John Lees

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This article is about the English rock musician. For the early Canadian politician, see John Lees (politician).

John Lees (born January 13th 1947, in Oldham, Lancashire, England) is an English musician who founded rock group Barclay James Harvest.

Educated at Robin Hill Secondary Modern and Breeze Hill School, Lees had no formal musical education, but took up guitar when he was fourteen. Lees went on to study at Oldham School Of Art, where he met Stuart Woolly Wolstenholme in 1964. They played together in The Sorcerers, playing Eddie Cochran-style rock and roll, and in The Blues Keepers, before forming Barclay James Harvest in 1967. He also recorded a solo album, A Major Fancy, in 1972, but the release of this was tied up when the band changed record label. Subsequently, it was not released until 1977. Lees' musical influences include Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Joe Walsh and The Eagles.

Lees is now working as a Music Technician at Crompton House Church of England High School, inspiring the aspiring musicians of the school. He is currently involved with the production of the GCSE students` coursework, namely music technology.

John Lees' Barclay James Harvest will be playing around ten dates in the UK towards the end of this year.

Despite being one of Harvest's biggest songs, Lees shows regrets of penning Loving is Easy, which was banned for its numerous inuendos ^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Other Interests

He also enjoys reading, his favourite books being Graham Greene’s A Burnt Out Case, science fiction novels (especially those of Ray Bradbury) and poetry. His hobbies include photography and amateur radio. He is also a property developer, which he has done for 25 years.

[edit] Family

Lees currently lives in Saddleworth, a picturesque civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham with his wife, Olwen, and they have two children, Esther Jane (born 28th July, 1980) and John Joseph (who shares his father’s birthday, being born on 13th January, 1986), plus various pets including an African grey parrot called Fritz.