Greg Leon

Gregory Jay Leon (b. May 1958) is a Los Angeles hard rock guitarist notable for his stints in Quiet Riot and Dokken. He was also in a pre-Mötley Crüe band with Tommy Lee called Suite 19 [ [http://www.davesontour.com/fiveanddime/gregleon.html Leon Interview] ] [ [http://www.sleazeroxx.com/interviews/leon.shtml Sleazeroxx] ] .

Leon is considered an influential and important musical personality in the Hollywood hard rock/heavy metal scene of the late 70s and early 80s, playing an integral part in the successive fortunes of the acts he was associated with [ [http://metaltoinfinity.00freehost.com/GregleoninvasionCDreview.html Metal to Infinity] ] .

Background

Greg Leon was born in 1958 and grew up in Glendale, California, a foothills community of Los Angeles, and immediately made an impact on the blossoming live hard rock scene of Hollywood's Sunset Strip in the late 70s. Primarily playing guitar and handling vocals, the acts that he fronted were Suite 19, with future Crüe drummer Tommy Lee [ [http://members.ozemail.com.au/~cruekiss/81.htm Chronological Crüe] ] , and the Greg Leon Invasion [ [http://www.tartareandesire.com/bands/invasion.html Tartarean Desire] ] , with bassist Joey Vera [ [http://www.hardradio.com/shockwaves/vera5.html Hard Radio] ] (later of Armored Saint, Fate's Warning and Anthrax) and drummer Carl Elizondo [ [http://carlelizondo.com/page2.html Carl Elizondo page] ] (later of Jag Wire, and playing under the stage name Carl James). He took the place of Randy Rhoads in Quiet Riot, and as the pre-George Lynch guitarist in Dokken [ [http://www.rockdetector.com/officialbio,2683.sm Rock Detector] ] (Don Dokken has since made his first album, which graces Leon on the cover, available for [http://dokken.net/downloads/mp3s.html download] to the public). During this period Leon also had a considerable local reputation as a guitar teacher, working at Rhoads' mother's guitar studio in Burbank [ [http://www.sleazeroxx.com/interviews/leon.shtml Sleazeroxx] ] .

Subsequent career

Leon had several incarnations of the Invasion and played with various LA acts after his exciting early days. Leon also had a brief time with Greenworld Records' Midwestern act Vyper [ [http://www.sleazeroxx.com/interviews/leon.shtml Sleazeroxx] ] , while at the same time gathering a name for himself as a guitar amp modifying specialist. Eventually Leon opened an amplifier technician facility in Hollywood that he runs today, frequented by international touring guitarists intrigued by his reputation as a guitarist and technician [ [http://www.yelp.com/biz/gregs-amp-repair-la-crescenta Yelp] ] [ [http://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/92724-great-amp-tech.html Gearslutz] ] [ [http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar+Amp/product/Fender/Pro+Reverb/10/1 Harmoney Central] ] .

In the late 90s, Leon fronted a band called Wishing Well. However, by 2003 Leon was once again playing the LA club scene under the name The Greg Leon Invasion [ [http://www.gregleoninvasion.com/ Greg Leon Invasion new site] ] [ [http://www.myspace.com/thegregleoninvasion GLI MySpace page] ] [ [http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?Mode=Archive&Date=3/2/2006&PageNum=2 Blabbermouth] ] [ [http://www.roadrun.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=95129 Blabbermouth] ] , taking the group for a European festival tour in 2005 on the strength of new recordings [ [http://www.azheavymetal.com/noticias/09_2005/noticia13472.php A-Z Heavy metal] ] [ [http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?Mode=Search&searchtext=dokken&PageNum=11 Blabbermouth] ] [ [http://www.rockdetector.com/gigs/artist,4451.sm;jsessionid=0A9C07219436707D658BE3FB83AB7D53 Rock Detector] ] , coupled with the myth related to his name.

References