This is the continuation of a series of posts – select Category LIFE AS A BAND MEMBER to read in sequence.

You Wanted the Best, You Got the Best, the Hottest Band in Killeen – LEAF!

Dennis (deceased) and I formed our first band while still in high school during our senior year, if I remember correctly. It was formed with my other high school best friend, Bill O. (deceased), a friend from our church youth group, Howard and, to round things out, a guitarist named Bill L.

It didn’t matter that Bill O. had never sung before, at all. It didn’t matter that Howard had never picked up a bass, much less a guitar. It didn’t matter that Bill L. had only occasionally played the drums. We were all virgins when it came to making music as a band. We were going to take on the local music scene and kick ass. But first, we needed a band name, and we needed to be able to play songs in a coherent manner.

We called ourselves LEAF.  Capital letters. I don’t remember who came up with the name but I do remember us hanging around outside the Music Center on Fort Hood Texas throwing names out. We all liked KISS and so we wanted a short, simple name like that. So, we became LEAF that afternoon. It was an obvious reference to Marijuana which most of us had partaken.  Black Sabbath had a song called Sweet Leaf and we knew what they were singing about so we hoped people got the meaning.

As mentioned before, LEAF consisted of Dennis and I on guitars. We were still learning our instruments. Howard, who was also new to his instrument, was on bass. On drums was guitarist Bill L. who we had met and befriended at the Music Center. Bill L. was a guitar player, but since there always seemed to be hundreds of guitar players at the Music Center, he started playing drums just so he could sit in and jam with people.  He could keep a fairly simple beat, so all our songs we learned were pretty basic stuff.  During this time, neither Dennis nor I thought of ourselves as singers, so we got my high school best friend, Bill O., to sing with us.  He had never sang in a band or really in front of anyone. We should’ve called ourselves The Virgins. We certainly were clueless on amps and sound systems and making music as a band. It was an adventure I cherish and will never forget.

We would meet at the Music Center because none of us owned amps, Howard didn’t own a bass at the time and Bill L. did not own drums of any kind. Of course none of us owned a sound system or microphones. We would meet every weekend and rent equipment that was set up in a sound proof room. The equipment was beat up and abused but still worked to our basic needs the time. We would practice all day. We would go in the morning when the center first opened, rent a room and practice for couple of hours, then take a break and go eat lunch together. We were our own little gang. We felt invincible. We would return to the Music Center and get back in our soundproof room and practice the rest of the afternoon. Things got even more real when we started having girlfriends come hang out and listen to us. wow, we had groupies. It was a wonderful time of my life.

We started learning songs. Two songs exactly. They were KISS’s Strutter and the Rolling Stones Jumping’ Jack Flash. I don’t remember learning any other songs with LEAF. Of course we could jam on other songs and I recall us doing extended jams on the simple chords of Chicago’s 25 or 6 to 4. I think everyone at the Music Center knew that jam. It would result in a never ending jam of various guitarist playing lead over those simple three chords. No one ever sang during these jams and we certainly didn’t have horns to accompany us.

LEAF diligently learned our two songs. Bill O. learned the words, Howard did his best to learn the bass and Bill L. kept a simple beat, nothing fancy. Dennis taught me the chords for the songs which were so similar that it was a not difficult to master. Dennis went on to learn the leads as best he could. From those two songs a bond was formed between Dennis and I. Our future roles were solidified. I was always a rhythm guitarist to Dennis’ lead guitar. I was completely happy with that and I miss that. Later, we would both take on singing chores and more songs, but that comes later.

It was time for LEAF to play in front of people. The story continues next week.