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.
Early life
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.
Man
Leonard initially stayed with Man until they were mixing their second album 2 Ozs of Plastic with a Hole in the Middle, then left to join his wife in Llanelli. He became productivity manager in a piano factory, but quit after supporting a wild-cat strike, and was accepted back into the band, whilst Man's original bass player and drummer were replaced by Leonard's former Dream colleagues, Martin Ace and Terry Williams. Some saw this as a take-over.
When Ace left in 1972, Leonard was fired by Micky Jones and Williams, but was immediately offered a solo record deal by Man's A&R man, Andrew Lauder. He joined Help Yourself to avoid them having to cancel a tour, as Malcolm Morley was ill, but stayed on after Morley rejoined, recording Christmas at the Patti on 19 December 1972, as support to Man.
Iceberg
Leonard recorded his first 'solo' album Iceberg, with Mike Gibbins (Badfinger), Byron Berline (The Flying Burrito Brothers), Tommy Riley, Martin Ace, Beau Adams and all of Help Yourself.
Needing a band to tour and promote the album, he formed the band Iceberg, with former Corncrackers Brian Breeze (guitar) and Keith Hodge (drums), and ex-Help Yourself Paul Burton (bass). The album received good review; the single "Hard Way to Live" was on the BBC playlist and was promoted by John Peel, for whom Iceberg recorded a session on 14 May 1973
After touring the album, Martin Ace replaced Burton, and after another tour, Dave Charles replaced Hodge. This line-up recorded the Kamikaze album, with help from Dave Edmunds, but the album was seen as "a big disappointment".
They recorded another Peel session on 26 November 1973, before Ace was replaced by Help Yourself's Ken Whaley. They toured supporting Man, during which Micky Jones and Leonard arranged a new Man line-up; when Man split in December 1973, Leonard disbanded Iceberg.
Man again
Leonard rejoined Man in January 1974, bringing Malcolm Morley and Ken Whaley with him. He stayed until Man disbanded in December 1976, playing on all the albums from Rhinos, Winos, and Lunatics to All's Well That Ends Well.
