BIOGRAPHY
Originally born in London England and raised in Los Angeles Ca, Leon's musical experiences range from being lead guitarist for R&B legends Wilson Pickett,Bobby Womack and David Ruffin to writing tunes for soundtracks,artists and bands.He got an early start in music when he joined "The Outlaw Blues Band" at age 17. The band played all the clubs and outdoor "Love-in" concerts in L.A. during the "Peace, Love and Flowers" era, and recorded two albums for ABC "Bluesway" with the late great Jazz producer Bob Thiele (John Coltrane, Impulse Records, Buddy Holly, etc.) in which Leon wrote and cowrote the bands original material. The tune "Deep Gully" from the second album was sampled by the English Rap Group De La Soul and was a huge hit for them in 1993. Both albums are enjoying a resurgence on the internet from a reissue label.
From there Leon joined an original recording band under the production and guidance of Little Feat leader Lowell George who presented the band to Earl McGrath (former President of Rolling Stone Records), who signed the band to a recording contract on a new label with Atlantic Records Chairman Ahmet Ertegun. After many months Leon worked up a dozen original tunes with Lowell and the other members of the band unfortunatly the label went out of business and thus the group disbanded. At that point,Leon went back to recording and touring as a freelance guitarist where he met songwriter/producer Deke Richards (Jackson Five,Dianna Ross,Motown) and in the course of a few years they wrote and recorded together for the Four Tops, Marin Jahan (Flashdance) and tv/movie soundtracks.
Leon's tune "Down In Roswell" a song about the crashed UFO incident caught the ear of movie producer Paul Davids and was picked up for the title track of the 2 part video package he was producing on the subject. Paul Davids again called on Leon to contibute material for 2 other pojects of his. He selected 2 tunes for a documentary called "Timothy Leary's Dead", and one song for his film called "Starry Night" about Van Gogh.
Currently Leon has just finished a 12 song Indie CD called" Leon Rubenhold A Close Circle of Friends" in which he writes sings and performs on all the tracks with the help from a close circle of friends.The material within draws from many of the musical influences Leon has come in contact with over the years.
The CD is available on iTunes and Amazon.com.