Leslie Harvey

Who was Leslie Harvey?

Leslie Cameron "Les" Harvey was a guitarist in several Scottish bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s, most notably Stone the Crows. He was the brother of Alex Harvey.

Harvey was born in Govan, Glasgow, Scotland. In the 1960s he was asked to join The Animals by Alan Price, but chose to stay with his brother in the Alex Harvey Soul Band. He later joined the ill-fated Blues Council, another Scottish band. The Blues Council made one record, Baby Don't Look Down, then, in March 1965, their tour van crashed, killing vocalist Fraser Calder and bassist James Giffen, and the rest of the band went their separate ways.

In 1969 Harvey joined Scottish band Cartoone to record some tracks for their second album. He also accompanied Cartoone on their live tour of the United States supporting Led Zeppelin. They also supported the US band Spirit in 1969. John Lee Hooker, whose songs both Harvey and Cartoone used to cover on their tour of the UK, was their opening act.

Harvey was a co-founder of Stone the Crows in late 1969. It was while on stage with Stone the Crows at Swansea Top Rank in 1972 that he was killed by electrocution, after touching a microphone that was not earth-grounded.