 weeks on the chart. It spawned the single " This Man I ...

'' (1982) *''

Passionworks ''Passionworks'' is the seventh studio album by American rock band Heart, released on August 20, 1983, by Epic Records. The album marks a shift in musical direction from hard rock and folk to mainstream rock. It is the first Heart album to featur ...

'' (1983) *''

'' (1985) *''

Bad Animals ''Bad Animals'' is the ninth studio album by American rock band Heart, released on June 6, 1987, by Capitol Records. The album continues the mainstream hard rock style from the band's 1985 self-titled release, all while enjoying similar succ ...

'' (1987) *''

Brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

'' (1990) *''

Desire Walks On ''Desire Walks On'' is the eleventh studio album by American rock band Heart, released on November 16, 1993, by Capitol Records. The majority of the album was co-written by lead members Ann and Nancy Wilson. It is Heart's final studio album to ...

'' (1993) *'' The Road Home'' (1995) ;

Dixon House Band 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" ...

: *'' Fighting Alone'' (1979) *'' Masked Madness'' (1981) ;

Paul Rodgers Paul Rodgers (born 17 December 1949) is a British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was the lead vocalist of numerous bands, including Free, Bad Company, The Firm, and The Law. He has also performed as a solo artist, and co ...

: *'' Paul Rodgers: Live in Glasgow'' (2007) ;

: *''

Hard Rock Live The Hard Rock Live is an indoor amphitheater at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Hollywood, Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The theater opened on October 25, 2019, as part of a $1.5 billion property-wide expans ...

'' (2010) *'' Live at Wembley'' (2011) ; Solo : *'' Secret Weapon'' (2009) – With

and Paul Rodgers. ; Others : *''

Randy Meisner Randall Herman Meisner (born March 8, 1946) is a retired American musician, singer, songwriter and founding member of the Eagles. Throughout his professional musical career, Meisner's main role was that of bassist and backing high-harmony vocal ...

'' (1982) – by

*'' The Thirteenth Dream (aka Spirit of '84)'' (1984) – by

Spirit Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

*'' Dangerous Curves'' (1991) – by

Lita Ford Lita Rossana Ford (born 19 September 1958) is an English-born American guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. She was the lead guitarist for the all-female rock band the Runaways in the late 1970s, before embarking on a successful glam metal solo ...

*''There Must Be A Place'' (1993) – by BananafishBananafish: Energetic Sound, Hopeful Music
, January 6, 1995, The Seattle Times. * ''The Yellow Album'' by The Simpsons. Lead & rhythm guitar on ''Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves'' : https://www.discogs.com/fr/The-Simpsons-The-Yellow-Album/release/1092354

Notes

References

*Fjestad S.P. (ed.) Zachary R. (2008) ''Blue Book of Electric Guitars'' 11th Edition, Illustrated, Publisher: Alfred Publishing, , pp. 599 *York, William (ed.) (1982) "Leese, Howard" ''Who's Who in Rock Music'' Charles Scribner's Sons, New York,

External links

"Howard Leese biography"
Official Website of Howard Leese

''BebeLeStrange's Ann and Nancy Wilson Site'' by Todd Kinzey * ''Classic Rock Revisited'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Leese, Howard 1951 births Record producers from California American rock guitarists American male guitarists Music directors Living people People from Hollywood, Los Angeles Heart (band) members 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American keyboardists Frontiers Records artists Bad Company members