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Leo Gillespie

About Me

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In 1970 I recorded "Song under a Tree" in Paris with Didier Malherbe( He was one of the founders of the Canterbury sound band Gong.In the ambiance of the renaissance in Paris in May 1968, he met Australian singer, guitarist, and poet, ex-Soft Machine member, Daevid Allen, with whom he was to create Gong. This international community band incubated in Deya, Majorca, and toured France and Europe before it was taken on the British scene starting at the first Glastonbury festival in June 1971.)and Gerry Field..(Gerry Field - fieldviolinworkshop.com/ - In the first Gong line-up & a Bananamooner) we were called Morning Calm and I think we captured the spontaneity of that period quite well.We often performed outside the Coupole in Montparnasse,sharing the stage with Philipe Petit,who later became the first busker to walk across the twin towers on a high wire and not getting the chance to pass the hat.(Philippe Petit is a French high wire artist who gained fame for his illegal walk between the Twin Towers in New York City on August 7, 1974.He used a 450-pound cable to do so and also a custom-made 26-foot (7.9 m) long, 55-pound balancing pole. Tight-rope walker, unicyclist, magician and pantomime artist, Philippe Petit was also one of the earliest modern day street jugglers in Paris in 1968. He juggled and worked on a slack rope with regularity in Washington Square Park in New York City in the early 1970s.) Storytelling minstrels,vagabond poets and sometimes Julien Beck and the Living Theatre, if they were in town would all participate in the creation of a unique and expressive event..Patti Smith,Pierre Clementi, (Pierre Clémenti, 28 September 1942 – 28 December 1999. Cult actor from the 60s who aroused admiration by his choices and his intense acting, Pierre Clementi left behind him a remarkable film work that we highly recommend. As a genuine artist, rejecting both mainstream career and stardom that he could have entered owing to his film-star looks, he preferred to get very much involved in working with demanding filmmakers (Bunuel, Bertolucci, Pasolini, Tarrell) as well as directing outstanding fringe films. He was fatefully sidetracked into an acting career that became symbolic of so many aspects of European cinema of the time: experimentalism, anarchy, androgyny, anti-heroism, surrealism and pariah culture.)Samuel Becket and Jean-Paul Sartre were among fans of our unique brand of improvised word flows and total disregard for structure.Often our good friend Nicolas Petrovic would jam along with us on his magnificent flute.Only recently did I learn he was a king in waiting.(Prince Nicholas Petrovic Njegoš of Montenegro,born 7 July 1944, is the Head of the House of Petrovic-Njegoš and pretender to the throne of Montenegro. He is known to Montenegrin monarchists and traditionalists as King Nikola II of Montenegro. Prince Nicholas is the Hereditary Grand Master of the Dynastic Orders of St. Peter of Cetinje and Prince Danilo I of Montenegro.Prince Nikola was an active participant in the Campaign for the restoration of Montenegro's independence, preceding the referendum on the separation of the former Kingdom from the Republic of Serbia.Prince Nikola II has made public pronouncements of his willingness to return to the Montenegrin Throne if that is the wish of his people.)He never once mentioned his bloodline,and to us he was a good hearted occasional cider drinking normal Breton.Hail the King.Also in this period I had the great fortune to meet and share some magical sessions with the master oud player and poet, Fawzi Sayeb,who introduced me to the space between notes,the silence of infinity and a few grains of eternity,amongst other things.. "Masters of Oud"FAWZI SAYEB : MASTER OF TAQSIM

(Master of music, Fawzi Sayeb is also the master of silence on two accounts, whether through the long meditative long pauses that articulate his musical discourse, or through the fact that he has waited a few long years (he's over sixty years old now) before confiding to the disc a glimpse of his art. Born in Tunisia, Fawzi Sayeb plays on the lute-'ûd, the noblest instrument of Arab music, the taqsîm, an Arab oriental scholar music improvised in solo. He draws his inspiration from the Egyptian Nahda masters. But disappearance of the great masters leads him to rely on his intuition to recreate this demanding and austere art./Henry Lecomte.).In the early 70's I also recorded an album in Dublin with George Kaye-fiddle;Dermot O'Connor-mandolin and Pat Gibbs/clarinet-sax.We were called the "Permanent Cure",but were'nt permanent enough for the record to be released.It was an historic event which I suppose got lost in the archives and entered a parallel universe.But if anyone in Trend Studio comes across a dusty reel to reel with permanent cure written on it,let me know,it could have been a contender.It was the days of our folk club upstairs in the Baggot Inn,where Keiron Halpin,Barry and Eilish Moore,Dave Murphy,Jimmy Faulkner...(Jimmy’s career spanned over five decades and during that time his innovative and original style of guitar playing was part of some of the best blues, rock, jazz, country and traditional music ever to come out of Ireland. He played blues with Red Peters and The Dublin Floating Blues Band, rock ‘n’ roll with Jangle Dangle, Ditch Cassidy’s Freak Show, Paul Brady’s band and with his own band, The Houseshakers. He played jazz with Hotfoot, country with Frankie Lane and he also accompanied Christy Moore, Mick Hanly and Finbar Furey. He wasn’t just versatile, he was excellent in all these different genres of music and as such was recognised and acknowledged as one of Ireland’s finest guitarists),Don Baker,Davey Spillane,Smiley Bolger and many others would participate in a pint or a song. The "Good Karma",the first vegetarian restaurant to be opened in a disused downtown factory in Dublin,magical sessions by the big open fireplace,young Neil Jordan blowin'his alto sax..(Best known for his enormously successful independent film The Crying Game, Irish director Neil Jordan has made sixteen feature films since 1982. Even after achieving commercial success and critical acclaim with such films as Interview with the Vampire and The Butcher Boy, Jordan remains a curiously elusive figure in the era of the celebrity filmmaker. Maria Pramaggiore.)and Martin Law..(After decades of coping with the feeling that either I’m born in the wrong time or else on the wrong planet it is a timely evolvement to have an exponentially expanding perspective on the matter. Indications are, and I greatly simplify this for clarity; that we are at present four-fifths of the way through the transition between two major eras of life on this planet. We are four-fifths of the way through a twenty-five year period; 1987 to 2012 and only six years from the end of a cycle of 5,125 years measured by the Mayan Calendar. We are that close to a galactic alignment that happens only once every 26,000 years! For vastly more precise information study the book by Geoff Stray, ‘Beyond 2012’, and relax, it’s not the end of the world. Remember, we are four-fifths of the way through a universally predicted turbulent period of wars, earth changes, social unrest, intensification, planetary purge and purification. So take heart./martin law) Demonstrating creative transendence,catching floating moonbeams,following a shooting star,seeing the space between forever in the moment that we are.It was the days of Ronnie Drew in the Baggot Inn and Neil Toners Sackville String Band in Tailors Hall,it was the time of the Pecker Dunne and his outragious,spontaneous appearances when you least expected him to wave his wand.(Biography of the Pecker Dunne. The Pecker Dunne is a member of one of the oldest Travelling families in Ireland and a well-known character throughout Ireland. The Dunnes are a well-known musical family who, for the past hundred years, have brought their unique style of Traveller music to audiences all over the length of breadth of Ireland. This book traces Pecker's upbringing on the road, his travels in a horse-drawn caravan to country fairs, race meetings and sporting events and the development of his own unique ballad-style of singing. It also gives his insight into many aspects of Traveller language and culture and the Traveller fight for self-recognition as a distinct cultural group in Ireland. He gives a glimpse into many aspects of Traveller culture which are under threat today and discusses the history of his own group, the fairground or showpeople. His moving description of his battle with alcoholism, the hardships of life on the road, and the prejudices and racism endured by Travellers give a special poignancy to his life story.Publisher: A. and A. Farmar Press, Dublin.)The Universal folk club which paved the way for many a future legend,and the Projects Art centre which was always a good stage for experimentation.There was some kind of change in the air and it was putting words on our our plates.Dermot tells me that Bono was a big fan of ours in his student days,and was often down in the basement of Toners during a happening.In Baggot Street,we too, were almost famous for a few days.So,between Paris and Dublin there was enough renaissance going on to keep me quite busy.Though,of course episodes continue to evolve,I was content to have been an eager apprentice in those intensely productive sparkling early days. I also have another web page,very much like this one but with slight variations-www.myspace.com/leogillespiesong and if you want to contact me, [email protected]

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.."LA RECONTRE DU MOIS"... Léo Gillespie- Antoine Gavory : Léo, tu es né à Manchester et tu as quitté l'Angleterre en 1965 à une époque où les Beatles et le Rock'n roll envahissaient les platines. Pourquoi avoir choisi de te produire avec de la musique country ? Léo Gillespie : Dans les années soixante c'était l'explosion des musiques psychédéliques, mais je me suis toujours intéressé à la musique acoustique. J'aimais particulièrement écouter les balades des chanteurs américains qui pour moi étaient plus proches de la réalité des peuples. La guitare est un langage universel, elle m'a souvent permis de me rapprocher de gens à travers le monde que je ne connaissais pas, qui parfois ne parlaient même pas ma langue, mais avec qui le premier contact se faisait autour de la guitare. Et mon intérêt lorsque je joue, c'est de mettre davantage les paroles en avant plus que la musique qui finalement n'est qu'un support pour illustrer mes histoires et servir de lien entre des gens qui ne se comprennent pas toujours pour des histoires de langage. AG : Est-ce pour toi une façon de t'engager ? LG : Ce qui est formidable avec la guitare, et la musique en général, c'est qu'elle permet de réunir des personnes différentes avec des histoires différentes, en dehors de toutes religions, cultures. Il m'est parfois arrivé d'entrer dans des villages au Laos, de ne pas parler, et soudain des musiciens viennent te voir, parce que tu portes une guitare, ils s'installent et on commençait à jouer. AG : Je suis allé sur Internet et j'ai vu qu'en dehors d'une discographie très large, tu as un nombre impressionnant d'admirateurs, de fans même qui te suivent, comment expliques tu cela alors que tu es rare et discret ? L.G :Mon public est mondial, je joue à travers le monde, je reçois des courriers de gens du monde entier et il y a même un fan club en Norvège. Le country est une musique populaire qui est arrivée aux USA par les premiers immigrants irlandais qui jouaient avec des violons. Elle a ensuite été reprise par les garçons de vache (cow-boys) qui reprenaient les airs sur des guitares parce qu'ils pouvaient l'emmener à cheval. Elle servait à raconter des histoires des gens et des pays et je pense que les gens qui aiment ma musique et mon écriture doivent quelque part retrouver cette popularité. C'est une musique que l'on s'attribue facilement parce qu'elle parle de ce qui est concret. AG : Mais en faisant ce choix d'un musique moins commerciale est ce que tu n'as jamais craint d'être hors du temps ? L.G :J'ai toujours voulu rester fidèle à la fois à mes chansons mais aussi à moi même. Certains de mes amis de mes débuts sont entrés dans le système et ont fait des carrières mondiales, des gens comme Patty Smith, qui faisait la manche avec nous à nos débuts. Mais pour moi le plus important était de rester fidèle à mes expériences. En 1969, j'ai enregistré un disque Chez Barclay, mais les contraintes étaient trop importantes, on s'éloignait de la musique pure pour rentrer dans le business, je n'ai pas voulu continuer, et je suis heureux aujourd'hui d'être resté moi même. AG : Tu as voyagé à travers le monde, et depuis plus de quarante ans tu n'as pas de domicile. Est ce que tu n'as jamais eu envie de te poser quelque part et de vivre normalement ? LG : Non, c'est justement ces voyages qui m'ont inspiré mes textes. Les rencontres que j'ai fais avec des peuples du monde entier, des instants, des scènes auxquelles j'ai assisté. Ce sont toutes ces expériences qui ont nourri mon écriture et c'est pour transmettre ces choses que j'utilise la musique pour raconter mes histoires, pour avant tout communiquer. AG : Dans tes textes tu parles beaucoup de la France mais tu y donnes que rarement des concerts ? LG : Ce qui m'intéresse en France c'est à la fois sa culture très riche et variée, mais aussi ses paysages. Je suis en général un amoureux de tous les pays, j'ai des amis dans tous les pays du monde et j'essaie de partager leur vie, que ce soit la méditation avec des moines bouddhistes ou des musiciens qui ne comprennent pas l'anglais. Le plus important c'est de communiquer. En France les gens ne font pas toujours attention aux paroles surtout lorsqu'elles sont en Anglais, par contre dans les pays nordiques, où l'anglais est une seconde langue, les gens y sont attentifs. Mais d'un façon générale, je me sens partout chez moi tant que les gens ont envie d'y communiquer et chaque expérience m'inspire une écriture que je cherche à partager. AG : Et la scène ? LG : Je n'aime pas les grandes scènes, je préfère les petites salles où je sais que les gens sont là par intérêt pour mon travail. En Irlande dans les années soixante, nous avions été engagé pour une tournée dans le plus grand hôtel de Belfast. Puis le gérant qui trouvait que nous n'avions pas de talent nous a mis dehors, alors nous avons joué dans la rue. Puis une radio est venue nous interviewer, puis ensuite la télévision, et enfin tout le monde était autour de nous pour nous écouter. AG : Avec toutes ces expériences, toute cette richesse que tu as accumulé, est ce que tu n'as jamais eu envie d'écrire un livre ou ton autobiographie ? LG (riant) : Oh non, je ne sais pas écrire des livres, je n'ai pas l'inspiration suffisante. Justement pour moi, l'écriture me sert à transmettre des images que j'ai et que je veux partager. Je n'aurais pas la patience ni l'inspiration pour écrire un livre et mes chansons sont toutes ensemble mon autobiographie. AG : Que peut-on te souhaiter pour l'avenir ? LG : De continuer à voyager jusqu'à la mort et de trouver toujours des gens et des pays pour continuer à écrire mes petites histoires autobiographiques, continuer à travailler et à visiter le monde avec le regard de quelqu'un qui recherche sans cesse. Le dernier album de Léo Gillespie « Shadows on the boulevard » est sorti, mais malheureusement indisponible en France… Pour plus d'informations ou pour écrire à léo, [email protected] Il avait promis à son amie de trente ans, une autre artiste, Annie Jeanneret, propriétaire de la Grange des serrées, à Saint Saulge d'être présent pour son anniversaire. C'est d'Islande que Léo Gillespie est venu dans ce petit lieu artistique. Léo Gillespie est presque honoré et surpris que l'on s'intéresse à lui et à son genre de musique très particulier, la country musique, des ballades qui nous entraînent le temps d'un récital sur le fleuve Mékong ou, plus près de nous, dans les maquis des pyrénées. 12 KoiKispass n°11 novembre 2008 13 KoiKispass n°11 novembre 2008 PIERRE ON CAMERA IN MOUFFETARD...

The Permanent Cure” began life as a band in the year of our lord 1976 on St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, Ireland. The band comprised George Kaye, Dermot O'Connor, Leo Gillespie and Pat Gibbs. They attracted huge crowds throughout that long hot summer and after just a few short months they had moved into the mainstream music venues.They appeared on prime time Irish Television and played theatres in Dublin, Cork and Galway. With their singular mix of virtuoso Bluegrass, BeBop, Blues and surrealistic comedy routines they became firm favourites in experimental theatres and clubs such as The Gaeity Theatre, The Universal Folk Club and The Project Arts Centre in Dublin. They were never afraid to experiment and incorporated whatever objects they could find in various places into the performance – something for which they received glowing critiques in the high-brow arts publications of the day.They even recorded an LP The Permanent Cure "WORKS" and had attracted the attention of a top English management company. Their heroic acts became legend but eventually management problems and contractual hold-ups led to disaffection amongst the band and when George received a very lucrative offer from the USA he had very little option but to accept. Whilst they remained friends, this inevitably lead to the break-up of the band. But little did they know, there were to be other days…….The Permanent Cure 1976George Kaye - Singer/songwriter, fiddle, Guitar.Dermot O'Connor – singer/songwriter, mandolin, guitar.Leo Gillespie – singer/songwriter, guitar, blues harp.Patrick Gibbs – singer, clarinet, saxophone, piano, chromatic harmonica.While George was in the USA playing with Casterbridge Union, Pat and Leo became a duo "Half Cured" and toured hotels, clubs and theatres both in the North and South of Ireland until they finally split up and returned to their respective careers – Pat returned to London whilst Leo resumed his travelling and becoming a globe trotting troubador playing in such diverse places as Iceland and Cambodia and many places in between.(Dermot O'Connor) ///Im Jahre 1975 gündete George Kaye die Gruppe "Dr.Kayes Permanent Cure" zusammen mit Dermot O'Connor, Leo Gillespie und Pat Gibbs.Sehr schnell wurden sie in der Dubliner Folk Szene bekannt und traten in großen Konzerthäusern ebenso auf wie in Stadien und Irischen TV Shows.Mit Ihrer einzigartigen Musik und dem Humor, der zwischen Wahnsinn und typisch schwarzem Insel-Humor schwankt, bekamen Sie schnell den Ruf der "Welt einzigsten akkustischen Punk Band".Plattenlabels begannen sich für die Folkband zu interessieren und das erste Album " The Permanent Cure..works!" entstand für das Label Chrysalis.The Permanent Cure andvancierte zum Kult-Status und Zuschauer kamen von ganz Irland in die Hauptstadt, um die wöchentlichen Konzerte der Band zu verfolgen.

(Number 24/leo gillespie) ONE YOUNG GIRL I NEVER SANG A SONG FOR,HAD A NUMBER FOR A NAME-SHE WAS CALLED 24.JUST A YOUNG GIRL,NOTHING MORE,I SAW HER PHOTOGRAPH-NUMBER 24.JUST A YOUNG GIRL BORN TO LIVE,BORN TO GROW,BORN TO GIVE.MAYBE HER DREAM TO THE WORLD,MAYBE HER DREAM TO THE WORLD...

Leo GillespieTil þess að kynna buskið hafa aðstandendur fengið tónlistarmanninn KK til liðs við sig. Hann stundaði busk lengi erlendis, meðal annars í Svíþjóð þar sem hann bjó um þrettán ára skeið. Hann hefur fengið sér til halds og trausts einn þekktasta busker í Evrópu, Leo Gillespie. Sá hefur víða farið, m.a. komið nokkrum sinnum hingað til lands, spilar á gítar og syngur rámri viskírödd lög eftir sjálfan sig og aðra ([email protected] ). Þá mun æskuvinur og meðspilari KK til margra ára Þorleifur Guðjónsson, bassaleikari, einnig leiðbeina á námskeiðinu.(Below is me and Þorleifur in Cafe Rosenberg,Reykjavik.Photo by Olikristinn)

BELOW IS SONG UNDER A TREE,A TOTALLY IMPROVISED MUSICAL CREATION I RECORDED WITH DIDIER MALHERBE AND GERRY FIELD IN PARIS AROUND 1970(Rare original album by well-known Frenchtrio featuring Leo Gillespie and 2 members of GONG-Didier Malherbe on flute and Jerry Field on violin-. On this album they played a beautiful and deepbluesy/country/folk/rock music a bit similar to the mightySUBWAY with Graham Smith-like omnipresent scorchedviolin,deep emotional mouthharp,stunning acoustic guitarbacking and great Michael Chapman-like vocals...One part ISB three parts Dylan circa Desire, though this predates that LP by some years...

Shadows On The Boulevard(leo gillespie)… early buskin' days in paris when the boulevards were aglow with poetry and anarchy, we shared a pitch with philip petite, samuel becket and jean paul sartre were regular customers

This was 1969/71 in Montparnasse the time that Patty Smith was hanging out with us,writing me reams of poetry,taking photographs of anything that moved(she was the only one who had a camera), getting some street cred by passing the hat and crashing out in our tiny little room in Campagne Premiere.Amazing sessions in the American Centre on boulevard Raspail, (Alan Stivell was one of the pillars of the American Center, where the “hootenanies” organized by Lionel Rocheman took place which was attended thereafter by other guitarists like Marcel Dadi and Pierre Bensusan) Then over to Canards place on Rue Lhomond where you could expect to meet anyone from Edouard Boubat(Edouard Boubat /September 13, 1923, Paris, France – June 30, 1999, Paris/ was a well known French art photographer. He started making photographs in 1945 or 1946, in reaction to the banality and horrors of the Second World War. He sought to make photographs that were a celebration of life. He worked as a freelance photojournalist on contract to the magazine “Réalités” in the 1950s and 1960s and travelled widely throughout his career. The French poet Jacques Prévert called him a "Peace Correspondent.")to ex members of the "resistance"reminiscing over a glass of wine or two.Next to Canard was the atelier of Camillo Otereo...

( some of the most respected names in the Parisian art world such as Camillo Otero and Edouard Boubat).where we spent many an hour philosophising and poeticising while he patiently carved away,creating another masterpiece. My good friend Herve is hard to find but always good to see.He is wide awake,but spends most time asleep.He accompanied the man on that walk through perceptions door...shared that last taste of whisky,as the Door crashed through the floor.('Jim Morrison: Mort ou vif' by Herve Muller - French Import Jim Morrison: Mort ou vif This original 1991 printing had little distribution due to the printer going bankrupt right at publishing time. It is considered by many to be one of the rarest books by someone who knew Jim personally.) They talked about films and poetry, and Jim gave Hervé a copy of his An American Prayer poetry book. Hervé had his camera on him and he and Yvonne were busy taking pictures of Jim's every move. Eventually Morrison threw himself onto the 'art nouveau' iron bench in front of the Alexandre, yelling: "Where're you taking me? I don't wanna go!"Jim Morrisons Quiet days in Paris by Rainer Moddemann../Pere Lachaise is a kind of Hollywood for the legends who are presently dead,if you don't have a map when you look for somebody...you'll find someone else instead.And it was the memorable time that Pierre Clementi,bless his eternal shining soul, presented me with his Gibson guitar...

(HISTORY OF THE WITH...) The Origin of the Name of Gillespie...The Gillespie name is ancient, its origins dating probably from 5th century Ireland. It is widely thought to be made up of two Gaelic words, "Filid," a druidic bard, and "Asbuig," a bishop."FilidAsbuig" = GillespieThe Filid were druidic bards, attached initially to the courts of the Irish tribal kings, who were called the "Rig" in their Celtic communities. Each Rig had an 'honour price' in a legal system where the weight of testimony depended on the witness's aristocratic pedigree. In applying the ancient law of the Celts, the "Brehon" code, a Rig's Filid recited in court from memory his master's genealogical origins to ensure that the Rig's testimony would take priority over that of any of his subjects.The Filid also entertained their kings' guests with poetry and with tales rich in moral content on the winter nights between Samain (1st November) and Beltain (1st May.) These poets were clearly able to perform remarkable feats of memory in a society where nothing was written.A History of Medieval Ireland -A.J. Otway-Ruthven, Barnes & Noble, 1993 .... ///BELOW IS MY OLD FRIEND PHILIP PETIT WALKING THE TWIN TOWERS....On August 7, 1974, shortly after 7:15 a.m., Petit stepped off the South Tower and onto his 3/4" 6×19 IWRC steel cable. The 25-year-old Petit made eight crossings between the mostly-finished towers, a quarter mile above the sidewalks of Manhattan, in an event that lasted about 45 minutes. During that time, in addition to walking, he sat on the wire, gave knee salute and, while lying on the wire, dialogued with a gull circling above his head.Below.

PIERRE CLEMENTI...("I believe they are the direct descendants of the spirit of the Renaissance. They have the sense of the beauty and the finesse, but they are not cut off from the people. They don't conduct themselves like an elite, an aristocracy of artists who would live like parasites due to the largesse of the system."In his life as in his work, Pierre Clémenti was not an ordinary person, he was an atypical idealist, groomed in the school of Pasolini, Visconti and Bunuel. "A mainstream career? I could have survived in mainstream films, but that wasn't my story. I have no regrets. I don't have the will to be part of films that don't even deserve to be made... I've always worked alone and I ruined nothing but myself.")

EDOUARD BOUBAT/Premiere neige Jardain Luxembourg..(In a career that spanned more than fifty years, Édouard Boubat (1923–99) captured the magic of fleeting moments with tenderness and warmth. A contemporary of Robert Doisneau and one of the most influential French photographers of the twentieth century, Boubat made elegant, poetic images, beginning with pictures of everyday life in his native Paris and moving on to striking photographs taken on his travels to Africa, India, Spain, Portugal, Brazil and China.)

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Member Since: 18/09/2007
Band Website: www.myspace.com/leogillespiesong
Band Members: ([email protected])..

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Leo Gillespie "Devil's inside" from Pierre Vicarini on Vimeo .(This is a film that my friend Pierre made of me in Rue Mouffetard,I hope he remembers me when he gets famous)...I met leo about one year ago when i was in norway. at the time he showed me documentary telling who he is. i was impressed by his life and the way he lives it. Leo is a busker musician, he travels through cities all over the world and brings to people in the street his poetry, his words and melody. last spring Leo stayed at my place in Paris. i had the chance to hear him talk about his life and his expectations. i find him a simple man don't misunderstand this, when i say that he is simple man, i mean that he goes directly to the hearts of things. He told me his stories about the boulevard back in the day and that he would sing to sartre, samuel beckett or Jean Badal. when he was telling me these stories he had that sparkling in his eyes, and i could see not the man, but the boy, the young artist eager to perform and share his work over and over. it lead me me to follow him on a saturday morning in what he calls one of the best places he knows: rue Mouffetard in Paris. i filmed him share his knowledge. i hope that you will be able to feel his voice and that the video doesn't fail in its purpose of grasping a moment of the man's life. the filming nor the editing are that great but i can tell you that listening to this man on the streets is a rare moment of freedom, he gives us the ability to sense time and feel alive for a bit. Thx Leo and i wish you a lot joy down the road. cheers to you Pierre



SIN SISAMOUTH...THE VOICE OF CAMBODIA.

SIN SISAMOUTH IS STILL SINGING,THOUGH HE IS LONG GONE.

THEY KILLED HIM IN TOUL SLENG..THEY CUT OUT HIS TONGUE.

A LITTLE FILM BY AZIZ GEORGE.... Leo Gillespie's Video
SAME PLACE DIFFERENT VIEW BY VICKI GOTCHER..

SOME PICTURES...
Influences: fawzi sayeb,philip petit,woody guthrie,don partridge, alain oudart,pierre clementi,bill hicks,sin sisamouth, jackson c frank,henry miller,kahil gibran,pecker dunne,lightenin'hopkins,oscar wilde,and the pope of the buskers-phil free.... PORTRAIT D'UN SINGULIER BALADIN.. ..

Portrait D'un Singulier Baladin.. La nuit est tombée sur la rue Mouffetard, un soir glacé d’hiver.Trouvère hiératique sous un improbable béret écossais, il cale sa guitare, vous toise un moment, se recueille mains jointes.Et soudain une voix surgit, puissante : une basse profonde, rugueuse, à la fois chaude, rocailleuse et grave, qui transporte des paysages, des rencontres, des nostalgies, des féeries.Oiseau solitaire, tapi dans la nuit au bord des villes, Leo Gillespie a buriné sa peau au soleil de toutes les routes, d’Oslo à Phnom Penh, sous les blizzards d’Islande ou la mousson d’Asie.Il a écouté la plainte, venue du fond des âges, de mille coins de rues, d’un village du Cambodge ou d’un chemin des Pyrénées.Le chanteur-baladin en a nourri ses chansons : des poèmes forgés à la main, incrustés d’images cueillies comme des fruits amers et délicieux sur l’arbre du bien et du mal.Si les ballades qu’il égrène ont des accents de blues, c’est qu’elles viennent d’un cœur vagabond … avec son diable aux trousses.Pas nécessaire d’être Khmer ni Lapon pour en sentir la déchirure. Pas besoin non plus de savoir si elles ont croisé les ombres géantes de Dylan ou de Léonard Cohen.Leo, qui a quitté en 1965 les brumes britanniques, aime retrouver ses amis lors de ses passages dans les villes endormies où rôdent aussi des fantômes qu’il a connus. Et il a le sourire complice sous la moustache drue quand passent les enfants des mondes qu’il a rêvé au loin, sans vous.Michel Ducoin21/05/2007This is a very poetic sketch of me written by Michel Ducoin who is a member of the reknowned amazing pioneering travelling family. (www.tribuducoin.com) TRAVELLERS YARN by leo gillespie....

Portrait of a singular traveller .. Night has fallen on the Rue Mouffetard, a cold winter evening. Trovatore hieratic as an unlikely Scottish beret, he hold his guitar, you fathom a moment to collect his hands clasped. Suddenly a voice arose, powerful: a low deep rough, both hot, rocky and gravely carrying landscapes, encounters, nostalgia, of fairyland. Solitary bird, crouched in the darkness at the edge of cities, Leo Gillespie weathered skin in the sun all routes from Oslo to Phnom Penh, in blizzards of Iceland or the Asian monsoon. He heard the complaint from the depths of the ages, a thousand street corners, a village in Cambodia or road in the Pyrenees. The singer-fed buffoon in his songs: poems hand-forged, inlaid with images collected as bitter and delicious fruit on the tree of good and evil. If he recites the ballads have accents of blues, is it just a vagabond heart ... the devil with his heels. No need to be Khmer or Lapp to feel the tear. Nor need whether they have crossed the giant shadows of Dylan or Leonard Cohen. Leo, who left in 1965 the British mist, loves to find his friends when passing in the sleepy towns where ghosts roam as he knew. And he has the knowing smile beneath his mustache thick when children spend worlds he dreamed off without you. Michel Ducoin 21/05/2007 This is a very poetic sketch of me written by Michel Ducoin who is a member of the pioneering reknowned amazing traveling family. (www.tribuducoin.com)--------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ - (UNE MAGNIFIQUE RENCONTRE AVEC LÉO GILLESPIE / ENTRETIEN POUR LE MAGAZINE KOIKISPASS/ NOVEMBRE 2008 | 12 MARS 2009)Il avait promis à Annie Jeanneret, propriétaire de la Grange des serrées, à Saint Saulge d'être présent pour son anniversaire. C'est d'Islande que Léo est venu dans ce petit lieu artistique. Il y a donné un concert pour une soixantaine d'invités, fait une improvisation avec Annie au piano et offert à tous ceux présents ses grands yeux verts perçants sa voix chaude et rocailleuse, un bonnet de laine, un sourire sympathique et une écharpe qui lui soulage m'explique t-il, d'un rhume attrapé en Islande, Léo est presque honoré et surpris que l'on s'intéresse à lui et à son genre de musique très particulier, la country musique, des ballades qui nous entraînent le temps d'un récital sur le fleuve Mékong ou, plus près de nous, dans les maquis des pyrénées. Une rencontre exceptionnelle avec un auteur compositeur à la carrière impressionnante et un charisme généreux Below is my old travelling companion Phra Kasem,we met in Iceland and we sang the song in Chiang Mai

Lao Tzu "As to the roaming of sages, They move in utter emptiness, Let their minds meander in the great nothingness; They run beyond convention And go through where there is no gateway. They listen to the soundless And look at the formless, They are not constrained by society And not bound to its traditions." KASEM-THE WANDERING MONK'

Above is my portrait by Klaus-Jurgen in Skagen,Denmark..Below is the Ramona big band in Beitostølen,Norway- 2009..<(The Troubadour Festival.. A festival with a 20 year long tradition at Beitostølen. For more than two decades, Beitostølen has been the scheen of a unique event. The gathering of more than twenty artists who normally travel around the world and perform for people on the street has become a tradition that attracts both locals and visiting people to Beitostølen. The entertainment is original and placed in the most beautiful landscape. Come and experience the ”streets” in the mountains. This is unique! Here, the street-singers gather from all over the world for some unforgettable days at Beitostølen.)">


Sounds Like:

Create your own visitor map!

"Throw your hat on the road, lean your ass against a post and start practicing. When somebody drops a coin in the hat, youre a musician." .....Woody Guthrie, on being asked how you get to be a musician (Below is Leo and the spontaneous dance,a sketch by Sorum)

The photo Below is of one of my favourite bands in recent years-Dave"skunk"Ochoa,Mad Mike,Danny Glaister,Mick M,Phil Free,Leo,Alex and Mr Barti,Lawrence Glaister,Jenny Glaister.BUSKERS UNLIMITED.-

-Early days on the road,hitchiking around England and ending up in London.I found this picture in a National Geographical magazine from June 1966.

I don't know the origin of this,but it rings a logical bell...

(This is a translation of my Devil Inside song by Michel DuCoin) LE DEMON INTERIEUR/ DEVIL INSIDE.....Assis tout là-haut sur les PyrénéesLoin de la foule, de la sociétéD’ici je regarde la rivière coulerIci l’air est bon et le soleil haut levéTrouve-moi donc un chalet, un petit coin à moiQu’elle aime me traiter comme un roi !C’est ça dont j’ai rêvé toute ma vie durantMais j’ai dû repartir, j’ai un démon au-dedansChaque fois que je vais atteindre mont butMon démon intérieur arrive comme un intrusIl me jette à la rue et aussitôtPerché, se penche et de là-haut,Me vois jurer au ciel que je suis un brave typeJ’connais pas trop la bible, mais j’en suis les principesMon père m’avait dit « attention dans ce monde »J’y peux rien mais j’suis né avec l’âme vagabondeLes aimer, les quitter, à jamais sans retourJe l’ai fait si souvent, je n’ai plus de recoursTout le monde me dit « n’est pas fatigant »,De vivre jour et nuit avec ton démon dedans.TraductionMichel Ducoin(www.tribuducoin.com)21/05/2007

LEO IN MOUFFETARD

CHEZ FERNANDO IN RUE DE L'ARBALETE- WHERE THE POETRY STILL SURVIVES....

SOME MORE SHOTS FROM 2008 BELOW....

BLUES MONDAY-Cafe Rosenberg,Reykjavik.(photo-Olikristinn)

WITH ANNIE JEANNERET .. KARLSKRONA-Med gitarren som bästa vän... Det är bara på gatan jag kan spela mina sånger precis som jag vill, och det är bara där det är möjligt för alla som vill att lyssna, säger Leo Gillespie....... Leo Gillespie har världens alla gator som arbetsplats. Sen han var 15 år gammal har han haft alla sina ägodelar i en väska och väljer fortsatt musiken och vänner i varje hamn framför trygghet och familj. Genom sitt yrke har han träffat legender i Paris och uppträtt på krigshärjade gator i Belfast. – Jag har aldrig styrt mitt liv, jag låter livet styra mig, säger Leo Gillespie och tar en klunk från sitt kaffe. Vi sitter utanför Littorina folkhögskola på en träbänk och pratar musik och publikkontakt. Om en halvtimme ska Leo Gillespie få skjuts in till Karlskrona centrum där ska han plocka fram sin gitarr och sätta sig på gågatan för att spela sina sånger.Alla kan lyssna Leo Gillespie låter lite som en sen Bob Dylan, ruffigt och rökigt men varmt. Den som hör honom spela skulle snabbt begripa att han inte är någon vanlig gatumusikant. Men det är inte bara rösten som gör att Leo Gillespie sticker ut. Hans blick följer de förbipasserande för att få några sekunders ögonkontakt. Barnen som går förbi stirrar fascinerat tillbaka och då och då stannar även de vuxna till för att lyssna. Det är de ögonblick då han känner att han fått kontakt som Leo Gillespie lever på och som gör att han valt att göra det han gör. Han har aldrig velat ta sin musik till de stora scenerna, där förvandlas de till en säljbar produkt, tycker han.Gatan bäst – Antingen får man stå på en pub och sjunga idiotiska sånger som ”Whiskey in the Jar” och stödja alkoholindustrin, eller så måste man upp på de stora scenerna och det passar inte mig, säger han. Det är bara på gatan jag kan spela mina sånger precis som jag vill, och det är bara där det är möjligt för alla som vill att lyssna.Träffade levande legender Leo Gillespie började sitt liv som gatumusikant när han var 15 år, då lämnade han Storbritannien och liftade ner till Paris. Där fann han en stad som vibrerade av nya tankar, idéer och poesi. – Det var under mitten och slutet av sextiotalet och jag njöt av den renässans som genomsyrade Paris, berättar Leo Gillespie. En ung man som nyss upptäckt trubadurtraditionen och som ville lära sig mer om musikens rötter och konstform kunde inte valt ett bättre ställe att börja. – Jag gav mig den på att jag skulle träffa de levande legender som då bodde i Paris, berättar Leo Gillespie. Samuel Beckett, Don Partridge, Jean-Paul Sartre och Patti Smith var några av dem. Men det var inte de kända människorna som berörde honom mest. – Många påverkade mig med sitt sätt att tänka. Philippe Petit, till exempel, han blev senare känd i hela världen för att han gick på lina mellan tvillingtornen i USA, berättar Leo Gillespie.Många avsked Blir du inte trött på att ta avsked av alla du träffar hela tiden, undrar jag. – Men jag vet ju att jag träffar dem igen, att jag kommer tillbaka någon gång, svarar Leo Gillespie. Jag är tvärtom oerhört lyckligt lottad som har så fantastiska vänner överallt. Men det finns fortfarande platser som han tycker bättre om än andra. Paris, Dublin, Kambodja. Nu söker han sig allt oftare till lugnet i Pyrenéerna. – Jag är en långsam människa förklarar han. Världen rör sig snabbare och snabbare. Det är så synd att vi springer runt i livet utan att se hur små oddsen är att just vi finns till. När och var han själv ska sluta har han ingen aning om. – Jag kanske slutar i fängelse säger Leo Gillespie och ler. Kanske blir det en dag förbjudet att ha sådana som jag springande lösa på gatorna.Anna Helmbold....

With the guitar as a best friend.(Below is a rough translation of the the above Swedish article)- "It's just on the street, I can play my songs as I want, and that's just where it is possible for anyone who wants to listen,it could be the last stage for the poet "said Leo Gillespie.KARLSKRONA- Leo Gillespie has all the world's streets as a workplace. Since he was 15 years old, he has had all his belongings in a bag and continued to select the music and friends in every port in front of security and family. By profession, he has met the legends of Paris, sung in war-torn streets of Belfast,and tasted the unique essence of most European cultures.And this is the ingredients of his songs.You must travel light if you want to travel far..- "I have never tried to make anything out of my life my life, I prefer to let life make something out of me, "said Leo Gillespie and takes a sip from his coffee. We sit outside Littorina folk high school on a wooden bench and talk music and audience contact. After half an hour Leo Gillespie gets driven into the center of Karlskrona, where he picks up his guitar and sits down on the pedestrian street to play his songs.Anyone can listen Leo Gillespie sounds a bit like a late Bob Dylan, rough and smoky but warm. Anyone who hears him play would quickly realize that he is no ordinary BUSKER. But it's not just his voice that makes Leo Gillespie sticks out. His eyes follow the passers-by to get a few seconds of eye contact. Children walking by staring fascinated back and occasionally stops even the adults listen. It is the moment when he feels he made contact that Leo Gillespie lives on, and that means that he chooses to do what he does. He has never wanted to take his music to the big stages, where it could be turned into a marketable product, he believes.Way better - "Either you stand in a pub and sing silly songs like "Whiskey in the Jar" and support the alcohol industry, and that does not suit me, "he says. It is just on the street, I can play my songs as I want, and that's just where it is possible for anyone who wants to listen and support an ancient tradition which existed way before these digital days..Troubadours still really exist and the eternal song will eventually survive whatever technical evolution decides to try and bury it with..Met living legends Leo Gillespie began his life as BUSKER when he was 15 years, when he left Britain and hitch-hiked down to Paris. There he found a city that vibrated with new thoughts, ideas and poetry. - It was during the mid and late sixties, I enjoyed the renaissance that pervaded Paris, "says Leo Gillespie. A young man who had just discovered troubadour tradition, and who wanted to learn more about the roots of music and art could not have chosen a better place to start. - I gave it to me that I would meet with the living legends who then lived in Paris, says Leo Gillespie. Samuel Beckett, Don Partridge, Jean-Paul Sartre and Patti Smith were some of them. But it was not the famous people who affected him most. - Many people influenced me with their way of thinking. Philippe Petit, for example, he later became known throughout the world because in 1970 he walked a high wire between the twin towers in the New York.I was looking to learn from artists,not industrial cabaret acts,and Philippe was my kind of teacher,says Leo Gillespie.Many farewell Do not you get tired of saying goodbye to all you meet all the time, I wonder. - But I know that I meet them again, I come back sometime, responds Leo Gillespie. Contrary, I am extremely fortunate to have such wonderful friends everywhere. But there are still places that he likes better than others. Paris, Dublin, Cambodia. Now he is looking increasingly to the tranquility of the Pyrenees. - I am a slow person, he explains. The world moves faster and faster. It is so unfortunate that we are running around in life without seeing how small the odds are that we're actually here. When and where he should stop, he has no idea. - I may end up in prison, "said Leo Gillespie and smiles. Maybe one day it will be forbidden to have any as I running loose on the streets.


Record Label: unlikely.......

My Blog

devil inside in french

This is a translation of my Devil Inside song by Michel DuCoin) LE DEMON INTERIEUR/ DEVIL INSIDE... ...
Posted by on Fri, 19 Dec 2008 08:11:00 GMT

Morning Calm "Song under a Tree"-with Didier Malherbe and Gerry Field.Paris 1969


Posted by on Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:12:00 GMT

SONG UNDER A TREE-Morning Calm.With didier malherbe and gerry field.1969/Paris


Posted by on Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:08:00 GMT

morning calm

MORNING CALM:Song Under A Tree(Barclay#90009 Canada 1970) Very rare Canadian original LP by well-knownFrench trio featuring Leo Gillespie and also 2members of Gong,Didier Malherbe(flute)andJerry ...
Posted by on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 07:29:00 GMT

The Permanent Cure by Dermot OConnor

The Permanent Cureresearched by Dermot O`Connor "The Permanent Cure" began life as a band in the year of our lord 1976 on St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, Ireland. The band comprised George Kaye, Derm...
Posted by on Sat, 16 Feb 2008 17:39:00 GMT

words to some of my songs

All songs by Leo GillespieMerci Bien Montreal& the story of how i went to canada and ended up in irelandWELL I WASN'T ALLOWED IN MONTREALTHEY SAID I WASN'T REALI'D JUST FLOWN IN FROM PARISWITH MARIE F...
Posted by on Tue, 12 Feb 2008 13:49:00 GMT

an earthly message from my friend martin law

My Inspiration: Imminent Positive Change By Martin Law, Bantry, October 2006   A Brief Biographical Overview .. ..[endif]-->..[if !vml]-->..[endif]--> All these paintings were done us...
Posted by on Tue, 12 Feb 2008 13:35:00 GMT