Deke Leonard (Man) - Kamikaze (1974)

Year: 1974 (CD 2015)
Label: Esoteric Recordings (UK), ECLEC 2480
Style: Rock, Progressive Rock, Country Rock
Country: Llanelli, South Wales (18 December 1944 – 31 January 2017)
Time: 67:11
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 425 Mb

Having released his debut solo album Iceberg in 1973, Deke Leonard formed a band of the same name to tour it. Original bassist Paul Burton was replaced by Martin Ace by the time Kamikaze was recorded, in typical fashion in between live dates promoting the first album. Another of Deke’s narratives describes the cover shoot. The tale involves searching for big cats, Jumbo jets, and being drenched to achieve the desired photographic intent, and so another chapter in Deke’s life on the road is written…
This record, not surprisingly, sounds more like a band than Iceberg, although oddly it is not as immediate as its predecessor. Kamikaze again features Deke’s penchant for good time rockers, kicking off with Jay Hawk Special. The addition of fiddle player Byron Berline on the initially bluesy Sharpened Claws playing a rumbustious jig’n’reel in the second half of the song lends it a downhome countrified feel, and as the song ends Byron’s fiddle carries on, a lone hoedown after everyone has gone home.
Deke’s vocal on the Quo-like rocker In Search Of Sarah And Twenty Six Horses bears an uncanny resemblance to Noddy Holder, something I had not considered before, but the resemblance is definitely there. You would think from the title that this song was inspired by a CS&N styled drug-fuelled haze, but the straight ahead nature of the music puts paid to that theory. Deke explains further in a convoluted tale involving a girl called Sarah Cheesewright and a book entitled Portrait Of The Artist And 26 Horses, another example of his way with a story. You’ll just have to buy the CD to find out more!
(theprogressiveaspect.net/blog/2015/05/06/deke-leonard-iceberg-kamikaze/)

01. Cool Summer Rain (00:31)
02. Jayhawk Special (04:17)
03. Sharpened Claws (07:20)
04. Taking The Easy Way Out (05:28)
05. The Black Gates Of Death (04:42)
06. Stacia (01:04)
07. Broken Glass And Lime Juice (05:36)
08. April The Third (03:51)
09. Louisiana Hoedown (02:54)
10. In Search Of Sarah And Twenty-Six Horses (06:47)
11. The Devil's Gloves (05:16)
12. She's A Cow [single B-side] [bonus track] (03:34)
13. California Silks And Satins [bonus track] (07:57)
14. Joyful Soul [bonus track] (03:27)
15. Steel Painting Man [bonus track] (04:20)

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Deke Leonard (Man) - Iceberg (1973)

Year: 1973 (CD 2015)
Label: Esoteric Recordings (UK), ECLEC 2479
Style: Rock, Pub Rock, Progressive Rock
Country: Llanelli, South Wales (18 December 1944 – 31 January 2017)
Time: 73:23
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 483 Mb

Roger Arnold "Deke" Leonard (18 December 1944 – 31 January 2017) was a Welsh rock musician, "serving a life sentence in the music business". Best known as a member of the progressive rock band Man, which he joined and left several times, and for fronting his own rock and roll band Iceberg, which he formed and disbanded several times, he was also an author, raconteur and television panelist.

Leonard was born in Llanelli, South Wales. He formed his first band, Lucifer and the Corncrackers, with Mike Rees (vocals), Geoff Griffiths (drums) and Clive "Wes" Reynolds (bass), in 1962, whilst still at Llanelli Grammar School, taking his stage name from "Deke" Rivers, the character played by Elvis Presley in his second film Loving You. Leonard left school to work for a building contractor, which he left to avoid being fired, so became a full-time musician.

The Corncrackers ran their own club, the "L" Club, featuring themselves and other local musicians, whilst also playing support to acts such as Johnny Kidd & The Pirates and The Hollies at a rival venue. When Rees left they continued as a trio; Keith Hodge then replaced Griffiths, but when Reynolds left to join the South Wales band The Jets, The Corncrackers broke up.

Leonard also joined The Jets, on keyboards, but preferred playing guitar, so reformed The Corncrackers with additional guitarist Brian Breeze, before replacing Vic Oakley as bass player in The Blackjacks, with whom he toured US bases in Europe. On his return, he rejoined The Jets, with Tony "Plum" Hollis on vocals, Martin Ace (bass) and Beau Adams (drums). There were other bands named The Jets on the circuit, so they changed their name to The Smokeless Zone and took residencies in Germany, including one at Hamburg's Top Ten Club where Tony Sheridan played with them. Adams was replaced by Terry Williams, but after more European residencies, they disbanded.

When Breeze left the Corncrackers, Leonard rejoined, playing London residences and recording demos for EMI & CBS. When Hodge left, Terry Williams joined on drums and Martin Ace as a multi-instrumentalist. The band changed its style to psychedelia and its name to Dream; not sure what a "freak-out" was, they invented their own with shaving foam and confetti.

In November 1968, Leonard joined The Bystanders, to replace Vic Oakley (again), just as the band changed their musical direction, from close harmony pop to a psychedelic/American west coast style, and their name to Man.

(worddisk.com/wiki/Deke_Leonard/)

01. Razorblade And Rattlesnake (06:02)

02. I Just Can't Win (02:42)

03. Lisa (03:54)

04. Nothing Is Happening (04:33)

05. Looking For A Man (03:50)

06. A Hard Way To Live (03:27)

07. Broken Ovation (05:28)

08. Jesse (04:08)

09. Ten Thousand Takers (03:06)

10. The Ghost Of Musket Flat (02:48)

11. Crosby (Second Class Citizen Blues) (01:53)

12. 7171 551 (05:29)

13. Diamond Road (03:48)

14. Turning In Circles (03:34)

15. The Aching Is So Sweet (04:50)

16. Nothing Is Happening (03:50)

17. The Four Corners Of Hell (06:01)

18. Afterburner Boogie (03:52)

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Man - Be Good To Yourself At Least Once A Day (1972)

Year: November 1972 (CD 1991)
Label: BGO Records (UK), BGOCD 14
Style: Progressive Rock, Rock
Country: Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
Time: 36:04
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 198 Mb

Be Good to Yourself at Least Once a Day is the sixth album by the Welsh rock band Man. Issued just two months after the previous album, Live at the Padget Rooms, Penarth, it features a radically different line-up. Martin Ace having left, and Deke Leonard having been fired, Clive John returned, bringing with him Phil Ryan and Will Youatt, with whom Clive had formed Iorwerth Pritchard and the Neutrons when he left Man in 1971. This is the only studio album by this particular line-up, which also recorded the live Christmas at the Patti before Clive John left again.
The LP had a prize-winning gatefold sleeve that, when opened, unfolded a 2' by 2' (61 cm by 61 cm) cartoon map of Wales, showing the origins of numerous Welsh bands, including Man, and other places of interest. The country was shown as an island, separated from England by a large channel of water, and being pushed away from her neighbour by ten men using long poles.
The inner sleeve featured 'Man's Family Jungle', Man's family tree, similar to those prepared by Pete Frame, but in a scrawled version drawn by Leonard, despite him having been recently fired from the band, as is acknowledged on the chart. On the earlier CD issues (prior to 2007) the map was unreadably small and the 'Family Jungle' was missing. Due to the complications of a previous publishing contract, newly arrived bassist Will Youatt did not appear in the writing credits despite allegedly making a significant contribution to the songs.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be_Good_to_Yourself_at_Least_Once_a_Day)

Album recorded and mixed in the analog domain - AAD. That is, a minimum of digital processing.
A=Analog. D=digital. The first letter stands for how the music was recorded. The second letter for how it was mixed. The third letter stands for the format (all CD's will have D as the last letter).

01. C'Mon (11:03)
02. Keep On Crinting (08:18)
03. Bananas (09:28)
04. Life On The Road (07:13)

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Man - Man (1971)

Year: March 1971 (CD 2001)
Label: Repertoire Records (Germany), REP 4969
Style: Psychedelic Rock, Blues Rock, Country Rock
Country: Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
Time: 54:24
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 344 Mb

It was the first album by this line-up, Terry Williams having replaced Jeff Jones on drums, while Martin Ace replaced Ray Williams on bass.
As well as a change in personnel, the album also represented a change in record label from Pye Records to United Artists (released under the UA stable "Liberty" imprint) with whom the band would remain until 1976. Reviews were mixed, particularly regarding the long tracks "Would the Christians...." and "Alchemist" which were an attempt to recreate some of the longer improvised jams that the band performed on stage, but which did not have the same impact on vinyl.
The music of Man contains elements of country rock and heavy metal.[2]
The album contained three shorter tunes: "Country Girl" that showed a clash of direction but showcases some fine Welsh harmonies. "Daughter of the Fireplace", a Leonard-penned rocker, which became a stage favourite (and highlight of Man's 1972 live LP Live at the Padget Rooms, Penarth) while "Romain", a bluesy-shuffle, was written as a reaction to Martin Ace's treatment by a Belgian police officer of the same name when he attempted to intervene in a situation at a music festival; the song remains in the Man live set to the present day.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_(Man_album))

01. Romain (06:12)
02. Country Girl (03:06)
03. Would The Christians Wait Five Minutes? The Lions Are Having A Draw (12:56)
04. Daughter Of The Fireplace (05:18)
05. Alchemist (20:42)
06. Daughter Of The Fireplace (Single Version) (03:01)
07. Country Girl (Single Version) (03:05)

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Man - Do You Like It Here Now, Are You Settling In (1971)

Year: November 1971 (CD 2007)
Label: Esoteric Records (Europe), ECLEC 2013
Style: Rock, Progressive Rock
Country: Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
Time: 73:30
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 425 Mb

The album was recorded in August at Rockfield Studios in Monmouthshire, Wales. Sessions took place soon after the band's 'All Good Clean Fun' tour of Switzerland, although a brief break in their German tour schedule during the late spring had resulted in two tracks being written at a studio in Swansea. The album title is apparently a Swansea saying, usually directed at pub landlords of exceptionally long standing.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Do_You_Like_It_Here_Now,_Are_You_Settling_In%3F)
Long a fan favorite, Man's fourth studio album was recorded in 1971 during a harried one-week studio session that found the group having to write nearly the entire album, barring the tight and rocking "Angel Easy" and the group's multi-part masterwork "Many Are Called but Few Get Up." Frankly, the album sounds like a record that was largely jammed in the studio; the eight-minute-plus jams that close each side, "We're Only Children" and "Love Your Life," are particularly tiresome, good instrumental and lyrical ideas stretched well past their breaking points. However, besides the superior "Angel Easy" and "Many Are Called but Few Get Up," the album does include the rather wonderful "All Good Clean Fun," a showcase for pianist Clive John and lead guitarist Deke Leonard that has a delightful prog pop playfulness akin to some of Genesis' more lighthearted early moments or the daffiness of the later band Hatfield & the North. The album may be only half good, but that half is among Man's very best work.
(allmusic.com/album/do-you-like-it-here-are-you-settling-in-mw0000752809)

01. Angel Easy (05:02)
02. All Good Clean Fun (04:34)
03. We're Only Children (08:31)
04. Many Are Called, But Few Get Up (07:29)
05. Manillo (05:17)
06. Love Your Life (09:05)
07. Bonus Track - Many Are Called, But Few Get Up (Live at Gugenhalle, Essen, Germany) (09:31)
08. Bonus Track - Angel Easy (Live at Gugenhalle, Essen, Germany) (05:26)
09. Bonus Track - Romain (Live at Gugenhalle, Essen, Germany) (18:32)

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