Best known as a member of the legendary Welsh band MAN, Deke Leonard also enjoyed a successful solo career in the early 1970s. Having departed Man in 1972, he was briefly a member of HELP YOURSELF before pursuing a solo career, recording two albums in quick succession for the United Artists label. The first of these classic albums was "ICEBERG", which was greeted with critical acclaim and led Deke to form the band ICEBERG with BRIAN BREEZE (guitar), PAUL BURTON (bass) and KEITH HODGE (drums) who subsequently toured with MAN.
His second solo album was recorded between June 1973 and January 1974 at Rockfield studios, Chipping Norton studios and Olympic studios and featured BRIAN BREEZE (guitar), MARTIN ACE (bass), KEITH HODGE (drums), DAVE CHARLES (drums) and MAN members MICKY JONES, TERRY WILLIAMS and KEN WHALEY. "Kamikaze" charted in the UK and eventually led to Deke re-joining MAN later that year.
This Esoteric Recordings edition has been newly re-mastered from the original master tapes and features four bonus tracks, three of which are previously unreleased, drawn from the B-side of a single and sessions for "Kamikaze". These include the first recorded version of the later MAN classic "California, Silks & Satins" written by Deke Leonard and Malcolm Morley.
01 Cool Summer Rain 0:29 02 Jayhawk Special 4:15 03 Sharpened Claws 6:58 04 Taking The Easy Way Out 5:38 05 The Black Gates Of Death 4:40 06 Stacia 1:00 07 Broken Glass And Lime Juice 5:34 08 April The Third 3:52 09 Louisiana Hoedown 2:55 10 In Search Of Sarah And Twenty-six Horses 6:40 11 The Devil's Gloves 5:10 12 She's A Cow (B-Side)
13 California Silks And satins 14 Joyful Soul 15 Steel Painting Man