Leo LeBlanc

Kelly Hydorn · Post by **Kelly Hydorn** » 24 Feb 2006 10:14 pm

Looking for information on Leo Leblanc who played on Red Simpson's truck driving albums back in the 60's. He passed away a few years ago, I understand, but does anyone know about what guitar and amp setup he had? I always thought it was a unique sound kinda like ralph mooney but again different.

Skip Edwards · Post by **Skip Edwards** » 25 Feb 2006 2:15 am

I knew Leo. I think he played one of the smaller brand guitars. Rusler, or BMI maybe? I don't remember for sure, but I'm almost positive it wasn't a Bud, Emmons, or Zum.[This message was edited by Skip Edwards on 25 February 2006 at 09:57 AM.]

Fred Shannon · Post by **Fred Shannon** » 25 Feb 2006 2:32 am

I've seen pictures of him playing an Emmons.
Phred

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"From Truth, Justice is Born"--Quanah Parker-1904

Post by **Joey Ace** » 25 Feb 2006 3:34 am

Moved to "Steel Players"

Rick Garrett · Post by **Rick Garrett** » 25 Feb 2006 4:58 am

I think Leo's son is a member here and I believe he has a web site in tribute to his dad. I have the url somewhere. If I can find it I'll email it to you.

Rick

Jay Ganz · Post by **Jay Ganz** » 25 Feb 2006 6:24 am

My first "exposure" to steel guitar was Leo's
playing on John Prine's first album back in '72.


[This message was edited by Jay Ganz on 25 February 2006 at 06:26 AM.]

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 25 Feb 2006 6:35 am

Leo's son Stephen posted a picture of his dad playing an Edicott(?). Do a search and you'll get some results.
http://www.leoleblanc.us/

DZ[This message was edited by Dave Zirbel on 25 February 2006 at 06:39 AM.][This message was edited by Dave Zirbel on 25 February 2006 at 06:45 AM.]

Skip Edwards · Post by **Skip Edwards** » 25 Feb 2006 9:53 am

That site is a nice tribute to Leo. The blue single neck that he's playing in the pic from the Palomino in '94 is the gtr that I remember.

Bob Carlucci · Post by **Bob Carlucci** » 25 Feb 2006 10:06 am

A friend once told me my playing sounded kind of like Leo's.. I took it as a VERY nice compliment...

Tucker Jackson · Post by **Tucker Jackson** » 25 Feb 2006 12:28 pm

Loved LeBlanc on that first John Prine album!

Here's a recent thread on Leo:
http://steelguitarforum.com/Forum15/HTML/010779.html

Roger Shackelton · Post by **Roger Shackelton** » 25 Feb 2006 1:38 pm

A friend of mine, who used to live in L.A. played an Endicott D-10 PSG, perhaps in the 1960s. His guitar was made of Birch wood. The builder's name is Rex Endicott.

Roger

Earnest Bovine · Post by **Earnest Bovine** » 25 Feb 2006 2:28 pm

I think Leo played a single neck 10 string D13 tuning.

John Lockney · Post by **John Lockney** » 25 Feb 2006 6:10 pm

Was the D13 tuning used with Red Simpson, John Prine, or all the time ?

(I have very limited experience but) I thought the Red Simpson recordings sounded like the classic "Fender" sound.

The steel on the first John Prine album seems to have a lot of "mid", which I thought might have been either the guitar or, a just sound they wanted for that album.

And, on the first John Prine album it also sounds like he used a wah-wah in some songs. Its not something I wanted to do but, I was wondering what type it was. I plugged into a Cry-Baby and it just sounded "cheap".

Thanks for bringing-back the tribute site, Stephen! What is that recording on the Nashville page ?

[This message was edited by John Lockney on 25 February 2006 at 06:14 PM.]

Michael Johnstone · Post by **Michael Johnstone** » 25 Feb 2006 6:45 pm

I knew Leo pretty well,saw him pick numerous times and he always played a blue mica S-10 Excel w/keys with 8+4. He had an E13 with a Maj7 chromatic string in 10th position - kinda like what Murph had.
Leo had bad eyesight and may actually have been legally blind and since he couldn't drive,he used to catch the city bus to certain gigs like J.R's in Chatsworth where there was a bus stop right in front of the club.
Great guy and great picker. -MJ-

Stephen LeBlanc · Post by **Stephen LeBlanc** » 25 Feb 2006 7:42 pm

I don't have much time right now but I'll try to quickly answer some of the questions here...

but does anyone know about what guitar and amp setup he had?

On the Red Simpson albums Leo played an Endicott double neck that was custom made. He played through a Kustom amp (not sure which one but I think it might have been a pa model like http://www.raahenmusiikki.fi/img/amp/KustomPA2.JPG , he ran it through a Leslie speaker.

In the 70s he started using a Twin Reverb, that remained his choice amp when he could...when he had to travel light he used a Yamaha transister amp that actually sounded great.

He switched to an Emmons guitar in the early 80s but never felt too comfortable on it. In 1984 he toured Japan with a USO thing and had the Excel custom made for him. I don't know as much about the tuning he had on the Endicott (it had a +9 chord in it), he changed his tuning a lot when he switched to a single neck. F#(high),E,B,D,E,F#,G#,B,E,G#

The steel on the first John Prine album seems to have a lot of "mid", which I thought might have been either the guitar or, a just sound they wanted for that album.

A little of both, those are funny sounding albums on all the instruments IMO...the 70s were, er, different

.

And, on the first John Prine album it also sounds like he used a wah-wah in some songs.

He used a wah-wah, a fuzz box and occasionally 'special' chorus pedal all the way through his career...in the 70s he was using a NuWah pedal but later when it quit he used a Cry Baby. On the song "Sam Stone" he used a small square metal bar for the sitar effect.

What is that recording on the Nashville page ?

er, the Memphis page you mean

That is a recording from a musak record Leo recorded in Memphis...it had a bunch of cover tunes on it (Morning has Broken, I Am I Said, Never been to Spain, Amazing Grace, etc.) all with Pedal Steel as the lead instrument. Leo was really popular in Memphis in the 70s, he and his Steel made quite an impact on that city. The song on the tribute page was not part of the original song choices, it was an extra thing Leo wrote, kind of a joke song really but in retrospect, I think it's pretty cool. Definitly not Leo's favorite thing from that record as he was more about playing great chords and passing notes within them than doing flashy stuff. If you go here: http://www.artistlaunch.com/leblanc you can listen to "Amazing Grace" from those same sessions.

Leo had bad eyesight and may actually have been legally blind and since he couldn't drive,he used to catch the city bus to certain gigs like J.R's in Chatsworth where there was a bus stop right in front of the club.

he rode the bus to most of his gigs, rode busses to get all over this big city...an amazing feat in Los Angeles really. He had every bus schedule and would map out elaborate routes to get around, carrying his amp and steel with him. A lot of the people who hired Leo were nice enough to give him a ride home after the gig or pick him up but not everyone, not even the majority. When I could I gave him rides to gigs and my brothers did too but he worked a lot and had to get around himself. As much as I remember my Dad for his contributions to music and the Steel, I've often contemplated writing a short book about the non-musical things he did to get by in this crazy life. Anyone who knew the man will back me up when I say he was quite a character.

[This message was edited by Stephen LeBlanc on 25 February 2006 at 08:03 PM.]

Stu Schulman · Post by **Stu Schulman** » 25 Feb 2006 8:01 pm

Leo was my room mate for the one tour that I did with Jerry Jeff Walker,I played lead guitar,Leo played that Endicott steel,What a nice guy he was.I thought that his playing was as so unique.My favorite Leo song is "I'm Sober Now"by Danny O'Keefe on the Goodtime Charlie album.

Dave Zirbel · Post by **Dave Zirbel** » 25 Feb 2006 8:16 pm

Thanks Stephen! After you finish the book on your father maybe you can put together a collection of his best recordings for release! I'd like to hear him. He played with some friends of mine in LA inthe 90's. I think they called themselves Hummingbird.

DZ

Henry Nagle · Post by **Henry Nagle** » 25 Feb 2006 11:49 pm

Leo was great. All his playing on the Prine stuff (especially Bruised Orange) is permanently burned into my memory. When I hum Chain of Sorrow, I include the steel parts as well as the vocal melody. Extremely pretty and appropriate playing.
Thank you for the web site, Stephen.[This message was edited by Henry Nagle on 25 February 2006 at 11:49 PM.]

Shaun Marshall · Post by **Shaun Marshall** » 27 Feb 2006 9:05 am

I believe Leo played one track on the Wall Flowers albumn "Bringing Down the Horse"
He's on the last tune, it's been awhile since I have listened to it but both the song and steel are great. I'm guessing it's Leo just by the way it sounds.

Stephen LeBlanc · Post by **Stephen LeBlanc** » 2 Mar 2006 11:02 am

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>I believe Leo played one track on the Wall Flowers albumn "Bringing Down the Horse"
He's on the last tune, it's been awhile since I have listened to it but both the song and steel are great. I'm guessing it's Leo just by the way it sounds.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

you are correct (though Leo was in bad shape physically when he recorded it)

he is also on the songs "God Don't Make Lonely Girls" (through a Fuzz box, yep that wild solo is on a Pedal Steel), "One Headlight" (just the dobro lick in the beginning), and "Invisible City". [This message was edited by Stephen LeBlanc on 02 March 2006 at 11:02 AM.]

Shaun Marshall · Post by **Shaun Marshall** » 2 Mar 2006 2:12 pm

Stephen,
Thanks for confirming, I really loved Leo's playing from all the John Prine recordings so I recognized his sound on the Wall Flowers stuff just on the first few notes, he had a signature sound. Any idea how he ended up on that Wallflowers album, just curious. Thanks for sharing so much about Leo.

Don Barnhardt · Post by **Don Barnhardt** » 2 Mar 2006 7:48 pm

To my regret I'd never heard of Leo before today. I'd love to hear some of his work sometime. He sounds like my kind of musician. I got a real bonus from this article when Stephen mentioned Leo playing through a Kustom sound head. I've got a Kustom 300 thats been collecting dust for a while and I set it up with a couple humongous speakers and hooked it up in stereo with my Steel King. It really sounds great. I may use this setup for life.

Stephen LeBlanc · Post by **Stephen LeBlanc** » 2 Mar 2006 8:56 pm

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Stephen,
Thanks for confirming, I really loved Leo's playing from all the John Prine recordings so I recognized his sound on the Wall Flowers stuff just on the first few notes, he had a signature sound. Any idea how he ended up on that Wallflowers album, just curious. Thanks for sharing so much about Leo.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Leo was playing around LA with several bands and sitting in at various clubs. Jakob Dylan and the Wallflowers were showcasing and playing gigs looking for a new record deal. Leo sat in with the band one night, everyone loved the sound, he was invited to sit in on more gigs and eventually became a full-fledged member of the band. The Wallflowers signed with Interscope and started recording the album. Leo discovered he had advanced cancer and had surgery he never recovered from. He was in really bad shape all through the Bringin' Down the Horse sessions but continued working until he got too sick to play (two weeks before he died). He and Jakob had a great relationship, all the guys in the band loved and respected him, they dedicated the album to him.

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 3 Mar 2006 6:50 am

I have heard of Leo for years, but never heard him on anything that I knew of. My son is a Wallflowers fan, so I just had him bring up the "Bringing Down the Horse" album on his computer and we listened to a couple of songs. Great steel playing IMHO. I'm not really into Country music that much and I really like the steel integrated into rock, blues, and jazz music. The band I play with plays very little country so I use a lot of distortion, phase and auto-wah when I play. Listening to these songs will give me some new ideas. Thanks for starting this post, its a new inspiration to me.

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

Shaun Marshall · Post by **Shaun Marshall** » 3 Mar 2006 8:34 am

Thanks for sharing the details on the WallFlower sessions Stephen, I think Leo is such a great cat for playing so soulfuly right up to the end of his days, that last Wallflowers song was such a nice song to finish out on. I'm going to pull out all my Prine stuff and the Wallflowers tonight after work and have a little goodbye party for Leo. Thanks again Stephen for sharing your Dad's story with us. My best to you.