Singer-songwriter Leo Sayer details the foundational records that shaped his career in a recent feature for theguardian.com, highlighting everything from Bob Dylan and Van Morrison to a fateful encounter with Jerry Lee Lewis that nearly ended in the dustbin.
Leo Sayer Releases New Box Set and Tours
- Leo Sayer traces his musical awakening back to discovering Bob Dylan through his cousin David at age 16.
- His first purchased single, Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Great Balls of Fire,” was famously thrown out of a window by his father for being “pagan music.”
- The artist is currently supporting the release of his 18-CD box set, Leothology: The Studio Albums 1973 – Now, alongside a live tour running through November 15.
Discovering Rebellion Through Dylan and Van Morrison
Recalling his early years as a teenager looking for a moral compass, Sayer points to Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” as an enduring masterpiece. He notes that while older generations wore bowler hats and pinstripe suits, Dylan and his peers felt like young rebels. That initial spark of nonconformity extended to Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, an album Sayer knows by heart and hopes to record himself one day.
The Fateful Toss of Great Balls of Fire
The turning point for physical record collecting came early when Sayer bought his very first single, Jerry Lee Lewis’s “Great Balls of Fire,” from Fine Records in the Lanes in Brighton. When his father heard the track, he condemned it as pagan music and threw the vinyl straight out the window. Rather than deterring him, the harsh reaction convinced Sayer the record must be good. He retrieved it from the bushes, took it to a friend’s house, and played it on repeat all day long.
From Schoolyard Bands to Touring with Bob Marley
Musical aspirations crystallized when Sayer sang Buddy Holly’s “Oh, Boy!” at age 14 with a school band called the Buddies, featuring a drummer who substituted a real kit by hitting schoolbooks with drumsticks. Decades later, that trajectory placed Sayer backstage at the Lyceum in 1975 to witness Bob Marley and the Wailers record the live version of “No Woman, No Cry.” Having previously designed the record sleeve for Catch a Fire while working as a graphic designer for Island Records, Sayer remembers Marley as a genuinely lovely man.
Leothology Box Set Accompanies Live Tour Through November 15
Sayer’s extensive recorded output is now cataloged in the 18-CD box set Leothology: The Studio Albums 1973 – Now. Alongside the box set release, Sayer continues performing live on a tour that runs through November 15, bringing decades of music history directly to audiences.
