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Leon Leiffer
Leon Leiffer, founding member of The Blackstones, was born in St. Ann, Jamaica. As a young boy, Leon was inspired by reggae legends such as Slim Smith & The Uniques, The Melodians, The Paragons, Ken Boothe, Bob Marley, Peter Touch, Bunny Wailer aka The Wailers, Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions among others.Four years after arriving in England, Leon and his school formed their first group –The Mighty Soul Rebels. They were taken into the studio by Fat man, the founder of London’s top sound system, “ Fat Man Hi-fi”. They became local celebraties.
After a four year run, The Mighty Soul Rebels split, which led Leon to have a break from the music industry. Then in 1975, Leon Leiffer met raggae superstar Roy Sherley backstage at his show. Due to encouragement from Roy Sherley, Leon decided to form another group which Neville Henry & Ben Corkery as a result The Blackstones were born. After 2 years Ben corkery left the group and was replaced by Byron Otis.
On tour, they supported Curtis Mayfield and the Impressions , Rufus Thomas, Dennis Brown, Owen Grey, The Heptones and many more. After seven years, Neville Henry left the group and was replaced by Ken Kendricks and Tony Douglas. They went on to work with Lloyd Charmers who produced one of the group’s best album “ Colours of Love” released on Body Music records. Leon and The Blackstones along side the Chosen Few, were the main vocalists for the musical Black Heroes in The Hall of fame at the Hackney Empire.
Where they recieved great reviews from international press. As a result of its success in England, the Black Heroes in The Hall of fame musical went on tour in the Carribean and USA. On their return to England, Tony, Ken and Neville went solo and were replaced by Tony Mahoney and Junior Bailey.
In 2004, Leon Leiffer, Tony Mahoney and Junior Bailey were invited to Jamaica by the legendery Sir Coxsone Dodd who owns the world’s famous Studio One recording studio. Who was responsible for moulding the careers of many reggae stars such as Bob Marley and The Wailers,The Ska-talites, Bob Andy, Marcia Griffiths, Ken Boothe, Heptones, Burning Spear among others. This was The Blackstones ultimate goal to record at Studio One with Sir Coxsone Dodd the man credited as the father of reggae music.
The Blackstones first Studio One album entitled; Blackstones Tribute to Studio One
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