The band was founded by bass playerJim Pons and guitarist Robert Lee Reiner, who were inspired by hearing The Beatles while students at Cal State Northridge in Los Angeles. Originally called The Rockwells, they were fraternity brothers who formed a group and then taught themselves how to play. Besides Pons and Reiner, the original line-up included John Beck, Bill Rinehart, and Jimmy Kern ; in early 1965, Kern was replaced by drummer Tom Ray. They began by playing surf and dance music at parties. Their first actual show was in the school gym with Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band. In 1965, The Byrds left their residency at Ciro's on Sunset Strip after making their first hit, and The Leaves were chosen to replace them. It was there they were discovered by popular singer and actor Pat Boone, who got them their first record contract, with Mira Records. Their first single, "Too Many People", was a local hit in Los Angeles. The Leaves released "Hey Joe" in November 1965, and dissatisfied with the sound, pulled it. They released a second version in early 1966, which flopped. Original guitarist Bill Rinehart left, and The Leaves redid the song again with a fuzztone by new guitarist Bob Arlin. This version of the song became a hit, and debuted on both Billboard and Cash Box on May 21, 1966. It peaked at No. 31 on Billboard and No. 29 on the Canadian RPM Magazine charts, while showing a humbler peak position of No. 43 on Cash Box. The song ran nine weeks on both national charts. Their debut album Hey Joe followed. It took a run on the Billboard charts for five weeks, beginning on July 30, 1966, peaking at No. 127. The album did not make it onto the Cash Box charts. The band appeared on TV shows – American Bandstand, Shivaree, Shebang – and briefly in a Hollywood film, The Cool Ones. One more album, All the Good That's Happening, was released before the band broke up in 1967 when Pons left to join the pop groupThe Turtles; In the early 1970s, Pons played bass with Frank Zappa. Arlin went on to form heavy psychedelic band The Hook and The Robert Savage Group. The band reunited in 1970 before Pons became a member of Zappa's band. The reunited lineup included Jim Pons on rhythm guitar, John Beck on lead guitar, Buddy Sklar, lead singer from The Hook and The Spencer Davis Group, Al Nichols on bass from the Turtles, and Bob "Bullet" Bailey on drums. The band did some touring and performed at local Los Angeles based nightclubs before disbanding in 1971. A new generation of music fans discovered the band when their version of "Hey Joe" was included in the classic 1972 garage rock compilation, . According to the Nuggetsliner notes, the as yet unnamed band was hanging around a tree-shaded pool, smoking, when a newcomer gave the traditional 1960s greeting, "What's happening?" "The leaves are happening", came the answer, which struck them all as a good name for a band.
