Leonard Hart (September 19, 1919 – February 2, 1975) was an American drummer who owned and operated Hart Music, selling drums and musical instruments in San Carlos, California. He was the

father A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...

of Mickey Hart, one of the

percussionists A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...

for the Grateful Dead. Lenny Hart was also the Grateful Dead's original money manager.Rolling Stone, 2 September 1971 In March, 1970, he disappeared along with approximately US$155,000 of the group's profits. Hart was located by a private detective and arrested in San Diego on July 26, 1971,McNally, Dennis. A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead. New York: Broadway, 2002. p. 407 while

baptizing Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

people and using the name "Rev. Lenny B. Hart". He was convicted of criminal embezzlement and sentenced to six months in jail. The Grateful Dead song "He's Gone" is based on Lenny Hart's embezzlement of band money and subsequent disappearance.Relix, vol. 5, #2, p. 24 As a result of the fiasco, Mickey Hart, feeling ashamed of his father's actions, left the band in February 1971, not returning to the group on a full-time basis until 1975. Lenny Hart died of natural causes on February 2, 1975.McNally, Dennis. A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead. New York: Broadway, 2002. p. 486 He had been teaching music in Mill Valley since his release from prison. According to Dennis McNally, "Mickey went to the funeral home, cleared the room, took out the snakewood sticks that had been his inheritance, played a traditional rudimental drum piece, "

The Downfall of Paris "The Downfall of Paris" is a British traditional tune. It dates back to the Napoleonic Wars, and became a popular marching song amongst British troops fighting in the Peninsular War. Its tune is partly a reworking of the French song " Ça Ira". I ...

" on Lenny's coffin, and split."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Lenny Grateful Dead 1919 births 1975 deaths American percussionists American money launderers People convicted of embezzlement 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians