Interview

Here we find words from Leigh. This is an archive of
questions and answers about Leigh's music and gear,
influences and perspectives. There is also a section
where the Webmaster answers some FAQs.

The Original 20 Questions Interview, 2001:

1. A few memories about the Vincebus Eruptum sessions.
These sessions were really strange for a couple of reasons. We had never recorded. The engineer was an off-duty cop and he had never recorded anything like us. It only took a few sessions then it was mixed and they mixed out the drums. Mercury asked us if we wanted to re-record the album, but we were too busy chasing groupies to be bothered. If I could do one thing over that would be at the top of the list.

2. What was it about feedback that spoke to you?
Feedback was and is really cool tool if you can control it.

2-9/16. Was Blue Cheer named after the acid or the other way around?
After the acid

3. A few words about the circumstances surrounding your departure from Blue Cheer.
I was asked to leave. I was the only one in the band that was not chemically challenged and I did not fit in. I got tired of them throwing up onstage and showing up late and just generally too stoned to play and I told them. They did not like what I was telling them.

4. How soon thereafter did you move to England (and why England?)
Almost immediately because I thought that music scene was really cool. I would not have done that now. San Francisco is much more loyal to it’s musicians.

4-1/2. Was Steve Allen truly as baffled as he sounded? That must have been a moment!
That show was one the most fun things we did. Steve Allen was a genius comedic and musically. It was just awesome to be there and joke with him.

5. Was your band right after BC called Aspen? Where, with who, and any gigs/LPs?
There was no band right after other than Silver Metre. With Pete Sears and Micky Waller.

6. Red Weather – significance of the title and do you know the lyrics to “Grows Higher”?
I was trying to capture an atmosphere a turbulence caused by the end of the sixties. I can’t remember any of the lyrics.

7. Cast of Thousands is extremely eclectic; what inspired this album?
This is something I should never have done. It was ill conceived and not a cohesive band and the horns are simply irritating. What was I thinking?

7-1/2. Did you have solo bands and gig in England to support your solo LPs?
Silver Metre. One gig.

8. Silver Metre – some memories of that band and album.
It could have been a good band but the singers presence or lack of really irritated the record companies and they did not get behind us.

9. Pilot – some memories of that band and the 2 albums. What year did Pilot break up?
I just played guitar on the first album. It was difficult to work with Bruce because he had substance issues..

10. What did you do during the mid 70s – musically and otherwise? Travel, etc.?
I was signed to Motown with a band called Foxtrot that recorded an album that was pretty good but Motown didn’t know what to do with us so they just shelved it.

11. The ’78 Demos: With who? For a label? Recorded where? What happened?
Did some really good stuff with a band that Ken Scott signed. We had an incredible singer songwriter, Wayne Hunt, Danny Coward on Drums and Randy Rice on Bass. We recorded about six things then Ken got offered Barbara Streisand if he would record some other band that her husband of the moment was producing, so Ken dumped us.

12. Titles to the demo songs… I know one became a tune on the Chronic CD.
I thing the one on Chronic is Falling in Love Again. Can’t remember the rest.

13. Everyone else’s question, so I’ll ask (sorry): 3 words: “Blue Cheer reunion?”
One word….No

14. Some of your favorite music through the years: peers, 80s, 90s, currently.
Springsteen, Don Henley, Ottmar Leibert, Marc Anton, Acoustic Alchemy, Clapton of course. Too many to list.

15. When do you feel the psychedelic scene imploded / specific events?
Altamont

16. Serious question: to what do you credit your survival of the ‘60s rock lifestyle?
I knew when to say no. Literally.

16-1/2. How often does someone recognize you and air guitar “Summertime Blues”?
You would be surprised. They don’t so much recognize me because I don’t look anything like I used to, but they somehow find out. I never tell anyone but they always find out. How, is beyond me. And why is even a bigger question.

16-5/8. Have you played that song since leaving Blue Cheer?
I did a blues version of it for the 4^th Wave of Bay Area Blues but then we decided to give them We Gotta Get Out of This Place instead.

16-13/32. What are some of your personal favorites of your own work?
The Chronic stuff, Silver Metre, Enterprise and the instrumental stuff I am working on now.

17. Do you own the rights to any of your solo works? If not, who does?
Not anything but Chronic. Who knows. Various record companies.

18. At what point did you switch from SGs to Strats? Flirt with anything else?
In the late eighties I switched for two reasons. The neck suits my hands better and the sound is awesome.

19. Did you suffer any hearing loss from your Blue Cheer days?
No

19.5 What are some influences other than music? Nature, driving, etc.
Art and sailing. I have a sailboat that I sail around on.

19.68 Your work on the Blue Cheer records influenced generations of players and set a high water mark for complete tonal chaos and blistering assault that shall never be matched. Your perspective on having one brief time of yours become a defining moment in heavy rock/psychedelic guitar history would be interesting to hear.
To be honest I don’t know how that happened but if people took something from it then great it was worth doing.

20. Current and future projects, thoughts and plans?
(BONUS! 21. If you’d brag on your guitar a bit, that’d be really cool.)
Still trying to find the right musicians for current project of instrumental music which by the way will be recorded on my new awesome Scott Guitar that sounds like anything I want it to sound like. Gigantic.

AND one for Scott; I need to ask. (Webmaster's note: I originally wasn't asking this for the site, just the big question of a fan who was lucky enough to have the chance to ask it. The answer was so priceless  I had to put it in here.)

Ok, you’re young, its San Francisco, its 1968, you’re in the loudest most powerful rock band in the world, your single hit the charts, the band is thundering, Dickie’s bass sounds like the end of the world with strings, you’re standing in front of a huge wall of Marshalls on 10, blasted on Owsley, whammy-fueled feedback pouring out of the speakers like crashing waves of sonic, electrified rapture… the crowd stands gape-mouthed in awe… in this God-like moment, what goes through your mind?

I just hope I remember the beginning of the first song. If I can get through the first eight bars everything else will fall into place.

 

More Questions:

Besides the "biggies" that stunned everybody (Hendrix, Clapton), who were some not-so-huge guitarists from the late '60s scene that you thought were just great? 
The guy from Moby Grape was great and the guy who played the solo on Midnight at the Oasis. I think his name was Amos Garrett. That guy was unbelievable, so innovative. I would love to hear more of him. 

I believe there ARE cures for the Summertime Blues: what are your top five? 
Golf, golf, golf, golf and golf 

When did you start playing and what were your early influences?
I started playing when I was 12. At that point I listened to alot of country music and old rock and roll. Except at that time it was new rock and roll. Later I liked the Beach Boys, surf guitar heroes, Dick Dale, Duane Eddy, the Ventures.

First guitar: Stella acoustic. 
My parents still have it. You had to be very pumped up to even push the strings down.
First electric: Danelectro (single pickup)
First band: My first band was just a high school band that played all the top forty stuff of the day. You know Night Train, Tequila, all that stuff. We had outfits that we wore and little dance moves. It was terrible.

What does music mean to you? 
Music is the purest form of communication there is. It transcends borders, languages, cultures. 

Was there a moment when music or the guitar grabbed you, shook you to the core and said "This is your path!"? 
No, I took up the guitar because my parents bought me one. I actually like to play the piano more than the guitar. 

What do you still carry with you from the psychedelic era? 
A perception and healthy fear of government and mainstream media. 

What are five albums that move you, that you consider essential to the soundtrack of your life? 
The Bluesbreakers with Clapton
Cream/ Fresh Cream
Hendrix/ Are you Experienced
Bob James/Erroll Klugh/Match
Beatles/The White Album 

Talk a bit about the SG, since that was your main guitar.
The SG was one of many. They used to last about a week. We used to smash everything including them. This is something I'm not proud of. Being ignorant kids we thought it was cool. I would do anything to have some of those guitars now.

How would you describe the new project and how is it coming along?
Very powerful instrumental music. Still trying to find musicians. Don't want to just go in and record again. Want to have it develop live first, then record. It always gives the material more chance to grow.
(Webmaster's note: the right situation concerning Leigh recording any new stuff hasn't presented itself as of this December 2003 update.)

What have been some lasting sources of inspiration for you? (books, music, stuff of spiritual nature... whatever you'd like to offer up as information or seeds for those reading) 
I don't know. I attend the church of audio and visual. I don't need any more religion or inspiration than what I see and hear everyday. I believe in the power of Border Collies. Just look Rocket (one of my Border Collies) in the eye for awhile and you will know what I mean. I look in the sky every night fully expecting to see something spectacular, sometimes I do. Read the Da Vinci Code. It's fun and revealing.

What are 3 causes you feel strongly about?
Historic preservation (buildings etc.), preservation of this planet period. Taking it back from the people that would rape it for any resource that makes a buck. And last but not least, getting the money back to the musicians that created the music and out of the pockets of lawyers, unscrupulous managers, and every other parasite that exists in this business. 

Describe the strangest gig you ever played. 
The Avalon ballroom. the bill I think was Blue Cheer, Charles Lloyd, and  maybe the Charlatans. This was when they were putting all those eclectic shows together. Try to imagine, if you will, the audience alone.
 
Any core philosophy or life wisdom you'd like to pass along, Leigh? 
Just do it now, don't wait. The last 20 years of my life have seemed to pass in 20 minutes, life is too short to defer everything to later. Besides you're old and it's all harder to do.

The Webmaster Answers Some Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Why don't you have any recent pictures of Leigh on your site?
A: Because Leigh was waiting for the right one to send me...



Q: How did Leigh get that tone on the first Blue Cheer album?
A: Ingredients: an educated guess by the Webmaster.

Leigh's hands.
Lightweight Mahogany bodied electric guitar with humbuckers.
(Not high output humbuckers, either; the vintage PAF kind.)
Marshall non master volume head, turned up LOUD.
4x12 speaker cabinet with VERY tired speakers.
Raunchy old solid state fuzz pedal with an "Output" or "Level" control.
Tape compression from overloading the studio console inputs.
Incompetence and/or incoherence of studio personnel too busy keeping the hookah lit to check recording levels.

Directions:
Turn the amplifier up until it starts to break up and you get some speaker distortion..
 Absolutely PUMMEL the input of the amp with as much pedal signal as you can. For the rest of it, you'll have to go back to California in 1968 and try to capture the loudest band in the world at stage volume on tape with the room spinning, the pizza breathing, and dinosaur recording gear that was not designed for such severe duty. In other words, combine as many ingredients as you can and bake thoroughly. You'll come close. All we have to work with is a close approximation of the equipment and/or the recording techniques... chalk the other 75%  up to Leigh and the studio environment. Even here in the post-Grunge 21st century, that tone still slays me and throws me into fits of air guitar, leaving me slack-jawed, staring gape-mouthed at the stereo speakers as if they were giant towering monoliths of unexplainable origin stumbled on in the forest like an Aztek ruin. Go figure.
 
Q: What kind of guitar does Leigh play?
A: Currently his main guitars are a Fender Stratocaster and a custom Strat-style I built for him in 1999, both with Floyd Rose style tremolo systems. The Fender has Texas Specials in it (which he's not crazy about); the Scott has Lace Sensor pickups (which he is). His string of choice is Ernie Ball stainless steel slinkys .009-.042.

Q: What kind of music does Leigh listen to?
A: I occasionally ask him what's in the CD player, and answers he's given include alternative rock, Fourplay, Acoustic Alchemy, Ottmar Liebert, lots of blues, just about everything. Clapton's 'Pilgrim'. Appalachian Journey (Yo Yo Ma), Danny Gatton, Don Henley, and Afro Celt Sound System Vol. 2.

Continue to E-mail me, as I forward things to Leigh on a regular basis. But please, and this is me (the webmaster) speaking, don't just WANT something from the guy. You say you'd give your left nut for an autograph? Well how about some golf balls instead... sounds fair to me! ~Scott

 

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