Leo de Castro

Leo de Castro (born Kiwi Leo de Castro Kino; c. 1948 – 3 March 2019) was a New Zealand funk and soul singer-guitarist. From 1969 to 1995 he worked in Australia in a variety of bands before returning to Auckland. He contributed to "summer jam" as a solo artist alongside Lobby Loyde and the Coloured Balls and Billy Thorpe, Rocco (1976), as a member of Johnny Rocco Band; Voodoo Soul – Live at The Basement (October 1987), by Leo de Castro and Friends; a live album, Long White Clouds (2007), which had been recorded in January 1988 using two separate backing bands, The Dancehall Racketeers and Roger Janes Band.

De Castro's vocals feature on the singles "Wichita Lineman" (January 1971) by King Harvest , "Heading in the Right Direction" (August 1975) by Johnny Rocco Band, "Suspicious Minds" (June 1979) by Leo de Castro and Babylon. Australian musicologist, Ian McFarlane, described him as a "permanent fixture of the pub/concert/festival circuit and was praised for his vocal abilities" as "one of the best soul singers working in Australia" during the 1970s. From 1995 de Castro was performing in and around Hobart. His farewell gig in 2008 was recorded and filmed live at the Republic Bar. Leo and the Warriors featured some of Tassie finest musicians including fellow Kiwi the late great guitarist/vocalist Joe Pirere. Later in 2008 he moved back to New Zealand to retire.

Early career Leo de Castro was born as Kiwi Leo de Castro Kino in Benneydale, King Country, New Zealand. He was named after the doctor who delivered him. In 1966, with his family, he moved to Auckland where he started his career in the local club scene. During 1968, for six months, he was the lead singer of Dallas Four and was noted to have a "soul style about his singing". De Castro also appeared at the 1970 Ourimbah "Pilgrimage for Pop", Australia's first rock festival, and was included in the 2012 film Once Around the Sun, a psychedelic movie about the event.

King Harvest In September 1970 de Castro, on vocals and guitar, formed King Harvest as a progressive rock group with Jimmy Doyle on guitar (Silhouettes, Aesop's Fables, Moonstone), Mark Kennedy on drums (Spectrum), Duncan McGuire on bass guitar (Phantoms, Epics, Questions, Doug Parkinson in Focus, Rush) and Steve Yates on keyboards (Rush, Expression). Billy Green on guitar (Doug Parkinson in Focus) replaced Doyle; Green, in turn, was replaced by MacKenzie, and then by Ray Oliver (The Light).