Sha Na Na founder helps hunt criminals

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Interviews, performances

Obama pays tribute to Kennedy honorees
Dec. 6: Before being honored at a special gala at the Kennedy Center, five of the nation's best in entertainment and the arts were lauded by President Barack Obama. NBC's Lester Holt reports.

Choir sings lullaby Christmas songs

‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’

The doc who rocks

Ron Wood arrested

The group was performing in early 1969 at Steve Paul’s The Scene, a New York City club where bands like the Doors, Pink Floyd and Traffic played. Jimi Hendrix was a regular visitor.

“The whole place was like a small living room and I look up and there’s Jimi Hendrix 10 feet away from me, standing on a chair waving his arms, going, ‘Great, great,”’ Leonard recounts. “He got us booked to Woodstock out of that.”

The band, which played just before Hendrix closed the show in the early hours of an August Monday, also appears in the Oscar-winning documentary about the festival.

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“That was truly amazing,” Leonard says. “To go out on stage and see this ocean of people, most of whom thought they were hallucinating: these guys in gold lame jumpsuits and greased back hair.”

Like many of his generation who attended the legendary festival, Leonard’s recollections of the weekend are mixed.

“It was muddy, it was messy, it was awful,” he says, quickly countering, “But it was really wonderful because what they were so proud of at the time, and it’s very true, is they had all those people there and there was no violence. There was no dissent, everybody really was as if they were one tribe.”

He spent two years with the band before being offered a fellowship at Columbia.

It was a difficult decision.

“I wanted to do both, but I was afraid if I stayed in the group I couldn’t do Columbia,” Leonard recalls. “So I said I’ll retire at 21 from the music business. I’ve been on the Johnny Carson show, what more do I need? I’ve been at Woodstock, I’ve drunk with Janis Joplin, and Jimi Hendrix.

“OK, let me go on and go back to school.”

And he still hasn’t left.

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