Lester Hambone Brown, a Flint native, and Detroit Blues legend, also a self-proclaimed “Leaf baby,” grew up listening to the muffled sounds of laughter and music coming through the floor of the Golden Leaf’s second story during the ’50s and ’60s. His parents, dedicated members of the club, would take Brown with them and have him stay on the second floor, which offered unofficial childcare, Brown said.
It was through trips down to the first floor that Brown would watch musicians like Grant Green and Roy Ayers work their magic over the Leaf’s members. Brown even remembers some of the memories he made with musicians like John Lee Hooker, a blues musician known as much for his voice as he was for his guitar playing.
“When I started playing guitar, my dad asked me, ‘do you remember the guy you used to steal peppermints from his coat pocket? That was John Lee Hooker,” Brown said.
A recent recipient of the Detroit Blues Society Lifetime Achievement Award, Brown credits the Golden Leaf with sparking his lifelong love of music.
“Before I was doing my own thing, I started playing as a backup musician. I would play guitar for local musicians like The Velvelettes and others who would come through. At that time, Flint had a sound, and I was happy to be part of that,” Brown said.
