Leaf Hound is an English hard rock band formed in 1969. The band is often cited as pioneers of heavy metal, hard rock, psychedelic rock and

stoner rock Stoner rock, also known as stoner metal or stoner doom, is a rock music fusion genre that combines elements of doom metal with psychedelic rock and acid rock. The genre emerged during the early 1990s and was pioneered foremost by Kyuss and Sleep ...

. The release of their 1971 debut album '' Growers of Mushrooms'' is said to be a mixture of heavy metal, hard rock, psychedelic rock and stoner rock and influenced those genres.

Biography

Formed in 1969 under their original name,

Black Cat Bones Black Cat Bones were a British heavy blues rock band that existed with various lineups from 1966 to 1971. The band had English musicians Paul Kossoff and Simon Kirke in its lineup, both of whom later helped form Free in 1968 with Paul Rodge ...

.Leaf Hound at MusicMight
/ref> Early incarnations of the Black Cat Bones featured guitarist

Paul Kossoff Paul Francis Kossoff (14 September 1950 – 19 March 1976) was an English guitarist, mainly known as the co-founder and guitarist for the rock band Free. He was ranked number 51 in ''Rolling Stone''s list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All ...

and drummer

Simon Kirke Simon Frederick St George Kirke (born 28 July 1949) is an English rock drummer best known as a member of Free and Bad Company. He has been the only continuous member of Bad Company since their inception. Life and career Kirke was born in L ...

who both left to form Free. Black Cat Bones issued one album for Decca Records entitled '' Barbed Wire Sandwich''. They replaced their vocalist shortly after releasing the album, adding Peter French to the line-up. Guitarist

Rod Price Roderick Michael Price (22 November 1947 – 22 March 2005) was an English guitarist best known for his work with the rock band Foghat. He was known as 'The Magician of Slide', 'The Bottle', and 'Slide King of Rock and Roll', due to his slide g ...

departed soon after to join

Foghat Foghat are an English rock band formed in London in 1971. The band is known for the use of electric slide guitar in its music. The band has achieved eight gold records, one platinum and one double platinum record, and despite several line-up ...

and French added his cousin Mick Halls on guitar. Keith George Young joined on drums. Soon afterwards, French changed the band's name to Leaf Hound, from a

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery fictio ...

horror story titled "The Emissary", about a dog that returned from the dead covered in leaves. At this point the band consisted of French on vocals, Halls on lead guitar, brothers Derek Brooks and Stuart Brooks on rhythm guitar and bass respectively, and Young on drums. They recorded '' Growers of Mushroom'' at Spot Studios in Mayfair, London, in late 1970. Soon after, Halls told French that they did not need rhythm guitarist Derek Brooks any more, as Halls could do all the guitar playing, so they asked him to leave the band. His brother Stuart soon left as well, and was replaced by Ron Thomas on bass. The band toured Europe as a four-piece and released the "Drowned My Life in Fear" single and the ''Leaf Hound'' album in Germany on

Telefunken Telefunken was a German radio and television apparatus company, founded in Berlin in 1903, as a joint venture of Siemens & Halske and the ''Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) ('General electricity company'). The name "Telefunken" ap ...

. The ''Growers of Mushroom'' album was released shortly after (featuring all of the tracks on the self-titled album) but by this time French had already departed to join Atomic Rooster for their album ''In Hearing Of''. French would also later join to write and record on Atlantic Records the ''

'Ot 'n' Sweaty ''Ot 'n' Sweaty'' is the fourth album by the American rock band Cactus. It was released in 1972. Original members Jim McCarty and Rusty Day had left the group, so bass guitarist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice were joined by Werner Fritzs ...

'' album with American hard rock band

Cactus A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...

. ''Growers of Mushroom'' became a collectors item in the years to come and was voted the number one most collectable rock album in

Q magazine ''Q'' was a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series '' The Old Grey Whistle Test''. ...

. In 2004 Peter French put together a new incarnation of the band with

Luke Rayner Luke Rayner is a British, London-based guitarist and record producer. He is best known for being part of the reformed Leaf Hound. Since joining Leaf Hound his guitar style and ability have been praised by the music press; ''Classic Rock'' calling ...

on guitar. In 2006 they released a limited 7" on

Rise Above Records Rise Above Records is a London-based independent record label owned by Lee Dorrian (of the band Cathedral and formerly of Napalm Death). Founding Lee Dorrian started Rise Above Records in 1988 without the intention of the label being an ongoin ...

featuring a live version of "Freelance Fiend" recorded in

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

, London, in September 2005. The b-side is taken from the same recording. In 2007 Leaf Hound released 'Unleashed' on 'Rare Recording'. According to the band's website, a live album is set for future release. Leaf Hound released a live album recorded while they were in concert in Tokyo in 2012 titled ''Leaf Hound Live in Japan''. This was released as a special limited 500-only package consisting of a green-coloured vinyl, CD, and DVD and a hand-printed poster album cover. The LP was later released in 2013 featuring a different album cover design on Ripple Music released on either black vinyl, or a CD/DVD package; there was also a very limited distribution issued of the vinyl in a yellow-and-black mottled design.

''Unleashed'' (2007–present)

The band reunited in 2004 to record and release their second studio album ''Unleashed'' on 12 November 2007 thirty six years after their debut. The line-up was different than that of their classic line-up in 1971. It features eight all new compositions and also a reworking of Atomic Rooster's "Breakthrough". The album has been met with critical acclaim from the music press with

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

calling it, "As good a rock album as you could hope to hear."

Classic Rock Magazine ''Classic Rock'' is a British magazine and website dedicated to rock music, owned and published by Future. It was launched in October 1998 and is based in London. The magazine publishes 13 editions a year, mainly covering rock bands from the 60, ...

noted, "An unpretentious hard rock record, relying on strong songs and powerful performances." French and Rayner were also praised for their production skills, "Preserving the Classic Rock sound."

Notes

Stuart Brooks now lives in the Los Angeles area. He was a member of Wishing Well, a power trio led by guitarist/vocalist

Greg Leon Gregory Jay Leon (born May 19th, 1958) is a Los Angeles hard rock guitarist notable for his stints in Quiet Riot, Dokken and what was an early incarnation of Motley Crue. He was also in a band called Suite 19 with Gary Holland, who was later rep ...

, who issued their eponymous 1997 debut album on Tokuma Communications in Japan and on their own label stateside.

Wolfmother Wolfmother is an Australian hard rock band from Sydney. Formed in 2004, the group is centred around vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, who is the only constant member of the line-up. The band has been through many personnel changes since ...

and

Tame Impala Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring act, Tame Impala consists of Parke ...

have both listed the group as an influence.

Members

Current line-up * Peter French – vocals * Tom Smith – guitar * Pete Herbert – bass * Dominic French – drums Classic line-up * Peter French – vocals * Mick Halls – lead guitar * Derek Brooks – rhythm guitar * Stuart Brooks – bass * Keith George Young – drums

Discography

* ''

Leaf Hound Leaf Hound is an English hard rock band formed in 1969. The band is often cited as pioneers of heavy metal, hard rock, psychedelic rock and stoner rock. The release of their 1971 debut album '' Growers of Mushrooms'' is said to be a mixtu ...

'' LP (1970

) * '' Growers of Mushroom'' LP (1971 Decca Records) – same as ''Leaf Hound'', but with additional tracks * ''Unleashed'' CD (2007 R.A.R.E. Records) * ''Live in Japan'' CD/DVD (2014 Ripple Music)

References

External links

Leaf Hound
{{Authority control English hard rock musical groups English psychedelic rock music groups