When Leonard finally came to California   He was twenty-one years old as I recall   He loved to write a song and pick the guitar   And he came to hang a gold one on the wall      The town in which he lived is not important   But you'll know which town I mean by the time I'm through   He soon became a famous entertainer   But Leonard was a name he never used      He was on his way to having what he wanted   Just about as close as one could be   Hey, once he even followed Elvis Presley   And he wrote a lot of country songs for me      But he laid it all aside to follow Jesus   For years he chose to let his music go   But preaching wasn't really meant for Leonard   But how in the hell was Leonard supposed to know      Well, life began to twist its way around him   And I wondered how he carried such a load   He came back again to try his luck in music   And lost his wife and family on the road      After that he seemed to bog down even deeper   And I saw what booze and pills could really do   And I wondered if I'd ever see him sober   But I forgot about a friend that Leonard knew      Well, Leonard gave me lots of inspiration   He helped teach me how to write a country song   And he even brought around a bag of groceries   Hey, back before Muskogee came along      Really I'm not trying to hide his show name   Or the town in which this episode began   Somehow I had to write a song for old Tommy   If just to see the smilin' faces in the band      When Leonard finally came to California   He was twenty-one years old as I recall   And he loved to write a song and pick the guitar   And he came to hang a gold one on the wall