Legs Diamond Was A Notorious Gangster | The Various Occasions | Listen To Free Streaming mp3s

Jack “Legs” Diamond bounced back from four attempts on his life and two kidnap trials before a pair of hitmen managed to end his career with three well placed bullets in his head. Jack became one of the premier loft robbers in New York City. By the mid ‘20’s he was working for Arnold Rothstein and hi-jacking liquor trucks in his spare time. This hobby, though lucrative, led to the first known attempt on in life in 1925.

Rothstein introduced Legs to both the narcotics trade as well as Lower Eastside gangster Little Augie Orgen. Both of these introductions would result to trips to the hospital for Legs for bullet removal. By 1930 Diamond’s speakeasy career was washed up in NYC so he set up bootlegging operations in the Catskills.Their first album, Legs Diamond, featured their popular classic track, "Stage Fright". The second album, A Diamond Is A Hard Rock, quickly followed, and the band toured fiercely in support of the two albums, which were released in 1977. Even though the band's music sold well with fans, Mercury did little to support Legs Diamond, and the band was dropped by the label shortly after. Both of these albums were reissued on CD in 2000 by Zoom Club Records, a U.K. based label.

In 1978, Legs Diamond signed to Cream Records, and released their third album, Fire Power. But once again, the band faced a lack of promotion from their label, and the album quickly faded away. The band called it quits after that, with Michael Diamond dropping out of the music industry altogether.What the band didn't know was that they were getting lots of airplay in the most unlikely of places, San Antonio, Texas. A local DJ for KISS-FM, Joe "The Godfather" Anthony, began playing music from his personal collection. Bands like Legs Diamond, Moxy and Triumph, while they were met with indifference in most markets, were treated like gods in San Antonio, thanks to Anthony's promotional efforts. When Legs Diamond heard of this, they decided to reform and give it another shot.

Legs Diamond reemerged as a new band in 1984, with Jim May as the new lead guitarist, and Mike Christie as the new bassist. They signed to another small label, Target Records, and released their fourth album, Out On Bail. Hits included the title track and "Walk Away". Original drummer Jeff Poole left the band shortly after, and after a short stint with drummer Jonathan Valen, the band hired drummer Dusty Watson as a permanent replacement for Poole.Legs was something of a celebrity in his time and despite his vicious lifestyle and criminal deeds, the public seemed to love him. He was dubbed Legs because of his tendency to escape would-be assassins, and he survived at least 4 such attempts on his life.

Based in New York City, Legs did much of his business in the Catskills and other parts of upstate including Albany and Troy. He was involved in many nefarious activities such as bootlegging, racketeering, kidnapping and robbery. On December 18, 1931, Diamond’s luck finally ran out. While hiding out in a rooming house on Dove Street in Albany, he was shot and killed. The official version of his death has Legs being shot in the head as he slept by rival gangsters, but this is still a subject of controversy.

In 1974, author William Kennedy quoted Albany Democratic party boss Dan O’Connell as saying that the Albany police-on his orders-executed Diamond. Albany was known for its intolerance of organized crime and this is very plausible. What is surprising is that O'Connell would openly admit to such a deed.