Bernie Leadon

tooshortInfobox musical artist
Name = Bernie Leadon


Img_capt = Leadon performing during the 1970s
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Bernard Leadon
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1947|7|19
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Died =
Instrument = Guitar, Vocals, Banjo, Mandolin, Pedal Steel Guitar
Genre = Rock, Country
Occupation = Musician, Songwriter
Years_active = 1961 - present
Label = Asylum, Really Small Entertainment
Associated_acts = Eagles, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Scottsville Squirrel Barkers, Hearts & Flowers, Dillard & Clark
URL = [http://www.bernieleadon.com/ www.bernieleadon.com]
Notable_instruments = Fender Telecaster

Bernard Leadon (born July 19, 1947 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) is an American musician, best known as a founding member of the Eagles, an American rock band. He has also played in other bands, including the Flying Burrito Brothers and Dillard and Clark. He is a multi-instrumentalist (guitar, banjo, mandolin, steel guitar) coming from a bluegrass background. He introduced elements of this music to a mainstream audience during his tenure with the Eagles. His music career since leaving the Eagles has been decidedly low-key, resulting in merely two solo albums with a twentyseven-year gap in between. Leadon is, however, a valuable session musician that appeared as a guest on many other artists' records.

Early career

In the mid 1960's Leadon attended Gainesville High School in Gainesville, Florida. One of his classmates at Gainesville High was Don Felder, who would years later be his bandmate in the Eagles. Felder was a member of a band called the Continentals with Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills & Nash fame. Leadon ended up replacing Stills and joining Felder in the band, which was renamed the Maundy Quintet. An interesting note: in the 1966 Gainesville High School Yearbook the Maundy Quintet is pictured next to another Gainesville band destined for fame - Tom Petty and his early band the Epics. Leadon played with various Southern California bluegrass and country rock groups in the 1960s, such as The Scottsville Squirrel Barkers (with future Byrd Chris Hillman), Hearts & Flowers, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Dillard & Clark featuring his work on dobro, banjo and mandolin, as well as guitar. He honed his songwriting skills in The Flying Burrito Brothers and the short-lived Dillard & Clark, writing "God's Own Singer" (used as Gram Parsons' epithaph on his gravemarker) in the Burritos and co-writing the now classic "Train Leaves Here This Morning with Gene Clark. He re-recorded the latter, somewhat of a signature song, on the debut album of the Eagles. His work with the Burritos and Dillard & Clark makes him a true founding father of modern country-rock. He has thus played in three of the most influential early country-rock bands, heavily influencing the sound of these groups.

Tenure with the Eagles

Introduced to the songwriting, singing and instrumental skills of Glenn Frey, Don Henley and Randy Meisner while all were members of Linda Ronstadt's backing band, the quartet tendered their resignation "en masse" and formed their own group, dubbing themselves the Eagles as a nod to seminal folk rockers the Byrds in 1971. Leadon used his boyhood choir training to arrange intricate harmony vocals on the Eagles' first few albums. He also wrote or co-wrote several songs, including the band's second hit, "Witchy Woman." He is responsible for the strongly country-flavored sound of the first albums and his songs are typically more bluegrass-sounding than those of the other band members. As the band sound steered away from the country-rock style Leadon helped pioneer and veered more and more towards harder rock, Leadon's influence in the band decreased. Leadon left the band in December 1975, having been unhappy with his standing in the band and the constant fights with Henley and Frey who had begun to take command of the band, as early as 1973. Thus it was Leadon who brought his old friend Don Felder on board as an Eagle for the "On the Border" album in case he wanted to leave the band in a hurry. He was replaced by guitarist Joe Walsh.

Life after the Eagles

Since then, Leadon has played with numerous other country and bluegrass artists, including a stint with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. He is thought to be one of the members of Run C&W, a novelty group singing Motown hits "bluegrass style." Leadon released his second solo effort in 27 years, 2004's "Mirror". Leadon is also known as a surfing enthusiast.

He also co-founded the now defunct Pioneer Music Group in Japan which released an album from former Atlantic Records recording artist Judson Spence; an effort Leadon also produced. It is not known who will portray Leadon in the planned Eagles biopic.

Leadon reunited with the Eagles' in 1998 in New York City for induction in the National Rock & Roll Hall Fame (with all six other current or former Eagles members), and all seven performed together on "Take It Easy," and "Hotel California".

Eagles songs

Eagles songs written or co-written by Bernie Leadon

*"Train Leaves Here This Morning" from "Eagles" (co-written with Gene Clark)
*"Earlybird" from "Eagles" (co-written with Randy Meisner)
*"Witchy Woman" from "Eagles" (co-written with Don Henley)
*"Twenty-One" from "Desperado"
*"Bitter Creek" from "Desperado"
*"Saturday Night" from "Desperado" (co-written with Meisner, Henley, and Glenn Frey)
*"My Man" from "On the Border"
*"On The Border" from "On the Border" (co-written with Henley/Frey)
*"Hollywood Waltz" from "One of These Nights" (co-written with brother Tom Leadon and Henley/Frey)
*"Journey Of The Sorcerer" from "One of These Nights". This piece was used as the theme music for the radio, television and film versions of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
*"I Wish You Peace" from "One of These Nights" (co-written with Patti Davis)

Eagles' songs with Bernie Leadon on lead vocals

*"Train Leaves Here This Morning" from "Eagles"
*"Earlybird" from "Eagles"
*"Twenty-One" from "Desperado"
*"Bitter Creek" from "Desperado"
*"My Man" from "On the Border"
*"On the Border" - co-lead vocal in the bridge - from "On the Border"
*"I Wish You Peace" from "One of These Nights"

External links

* [http://www.bernieleadon.com/ Bernie Leadon's official website]