Leaf Hound were one of the dozens of heavy rock bands that evolved during the late-'60s British blues-rock boom. Rhythm guitarist Derek Brooks and his brother, Stuart Brooks, had been in the Black Cat
Bones, a South London-based band that at one time featured Free's Paul Kossoff. This new group -- christened Leaf Hound, a name found in an anthology of stories by horror writer Herbert Van Thal -- recorded "Barbed Wire Sandwich" for Decca's Nova subsidiary in 1969, and soon were playing shows in England, reportedly blowing headliners UFO off-stage.
Their 1971 debut album, Growers of Mushroom, is cited as a mixture of hard rock, heavy metal, psychedelic rock and stoner rock, and they are regarded as pioneers of those genres. The band recorded
Growers of Mushroom at Spot Studios in Mayfair, London, in one single eleven-hour session 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 Brooks to leave the band. His brother Stuart soon left as well, being replaced by Ron Thomas on bass. By this time French had already departed the band to join Atomic Rooster for their album In Hearing of.
French reformed the band with a new lineup, including Luke Rayner on guitar, in 2004. They released a limited 7" single on Rise Above Records in 2006, featuring a live version of "Freelance Fiend" recorded in
Soho, London, in September 2005. The B-side was taken from the same recording. Leaf Hound released their second studio album, Unleashed, on 12 November 2007 on R.A.R.E. Records. It features eight new compositions and a reworking of Atomic Rooster's "Breakthrough". The album met with critical acclaim from the music press with Kerrang! calling it "as good a rock album as you could hope to hear" and Classic Rock describing it as "an unpretentious hard rock record, relying on strong songs and powerful performances."
LEAF HOUND - GROWERS OF MUSHROOM 1971
Lead vocalist Peter French -- who went on to form Atomic Rooster and later worked with Cactus and a later lineup of Randy Pie -- is in fine form here, and his scorched-earth screech may even remind some
fans of Robert Plant. His cousin, guitarist Mick Halls (who replaced Foghat-bound lead guitarist Rod Price, guitarist in French's earlier group, Black Cat Bones) shows considerable skill throughout. Interestingly, the song titles -- like the band's name -- were taken from an anthology of stories by horror author Herbert Van Thal. In 1995, See for Miles released a remastered CD reissue which featured a rarely heard bonus track, "It's Gonna Get Better," the B-side to their only single, "Drowned My Life in Fear"; some versions of the reissue also have "Hipshaker" added as a second bonus track.
Leaf Hound – 1971 - Growers Of Mushroom
Label: Repertoire Records – REPUK 1079
Format: CD, Album, Reissue 2005
Country: UK
Released:
Genre: Rock
Style: Blues Rock
TRACKS
01. Freelance Fiend 3:08
Written-By – Halls, French
02. Sad Road To The Sea 4:14
Written-By – Halls, French
03. Drowned My Life In Fear 2:58
Written-By – Ross
04. Work My Body 8:10
Written-By – D. Brooks, French, S. Brooks
05. Stray 3:46
Written-By – Halls, French
06. With A Minute To Go 4:17
Written By – S.&D. Brooks / Halls / French / Young
07. Growers Of Mushroom 2:15
Written-By – Halls, French
08. Stagnant Pool 3:57
Written-By – French, Brooks
09. Sawdust Caesar 4:26
Written-By – Halls, French, S. Brooks
BONUS TRACKS
10. It's Gonna Get Better 3:04
Written-By – Halls, French
11. Hipshaker 3:31
Written-By – Halls, French
SPECIAL BONUS TRACK
12. Too Many Rock 'n Roll Times 3:55
Written-By – Halls, Peter French
LINE - UP
Vocals – Peter French
Rhythm Guitar – Derek Brooks
Bass Guitar – Stuart Brooks
Drums – Keith George Young
Lead Guitar – Michael Halls
Flac Size: 342 MB
LEAFF HOUND - UNLEASHED 2007
Morphing out of blues-orientated Black Cat Bones in the late 60s, Leaf Hound were a London-based
heavy rock band whose debut album, Growers Of Mushroom, has long been prized by collectors, with an original copy recently fetching £11,000 at auction. Lee French (Cactus, Atomic Rooster) reformed the band with a new lineup, including Luke Rayner on guitar, in 2004. This line-up featuring French, Rayner, Ed Pearson (bass) and Jimmy Rowland (drums) performed regularly throughout Europe during the early 2000s, releasing their album Unleashed in 2007. With hard-hitting tracks the likes of ‘Barricades’, ‘Stop,
Look And Listen’, ‘One Hundred And Five Degrees’ and the spell-binding ballad ‘Nickels And Dimes’, it was clear that although decades may have passed, Leaf Hound were back with a wealth of dynamic material and winning new fans the world over. French describes Leaf Hound’s music as: “Classic 70s-style rock. Add a dash of Hendrix, a little Cream and Zeppelin and shake it up with a pinch of Free and you get freshly cooked Leaf Hound.”
Leaf Hound – 2007 - Unleashed
Label: R.A.R.E. – RAR 1020, Repertoire Records – RAR 1020
Format: CD, Album
Country: UK
Released: Nov 12, 2007
Genre: Rock
Style: Acid Rock, Hard Rock
TRACKS
01. One Hundred And Five Degrees 4:35
02. Barricades 4:53
03. The Man With The Moon In Him 5:29
04. Nickels And Dimes 5:47
05. Stop, Look And Listen 5:59
06. Overtime 3:21
07. Too Many Rock'n'Roll Times 3:57
08. Deception 6:12
09. Breakthrough 7:26
Written-By – Pat Darnell, Vincent Crane
LINE - UP
Vocals – Pete French
Bass – Ed Pearson
Drums – Jimmy Rowland
Guitar – Luke Rayner
Written-By – Pearson (tracks: 3, 6, 8), Rowland (tracks: 3), Rayner (tracks: 1 to 8), French (tracks: 1 to 8)
NOTES
Track 9 is "dedicated to the memory of Vincent Crane".
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