From: Tom Lipuma
Subject: Re: Leon Russell
Dear Bob,
I thoroughly enjoyed your tribute to Leon Russell, you really caught the essence of the man and how important that period was, and how important he was to everything that was coming out of LA at the time.
I know this is a bit long, but I felt compelled to write it.
I met Leon the evening of the first day I came to LA, fresh off the boat, rather the plane, from being a local Promotion man in Cleveland to take over the local promo position at Liberty records in LA. Bud Dain who I replaced as he had become the West Coast regional person said we had to go to a club that night called "Pandora’s Box" on Sunset and Crescent Heights Boulevard. It’s now an exit to make a right onto the blvd. He told me we were going to see a singer on the label whose name was Jackie DeShannon. Jackie was and still is a very soulful singer who was really connected to all of the new talent that landed in LA from all parts of the US, and that night she was sitting in with what was the club band.
I was immediately taken by the band, especially the acoustic piano player who was razor thin, and was wearing a blue seersucker suit with a burgundy tie and a pompadour hairdo, with a very serious expression on his face. It was Leon. And as it turns out a few of his band mates were guys that would also eventually make there own mark on the scene. David Gates, the leader and main songwriter of "Bread" on Guitar, and Carl Radle who would become the powerhouse bass player in Derrick and the Dominos.
Jackie was wonderful and I was excited with the knowledge that I was going to be working with her. But I couldn’t get Leon out of my mind. He had a style that even then was very unique and I made it my business to find out his whereabouts. As it turns out even though he hadn’t quite become the in demand studio musician that he would become, he spent a lot of time at the Liberty offices hanging out with Snuff Garrett, and that’s when I met him.
Within two years I had joined Liberty’s publishing company, and Leon was hired to do most of the song demos with Jackie DeShannon and other writers that were part off the writing staff. This gave me a chance to be in the studio with him and, eventually, when I started to make demo’s with some of the staff song writers myself, I hired Leon to help me as I didn’t know my ass from the sound console at the time. Leon was kind and patient enough to help me get through those first few sessions, and he taught me a lot about the recording process, We eventually became good friends.
When I left Liberty to take my first job as an A&R man at the then fledgling A&M Records, we fell out of touch with one another until I ended up becoming partners with Bob Krasnow at Blue Thumb records. We happened to see an ad in one of the small music sheets at that time, and there was this outrageous ad for a single by a group called "The Asylum Choir". It was a picture of Leon looking 180 degrees different than I had remembered him, with I think Jim Price, who was a close friend of Leon's, along with this naked girl sitting on a sound console with a birds eye view of her female parts staring out at the camera. Well that got our attention, and since we were doing some outrageous ads of our own at the time, we picked up the single and then the album, and by the time we got through "“Sweet Home Chicago" and "Down On The Base" we knew something was happening here.
Within six months or so Leon became partners with Denny Cordell and we ended up making a distribution deal with them for Leon’s first solo album, which was on Shelter/Blue Thumb. Leon had really come into his own by that point, and those songs are still relevant today.
Right around that time we had signed Dave Mason of "Traffic" fame, and I was going into make Dave’s first solo album, "Alone Together". I touted Dave on using Leon to play acoustic piano on some of the cuts and his style just stood out so brilliantly.
Within a year we ended up making a distribution deal with EMI Capitol, and it turns out Denny and Leon made their own distribution deal with EMI. I’d say about three Leon albums later, was The brilliant “Carney” album, just around the time we had signed George Benson to Warners. Timing and fate always fits into these scenarios, and I heard "This Masquerade", played it for George and the rest was history. Leon had moved away from LA after the 1971 earthquake, first to Oklahoma,then to Nashville. We would talk occasionally on the phone, but our lives had gone in two separate directions. We did hook back up again about five years ago when he performed at the celebration of my 75th birthday at the Montreau Jazz Festival. We ended up doing an album together and through that marvelous experience we became close friends, and stayed tight right up until the night before he passed away. He had had a heart attack some months back, and I don’t think he ever fully recovered. I hadn’t heard from him in awhile and felt the urge to reach out to him, so I sent him a text at ten thirty Saturday night asking how he was and that I was concerned as I hadn’t heard from him in awhile. The next morning we got a call from Johnny Barbis telling us he had died early that morning. I was stunned but not surprised as I hadn’t heard from him and sensed he was in no mood to talk. I called his cell and his wife Jan answered and told me he had passed about 4:30 that morning in his sleep. I’m just relieved that he didn’t have to suffer for months in a hospital bed, that wasn’t his style. For the most part, he was a very private person with a big distrust of anything or anyone that smelled corporate or big. He also was a closet intellectual…. he read a lot but never boasted or bragged about his knowledge.
One last story: when we were doing pre-production on what turned out to be his last officially released album, I spent a few days in Nashville with him. I kept asking him, even before I had gotten to Nashville to come up with some of what he considered his favorite songs. We sat around playing each other songs, and at one point he asked me if I liked Hillbilly music, and I pulled up on my computer one of my favorites, George Jones’s "When The Curtain Falls". That pleased him immensely and things really got relaxed after that,
After two days of asking him to play me all of the tunes he had written, which he played numerous demos of, I just couldn't get him to get out of this comfortable chair to play the piano and perform some of these things live. He was still pretty fragile from some surgery he had had some six or eight months before, but about an hour before I left, his sound engineer said Leon, you know they’re coming for this Yamaha piano tomorrow, and Leon said, "that's a drag, I love that piano", at which point I said "Well before they pick it up, would you play something for me on it?", and his engineer said "Why don’t you play Tommy your version of "Come Rain Or Come Shine"?
Leon got up very unsteadily and with the help of his cane, hobbled over to the piano, sat down and played with the strength and power of a twenty five year old. He knocked both his engineer and me off of our chairs, and I told him that's what I had been waiting to hear since I had arrived.
I’ll miss him.
Tommy LiPuma
This was taken earlier this year at our home, Leon was playing in Ridgefield CT. and we had him over for lunch:
twitter.com/Lefsetz/status/799049915917746176 A last look at Leon in our living room in Pound Ridge:
twitter.com/Lefsetz/status/799050250962907137 _____________________________________________
I had just spoken with him Friday night.
He didn't sound great --was fairly depressed that he was making no progress with walking.
I said to him that he didn't walk that well before he had the damn surgery
And--he and I something in common--an allergy to exercise.
Both got a laugh from him,which I was happy about.
We spent about 20 min on the phone,which for him was a lot.
I asked if he'd been writing any songs,which he had--a few.
Told him to try writing the
"Triple Bypass Blues",which got a chuckle.
When I was 15 or so,friends and I drove in from Riverhead to see
"Concert for Bangladesh " at the
Ziegfeld.
I'd heard and read of Leon, of course.
Had the same albums you did and loved em.
But when George Harrison introduced him and he hit
"Jumping Jack Flash/Youngblood",I thought he was the coolest fucking guy I ever saw behind a piano.
The Prince of Darkness on keyboards.
That I got to work with him the last 6 years was amazing to me.
He could be a contrary,stubborn old Muppet.
But he was sweet,thoughtful and playful as well.
And a true road dog.
Would play 8 shows in a row.
I'm grateful I had the privilege to know him.
Was quite sad today.
Stories for a future dinner.
Best
S.
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Hi Bob,
Thanks for the piece on Leon Russell. He was a genius in the studio and great live!
He was a connector in an age when it was about the music and those making it.
Thanks for mentioning "Out in the Woods"! What a classic tune/ arrangement!!
Saw him live with the 1971 iteration of Mad Dogs and Englishmen when Freddie King was opening. This was at the Warehouse in New Orleans. Freddie had just released "Texas Cannonball" which Leon produced and played on with the hit "Goin Down". Freddie blew the crowd away, but Leon and company came out and topped it which seemed impossible! I'll never forget that night or Leon whom we've had the pleasure of playing with a few times over the years. Amazing man!
I'm grateful for his talent and music.
Tom Johnston
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One of my favorite interviews was with Leon.
Enjoy
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cesMMTjzBA4 Denny Tedesco
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In addition to his own great career, don't forget the great songs he wrote that others made into classics like "Superstar" co-written with Bonnie Blamlet that became a classic in the 70's for the Carpenters.
Best Always,
Ritch Esra
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Agree on the power of Mad Dogs and Englishman
We saw that band at the Santa Monica Civic and the sound commanded by Leon was tremendous
His cover of Jumpin' Jack Flash on the Bangladesh set the following year was one of the
best things on the album
Another one of a kind
Jim McElwee
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I produced a show with Leon at a state university 20 years ago or more- the event was great, though Leon had suffered so much hearing loss by then the monitors on stage were set to annihilate small animals volume...His daughter, who was a beautiful woman, sang angelic back up harmonies, and I think a son was in the band line-up too.
All the college hipsters showed that night, and didn't seem to really relate to what Leon was proffering, regardless a good time was had and the music was well done. End of the show, the little girl from the Student Union who handled settlement, swung backstage and handed Leon a check. I don't even remember a "tour manager" type who would have handled that type of detail being there. Leon looked at the check, glared at the girl, and said "it's cash only". The girl was a little flustered, and went on to explain the check was a bank check, and certified, so it was "the same as cash".
Leon looked at her and said "Can I take this down to the gas station and buy a pack of cigarettes with it?". The girl stammered, flustered, and admitted "Well, no". Leon shoved the check in his pocket, and pointedly said "EXACTLY!". He went to the bus, hopped on, and I'll never forget watching him glare out the bus window as he pulled from the venue parking lot. Leon was old school, had obviously come up through the rough and tumble circuit with shyster promoters and re-negotiated back end settlements as common place.
Strange days indeed....RIP Leon.
Trent Keeling
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Bob-- did I just read and re-read and re-read this letter and see that you made no mention of THE LETTER?
As your letter implies, there's a certain art to the job of covering a song that's already been a hit.
To do what Russell did with THE LETTER requires Divine Intercession.
Also-- no mention of The Wrecking Crew?
C'mon, Bob-- you're losing it.
stoned
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Amen!
Lesley Cuttler
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Stranger in a Strange Land! Definitely off the charts on my playlist... RIP Mr. Russell
Olie Kornelsen
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one of the GREATS of all time and HUGELY underrated contribution to that time in the business!
i promoted him when i was in college, i bought all his records and, although he slowly slipped into semi-obscurity over the years, it not only an honor but a HUGE fan/business moment when i was able to work with him briefly while being involved with the assembling and production of the tedeschi trucks band 'mad dogs & englishmen' tribute to joe cocker, at lockn' fest 2 summers ago.
Wayne Forte
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I write this with tears rolling down my cheeks after reading this. When Bowie died I was hurt, when Bobby Vee died I was crushed, but when I heard Leon went this morning I was devastated. HE was the soundtrack to some of the most important times of my life and HIS music then moved me like nobody. I thought about that night you and I were together and at the top of my lungs I went through those lyrics not caring who was watching or listening, we connected because it was LEON! Those lyrics never rang so true and were as prophetic as anything Nostradamus could have said. I will remember always seeing him at the Canyon just a few years ago and Johnny Barbis taking me on the bus to say hi. I told Leon no song ever moved me like Stranger In A Strange Land and to this day I can still sing that refrain. So what does Leon do? He asks me to sing it!!! Guess what…I Did just like when it was you and me at that radio event, only this time, Leon smiled, shook my hand and said thank you!!! A legend, a gentleman and a man I will miss but never forget.
Tommy Nast
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I don't read you very often but Leon Russell caught my eye.
He was an icon.
Of all the magic he spun let's not forget "superstar" the rock anthem he co wrote with Bonnie Bramlett. And who along with her partner Delanie formed Delanie and Bonnie whose former collaborators read like a legacy of rock dynasty including Leon.
In fact during a stint in Boston at a radio station in the late sixties I came across an album featuring a young short haired Leon Russell sitting at a piano on what I remember was a album with Frank Sinatra.
Oh yeah..
I was fortunate enough to work with him a number of times. I loved the guy.
He was the real Deal .....
RIP
John Conk
Special Event Dinosaur
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Excellent piece on one of the true superstars of music. I'm a little bit surprised you didn't talk about all the songs he wrote for other people. Even groups as uncool as the Carpenters had huge hits with Leon Russell songs.
From playing with the wrecking crew to writing songs for the biggest acts of the day to his own solo career, they just don't make artists like him any longer. We've lost too many one of a kind talent this year. I cannot wait for 2016 to be over.
Mark Edwards Edelstein
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AND, there was that 9 and half minute long version of "Jumpin’ Jack Flash" and "Young Blood” on the Concert for Bangladesh album. It was, and still is, a masterpiece of live performance.
Leonard and Leon in the same week. Shit.
Rick Bates
Weathersfield, VT
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Leon was well known to hard core music fans as a result of Cocker and Mad Dogs but he became a superstar because of his appearance at The Concert For Bangladesh and more importantly the 12/71 Bangladesh album.
Leon's Jumpin' Jack Flash/Youngblood mashup seemed to get more radio airplay than any other track from that album and I remember that every year-end holiday party that I went to that December seemed to have JJF on auto repeat.
Bangladesh put Leon in the same stratosphere as Dylan, Clapton and The Beatles and while it brought him a massive audience, though he unfortunately wasn't able to sustain it, he will live forever for anyone who was paying attention at that time.
George Gilbert
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Terrific eulogy. Thank you for reminding me of the feeling of walking into Watkins Glen. We put out the Sundance Channel series Spectacle With Elvis Costello on DVD and Blu Ray which was co-produced by Elton who pretty much defines the genius of Leon in a lengthy segment/homage on Season One.
Don't know what to add after that except, yes, that first needle drop on Mad Dogs... was a revelation.
Agree on everything.
Jonathan Gross
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Hi Bob, I was a believer from the get go of Mad Dogs & Englishman, had a poster of Leon in the Trinity T shirt and top hat on my bedroom wall. He came to Sydney in 1973 and played the local racecourse. There must have been 25 people on stage, 2 grand pianos back to back (Rev Patrick Henderson on one of them).
Leon came out in a white suit and white hat looked down at the audience and said “I’ll put on a show for you, if you put on a show for me.” Then proceeded to play a tent show revival set of his and others’ songs for 3 hours, complete with thunderstorm break in the middle.
Carney, one of the great albums…. Brendan
Brendan Gallagher
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Thanks....great article. Like you I loved his first solo album when it came out...and yes Mad Dogs and Englishman was brilliant and he was the star.
Michael Rosenblatt
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Booked Leon Russell to play my club in New Orleans in 2002. I could not believe this legendary musical genius and giant of the 1970's was playing clubs. Only sold about 150 tickets despite heavy marketing on the classic rock stations. But it did not matter. Leon Russell played like he was playing to an arena; the mark of a real professional and a serious treat for the small crowd in attendance.
Frank A. Gagliano
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Thanks for the kind words about Leon Russell. But let's remember two people who remembered him: obviously Elton, who pushed for him to get into the Hall of Fame (so much of Elton's early work owes to Leon and to the Band) and Willie Nelson, who did a fine duet album with Leon and made Top 10 with "Heartbreak Hotel." I know you weren't crazy about The Union, but if you hear shows from the tour Elton and Leon did together to promote it (check the Web for a BBC proms show from 2011) you heard a labor of love on Elton's part getting Leon the credit he deserved. Go on You Tube and check out Leon's appearances on Shindig, where he anchored the house band. All HIS influences were there already.
"And when my life is over, remember when we were together. We were alone and I was singing this song for you..."
Peace.
--Tony Pizza
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I used to represent the Lone Star Roadhouse on 52nd St. back in the late 80s and early 90s. Mort Copperman, the owner let me know they had booked Leon Russell, a solo date. I went to the show with my buddy (brother-in-law) Cal Sarsfield. Cal is a long-time pianist/New York-New Jersey band guy. One of his mentors, Leon Russell.
Leon was not in good spirits. No interviews, no meet-and-greets - just Leon and a piano. He did every song and it was a one-of-a-kind show. No encore - packed- no stage chatter and no one complained.
It was an artist - classic journeyman musician show. I don't know if the show meant anything to Leon but for me and Cal, a show like no other.
RIP Leon and long live your legacy.
George Dassinger
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As a 12 y/o kid, I got to witness Leon in his prime in 1974 and his voice gave me goosebumps. His piano playing style was something I had never heard before and I was hooked instantly. I held on for several years until 'The Wedding Album', but have always gone back to the first album & 'Carney'.
It's been a very sad week.
Rodney Rowland
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First concert I ever saw, 1972 at Cole Field House, University of Maryland, was Leon Russell. Two grand pianos center stage so he and Rev. (sorry I don't remember) could boogie until the cows came home. I had "Shelter People" and "Concert for Bangla Desh". He was incredible. I was 17 years old.
Nearly ten years before he was playing sessions for The Beach Boys and Glen Campbell. Talk about learning/earning your chops.
John P
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Fantastic article Bob. Thank you. One of my defining rock moments was seeing Leon in the George Harrison Concert For Bangladesh film. His medley blew me away and opened my eyes to a life long passion for music.
Thanks
Leon Rutkowski
Marblehead, MA
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Geez Bob it seems like you are the one that writes the obituaries, at least for these great, great musicians.
Leon Russell dates back to my earliest days. I loved all of his hits on AM radio as an early 70's teenager and remember "Lady Blue" as being of assistance during my bumbling dating attempts. But what I never knew was the work he did with a lot of other bands and musicians, like Badfinger, George Harrison and others. I learned that much later in life.
I was fortunate to see Leon Russell at the Ocean Mist, a small beach bar in southern Rhode Island where during the week bands with play a gig either on their way to Boston or on their way back from Boston. Leon was one of them and I will never forget the performance for as long as I live. Yeah he came out in a motorized wheelchair, but he blew the roof of the building and I walked out of there hours later in awe.
For me though, his defining moment was as the keyboard player at the Concert for Bangladesh when, a verse or two into "Beware of Darkness", George at the absolute last second turns to Leon, and points at him to sing the next verse. He does, in that incredibly distinctive voice, his chilling style and steals the whole song from Harrison.
I'll never forget him.
Thanks Bob, always, thank you.
Paul Lancia
Providence, Rhode island
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The Hank Wilson record has been on my stranded on a desert island list since the first 8 bars of Rollin' in mySweet Baby's Arm and every cut following.
Thanks for another heart felt so well written remembering.
Michael Guardabascio
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thanks for the words. i learned about Leon late in the game but came to be obsessed with his first two records this last year. I connect deeply with his spirit, his wild sense of abandon, his candor and his humor.
David Pattillo
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I'm just saying '' .. gon't get hung up about Easter''
hasse breitholtz
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Great remembrance, Bob. Let's not forget he was also a member of The Wrecking Crew and was on many of Phil Spector's productions. Speaking of the Gary Lewis tracks...Leon arranged most of them and that's his piano playing on them. I have a Gary Lewis anthology CD where the studio count-off was left on the beginning of She's Just My Style, and it's Leon's unmistakable voice doing it.
Check out Back to the Island, on Will of the Wisp.
Johnny Velchoff
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I saw Leon at The Rainbow Theatre London in 1971. He was not happy with what was coming out from him & the band & said basically, "I am not happy with this tonight but I will stay here until i am happy, so if you want to stay please do " I walked out of that theatre at 2.00am. That is a professional musician.
Brian FNQ Australia
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Beautiful Bob thank you. Been playing the deluxe ed. of M D and E. what a great memory. Derek Trucks and his wife cited that tour/lineup as the idea to form the big TTB. Great read Bob. R I P Leon
Bill Tibbs
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My firm represented Leon and, in fact, the first project I worked on when I moved to LA was the dissolution of Leon and Denny Cordell's great label, Shelter Records (Tom Petty, Phoebe Snow, Dwight Twilley and others).
Too much to even start but the one thing that sticks with me was the way they divided the publishing rights. Shelter owned 100% of the publishing for all their artists, including Leon. David Braun got the sides in a room and said, "We're doing what the songwriting teams have done forever on Tin Pan Alley: one of you divides the catalogue in two lists, representing what you think is an equal division using any standards you want. The other one gets first pick of the two lists." What an elegant and simple solution and the lawyers never got involved.
What a giant! A great piano player, equally good on guitar. A seminal writer and singer. The heart of the legendary Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. Lost the luster in recent years but he wrote the masterpiece "Song For You", a song rarely topped in 45 years.
Lance Grode
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Fantastic piece, Bob...there's no way to count up all that Leon did. Beatles, Stones, Clapton, JJ Cale, Tom Petty...if I'd kept working with my journalism degree instead of becoming a promoter, I'd have written "6 Degrees of Leon Russell". Instead I have the albums, the shows we promoted and this bobble head
Jesse Lundy
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Don't forget Leon Russell's contribution to the Bangladesh concert at Madison Square Garden. When George Harrison introduced him by name, it seemed magical.
William, NYC
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I think Rita Coolidge was "The Delta Lady" wasn't that mentioned in the movie, Mad Dogs?
Thanks Bob- I loved Leon. Met him in a bar in Iowa City after a show at the U of Iowa- 1972 .I recall he drank Budweiser on ice at the time...
bartshore
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You forgot, The Letter with Joe Cocker.
Justin St. Denis
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Phil Spector built his early Gold Star hits--the ones sung by Darlene Love-- around a keyboard section: Leon Russell, Don Randi, and Al DeLory. Unmistakably, it's Leon's powerful thumping rhythms that form the core of those sides.
lanningpaul
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You purchased it at Karl Graf's Record Center, I presume, where I worked during my time at Warde, after they relocated from Fairfield and Main.
But I didn't buy my copy there; I traded it from Brian Fox. Great record. Saw Joe, Leon and the Mad Dogs play at the Capitol Theater.
Don't know if you know, but 3 Bridgeporters were in Mad Dogs & Englishmen: Ricky Alphonso in the wheelchair on trumpet and Milton Sloane and Freddie Scherbo on sax. All 3 were with Goodhill. Remember them? I roomed with their lead singer, Harryson Buster for a couple of years after I dropped out of UConn.
Lot of local boys made good...lemme know if you need to know.
FWIW.
As I sign off to my friends these days: "Keep the faith baby. If you ain't got any faith, keep the baby. If you don't have the baby, at least you got me."
Ken Shain
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Thank you for your words. They help.
I too am of an age ( 70) that remembers Leon from the beginning. I still own the vinyl of all his albums I remember seeing "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" in Boston and being blown away by Leon.
Having seen Leon twice in the past few years , each time he'd get to the end of his set and say "this is the point where we'd go off the stage and you'd applaud and we'd come back and play a few more tunes, but I'm too old and sore to do that so here ya go".
Mark Birnbach
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I moved to Nashville in 1986 as a country drummer from Floydada Tx. A few years later after I worked my way around the musicians circles of Music City I got a call from Leon's guitar player, Bob Britt. Bob asked me if I wanted to audition for Leon's band. I informed Bob that I was a country drummer and that maybe I wasn't the right choice. Bob encouraged me to come out and take my place in line.
I did and low and behold I got the gig. As it turned out it was a co headline tour with Edgar Winter as well. They traded off hits and deep cuts for 2 hours a night as we trekked across America. It was the greatest musical experience of my life. The best 2 years of my life. He was a kind and gentle soul with a witty sense of humor. Leon was timeless then, he's timeless now and will be forever.
Alex Torrez
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Thanks for your thoughtful remembrance of Leon Russell. The Master of Space and Time. Being from Oklahoma myself, Leon was a source of pride and inspiration for us. He was, indeed, a superstar, who left Oklahoma to become one of the Wrecking Crew, as well as a top-notch producer and writer. I worked in rock radio in Tulsa in the early-mid 70s and Leon’s presence at the Church Studio, along with his band and visiting artists like Freddy King, Willis Ramsey, J.J. Cale, Eric Clapton et al added such an energy to an otherwise sublime Oklahoma community. As you point out, his work with Joe Cocker was amazing, but his solo albums and performances were stellar. And you could not watch anyone but Leon when he was on stage. Pure magic. I have seen Leon many times in concert, including this March at SXSW, where he still gave 100 percent and rocked the house solidly. There won’t be another like Leon any time soon. RIP. Michael Elder
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Thanks for your perspective Bob. I needed that.
While we my have lost the man we haven’t lost the music he created. It lives on and on.
What a master he was.
Philip Mortlock
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Goddamn! He was bonafide. He delivered. He was an original. He made you believe. Thanks, Leon.
Judd Marcello
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You gave my sadness some focus today. Leon was a pillar of all that made our musical discovery so important back then. I'm 63 and I still shed a tear every time I hear A Song for You, as I did again today.
Your playlist is brilliant.
With gratitude.
Rob Braide
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How can you get through all this and not mention one of his greatest compositions: Superstar, which The Carpenters immortalized?
David Murphy
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A bad week for baby boomers
And to think that a couple of years ago I mentioned the song Superstar to a friend - who said,
"You mean the Karen Carpenter song?" To which I replied "Karen Carpenter recorded it? I didn't know that. I'm talking about the Rita Coolidge song."
And that says it all I guess about Delta Lady, Mad Dogs and Englishmen and Priscilla and Booker T.
Btw Leon would come to NYC and play BB Kings pretty much every year. And he was great, the show was great, his son was great. Leon could still sing and play though he did need help walking.
And even though you doubt love A Song for You its a gorgeous love song, recorded by 100 plus artists and a Grammy winner for Ray Charles.
I loved Leonard Cohen and I loved Leon Russell.
And I loved America before November 9, 2016
Regards
Amy Krakow
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I loved the 3 disc live album. I saw the ATL stop of that tour at ATL stadium. Incredible. I was delighted when I found it on CD but the quality was crap. I remastered it & thoroughly enjoy it. The live version of “Out In the Woods,” is the definitive version..
The documentary “A Poem Is a Naked Person” didn’t have enough Leon in it & not near enough concert footage. Of course the Bangladesh film is great.
Thank you for this beautiful tribute. I look forward to the “Mailbag” responses from people telling stories.
God bless you, too.
Roger Way
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Don't forget the Leon signed Freddie King and made some of the best electric blues albums ever recorded at Shelter, with Leon's unmistakable piano gracing the songs.
A few would just recognize "Goin' Down" as the opening music for Danny McBride's "Eastbound and Down" tv series.
My god Freddie was one of the best vocalists and blues guitarists ever - truly one of the 3 Kings (BB, Albert and Freddie) and Leon gave us perhaps his best recordings.
Todd Jagger
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Bob, Thanks for both of your touching eulogies on these artists we grew up and old with. I cried too.
Alan Oreman
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I to discovered Leon Russell from the film "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", but what really turned me on to
him was his Shelter blues production on three FREDDIE KING LPs.....you have heard the powerhouse GOING DOWN?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_ONyukSLqA It turned my life around and now I am a blues guitar player here in Austin,Texas, where I witnessed Freddie King in the 70's.
Still very powerful around these parts.
Oh and also Leon played piano on the original "Monster Mash" record....maybe millennials heard that one?
Thanks...Bill Jones guitarist for Kathy & the Kilowatts Austin, Texas
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So was I. (At the Capitol Theatre for Mad Dogs & Englishmen.)
He walked out on stage, in that hat, sat down at the piano and …holy shit.
I ended up working with Rita Coolidge when she did a few weeks at Cafe Carlyle.
Told her that show with Mad Dogs was, and still is, one of the great nights of my life.
Jane Hoffman
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Oh no. Was planning to see him at the regent at Christmas. Really sad news. A true legend and one of the greats.
Buffy Visick
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Thanks for this!!
Paul Mcadams
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My introduction to Leon Russell was through a boom box, drinking beer on a golf course in Hamden, CT, sometime in the mid-80s. Concert for Bangladesh. If ever there was a record that should be required listening far and wide instead of being locked away as an exclusive – not available on Spotify…If I am there at the start of Jumping Jack Flash from that record I am there 9 and half minutes later when it ends…and I stay for the remainder of Side Four, which is only the most beautiful version of George Harrison performing Here Comes the Sun…
Being the pre-internet era, it took some digging and backtracking to learn that Delta Lady wasn’t a Joe Cocker original or that Hummingbird wasn’t B.B. King’s. But the journey was the reward.
People keep talking about what a drag 2016 has been for our heroes but as I reminded a friend today – just look at who is left and over 70. I cannot even bring myself to say any of the names out loud but the next 3, 5, 10 years are going to be brutal for us and the legends of both music and film.
Lawrence Peryer
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Thanks for putting it so perfectly Bob, as you always do.
Port Chester, New York is my hometown and I not only saw the band Mad Dogs and Englishmen there but saw Leon there a couple of years later with the Shelter People. Still have one of Chuck Blackwell's sticks from it.
Thanks for making it easier. I don't have anyone in my life who was a huge fan, so it gives me great comfort to know someone remembers it all too...
Peace & Gratitude,
Scott Sobol
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I'm heartbroken. I had two tickets for the show last night in Houston....it had been cancelled til March. Sorry I missed my chance to see him perform. He will stay dear to me forever. One of my faves....Manhattan Island Serenade.
Best,
George L. Shea
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A very sad day. Masquerade. Lady blue. The song for you. Classics and lyrics and Melody.
Monsterously,
Noel Lee
The Head Monster
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What an impact Leon Russell had on our collective musical sensibilities.
Many didn't realize it at the time and perhaps not even now.
From the session work to the songcraft and to the recordings; he made a huge difference.
At the end of the Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour he and the band appeared at small pub/club venues around the UK and I remember well a night at a pub/club in Sudbury Town, a NWestern suburb of London, spellbound by Leon and the crew.
Thanks for reminding me how important Leon Russell was to our musical culture.
Michael
Michael Freeman
Blue Point Records & Coachouse Music
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I'm under 40 and have loved Mad Dogs and Englishmen, the self titled and the Shelter People albums for years. You bag on us who listen to vinyl but it's how I discovered him. When I share a Spotify track with like minded friends, they discover him, and his art lives on.
Billy Martin
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I've had this conversation with younger musicians more than once...the 2 or 3 year period when an Okie, with silver reflector aviators, silver hair and a top hat was God...or at least looked like it.
I had his first album when it was new...shoplifted it from a dime store in Muncie, Indiana... not proud of that.
My favorite songs of his have always been "Stranger In A Strange Land"and "Lost in The Woods".
But... my favorite album that he appears on is 1971's The Grease Band...they made it when Joe Cocker was out with Mad Dogs...
Leon appears under the name Phil Harmonius Plunk. The original came out on Leon's SHELTER label. You've probably heard it but your readers probably haven't... they'll thank you later. It's perfect.
Kevin Teare
PS
In terms huge fame and later obscurity only Donovan comes to mind...very different but very great.
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Well said
Mad Dogs and Englishmen at Santa Monica Civic; one of the greatest concerts I've ever been to.
David Berman
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He will always remain the master of space and time, the silver haired top hatted prince, and the ringmaster of that wonderful circus... I cried a river for you...
Tony Barnes
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thanks Bob, another great letter. and another letter we would've been really glad not to have read.
That first album was great. Great songs,great playing,great singing,great production. I saw Mad Dogs and Englishmen at Town Hall in Boston.
A fantabulous traveling circus of sound and sight,all those people up there on stage! It was like that Incredible String Band album cover,
some crazy hippie rock 'n roll review.I probably said it was a "mindblowing." Saw him one other time, Concert for Bangladesh.
He was so cool, musical and soulful. He sang, played bass and piano there and his star shone right along with Harrison's,Clapton's,Ringo's and Dylan's in the Garden.
You just knew THEY knew just how goddamn good he was.
thanks again.
owen
P.S. I meant to attach this clip. Crazy how apropos the lyrics are today,
Watch out now, take care, beware of greedy leaders,they take you where you should not go.
youtu.be/T3D68KWfZOo _____________________________________________
I saw one of Leon's last shows this summer. I've been a fan for years, seen my share of concerts in the 90s up to now. I don't know if it was the recognition from the Elton John record, finally getting a Rock Hall nod...but the show was so different. No sunglasses, no filter. He told stories...so interesting it was criminal that it had to end. The best part of the night was when he did a gospel number, just him and the piano. It was like the best part of that 1970 album came back in 2016. I was glad I was there and appreciated him as a legend in his own time. There are many other legends that are forgotten that should be getting their due right now... but like Leon, they won't get a Rolling Stone or Billboard mention until they are an obituary 'click bait' on twitter. Sad....if only for the amount of music left behind that will be criminally unheard. Thanks for giving Leon a nod.
Daryl B. Williams
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Thanks Bob you nailed it.
The "one and only's are leaving the stadium'. We were so lucky feel their magic.
Bill Kinzie
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I LOVED Leon right from the beginning. I saw him most recently a year or two ago at the Stephen talkhouse in amagansett and it was fine. He had a young (amazing) guitarist with him Chris Simmons. I'm not sure what's become of him.
Recently I have felt compelled to see everyone in concert (who's touring) left standing from my musical misspent youth. My biggest concern now is gregg allman. Canceling all of 2016 can't be a good sign.
It's sad that you write these "obits" But we must soldier on.
The music remains, for me, the constant in my existence and truly the fabric of my soul.
Thank you for easing the pain of loss.
Best
Roberta
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Another obit, but thank you, thank you, thank you.
Was in high school when my older brother comes in and plops Leon Russell and the Shelter People on the turntable.
Stranger in a strange land. The lyrics, his piano playing, his energy. Blown away.
His health hasn't been good for so long now, it's still a shock.
So glad he got some traction with Elton's help and RRHOF before he left.
Oh what a lucky man (EL&P) you are to have experienced one of the greatest rock shows in my wife's hometown.
Haha, if the shoe fits. Holding a ticket and the show goes free - cosmic story.
Last show I saw him at was in our little county of all places. A charity festival back in 2014.
Still delighting the crowd with his songs.
He is master of time and space tonight.
Regards,
G.Robey
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I attended George Harrison's Concert For Bangladesh at Madison Square. Leon was definitely one of the highlights, especially when he sang the second stanza of Beware of Darkness.
Joe Barbarotta
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Thank you for the Leon Russell eulogy. I am a Nixon era , baby-boomer, once drafted Vietnam vet, and I do remember well, when the music was very important both in the combat zone and once you got home on the "Freedom Bird".......Leon Russell's versatility as a composer, musician ,never failed to amaze me..........A good example was when the now world famous renowned Jazz singer/guitarist George Benson had his first chart busting hit , singing a tune called "Masquerade". I remember just being dumbfounded when I read the credits and found out that it had been written by Mr.Leon Russell. I said, "No way" ! This must be a typo ! ........I was in disbelief but at the same time proud and overjoyed that such a "Crazy Rocker" was capable of writing such a beautiful and mature ballad. His music will live on.......... Thank you Leon, Sir !
Lucas Edmunds
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Some of us who worked in Hollywood in the '60's knew Leon as the organizer of a group of studio musicians who would later be called "The Wrecking Crew." He was a recording producer as well as a fine musician and songwriter.
--Tycobrahe Tom
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Thanks for your beautiful note re: Leon. Here is a true story.
In 2013 when Leon closed my last season producing the River To River Festival in Lower Manhattan, we were talking on his tour bus, and I asked him how the change happened from the clean cut short-haired master arranger for The Wrecking Crew in the early 60s to the fabulously wizardly long-haired Master of Space and Time with Joe Cocker just a few short years later. He leaned in and said "I'll share the truth. I was working on sessions for Sinatra, and I'd been up all night working on my hand-written charts. I barely got to the studio on time in the morning with everything done, all sweaty unshaven and exhausted. A guy from Frank's staff comes up to me and says 'You're a mess. Is this how you present yourself to Mr. Sinatra?'. And I looked at this guy and just thought to myself, 'Are you judging me? Is that what you're doing?'. And I made a solemn vow to myself right then that I would never cut my hair ever again. And I didn't. "
Best,
Danny Kapilian
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Thanks for your piece on Leon. He was a force of nature. Like everyone else, I'm appalled at the number of music stars we've lost this year, but I met Leon Russell a time or three back when he was a session player in LA, and frankly, I'm amazed he made it this far. You know those dark rings under his eyes? He earned every crease and wrinkle in those bad boys. I know. I watched him earn one at Dan Tana's bar way back in the day. RIP Leon, aka Hank, aka Mad Dog.
Ray Staar
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Thanks for this sweet memorial tribute to
Someone who gave so much to so many.
Grateful
Started my show in 1976 every night in Abilene Texas KFMN With....
m.youtube.com/watch?v=CvFUHoaPUtE Blessings and have a lovely flight home Leon,
Christopher Dwight Harris
Top 10 Favorite Concerts
1974 Summer Concert at Nashville Speedway
Leon RUSSELL and the Gap Band
Poco
Waylon Jennings
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First Leonard .. now Leon .. wow! When I think of Leon Russel , I think of the hair and the top hat. Too cool! I think of the amazing raspy vocals that screamed cool. I think of mad Dogs and English men with the recently departed Joe Cocker. I think of another departed great.. George Harrison's concert for Bangladesh and Leon's soulful rendition of Jumping Jack Flash/Youngblood . Pure magic. I can close my eyes and be transported back to listening to that until I wore the grooves out. Orange album cover. The first box set. Dylan stole the show but Russel ...wow..RIP Leon..damn
Brian Lukow
President
All for one Media Corp
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Leon Russell was the king of cool.. Jack White and Dave Grohl only hope their body of work will be as important as Russell’s.. I was a fan from the get go.. Yes, I paid to see him and bought his records. My first memory of "Uncle Leon" was when he opened for The Who at Anaheim Stadium and he looked like a maniacal ghost when he started to wail through his repertoire. What the fuck was this? It was Leon Russell..
Kindest Cheers,
Jeff Laufer
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Bob My name is Jeff Trager. I am an old friend of Jeff Laufer. I worked at Blue Thumb Records with Bob Krasnow and Tommy LiPuma, when we signed Leon and created Shelter Records. I can tell you almost exactly how it came down if you are interested. Krasnow was the President and cut the deal with Denny Cordell, Leon's producer and of course Tommy LiPuma, a legendary producer in his own right, took the song to George Benson's and it became his biggest hit, actually convincing him to sing on a record for the first time. Its funny, the Shelter album really didn't sell that well, because we had independent distribution at the time. (This was before WEA, BMG, SONY, PGD and other major distributors) I think we might have only sold 45 or 50 thousand albums. "Roll Away the Stone" was the first single and I did get some top forty play on it, but not a lot. I got most of my play from Underground radio station all over the place. Leon was the hottest new name for months on that format.
Regards, Jeff Trager
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As a 4 score years on this earth I say thank you for such an insightful tribute to Leon Russell
When I lost patience waiting for it to become a CD I recorded it from my antique album onto my very first computer. Now it has survived over time being transfeedr to 4 new ones. The music remains the same and my satisfaction of playing it for myself once a month feels the same satisfaction as I did some 45 years back.
Thank you Bob for this
David Apps
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Another sad loss. Always loved his feet-together pose on ‘Mad Dogs’, his raspy voice, the cool and funky ‘Jumpin’ Jack Flash/Youngblood’ medley from ‘Concert for Bangladesh’ and ’Tightrope’ and ‘Out in the Woods' from ‘Carney’.
A towering artist who will be sorely missed.
Derek Adams
Red Box
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Memories of Leon always lead me to Larry Knechtel. Both of those geniuses playing piano on Phil Spector records - wall of sound indeed!!! Larry played bass on "Turn, Turn, Turn" too. Iconic parts on some of the greatest records ever made. Musicians vs programmers? I vote musicians!!!!
Thomas Whitlock
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Mad Dogs at the Cap.....my all time favorite live show. Thanks Bob.
Ray D'Ariano
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Really nice piece on Leon Russell Bob! Having grown up in Tulsa I have stories pouring out my ears. Leon was a God in Tulsa, and Shelter Studios was right up the street. Shelter delivered us those killer Freddie King records, and so much more. Leon played around town (eventually with the Gap Band as his rhythm section.) He was a center of a whole social circle, with my friends telling stories of going to Leon's house. Stories & friends that revolved around him was an every day occurrence. Leon not only sang and played piano, he testified! It's like he was delivering the message of the Gods as our own evangelical music preacher. When I saw George Harrison play in Tulsa, Leon was a special guest on stage and he was right at home playing with a Beatle.
Lavon Pagan
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Two more things about Leon. When George Harrison brought him out at the Concert for Bangla Desh he was at a level that was on par with Clapton, Dylan and the pantheon of rock icons that was the cutting edge of music at that time. If you listen to his performance of Youngblood/Jumpin' Jack Flash at that show, you get a sense of the excitement that he could generate.
The other is that he was a member of the Wrecking Crew, the legendary group of studio musicians that played on almost every American rock hit being produced at the time. They were the California equivalent of the Funk Brothers, who churned out classic after classic for Motown in Detroit.
Paul Burstyn
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Once again, in your recent piece on the passing of Leon Russell, you explained in your succinct manner what following music was all about in Leon’s era. He started as the man who turned our ears around when we thought it was the band name on the record. Wrong! The Wrecking Crew?! Leon who? This man had his finger on the pulse, but was happy to just play for the happiness, the experience and the comfortable life style. Then the 70s exploded and the key word was SHELTER. We sought it. The Stones screamed for it, the Beatles scattered and went underground for it, but it was Leon and his people that gave it to us. Roll away the stone, indeed. And his influence was everywhere….Cocker, Coolidge, Harrison, Jagger/Richards, the Band…..but mainly Elton John! The curtain has been pulled back by Elton himself many times, speaking of Leon’s influence on the John/Taupin songbook, but never pulled back as far as on Elvis Costello’s first episode of the now painfully absent Spectacle, when Sir Elton got up from his comfy chair, walked to the piano and exposed his loved and thievery for Leon Russell’s style. The interview made clear to me why Elton’s “17-11-70” album was the fiery true reflection of who Elton was at that time, a prodigy and disciple of Leon Russell. I had heard Elton’s praise of Leon before, but this Spectacle interview was revelatory in Elton’s deep kneeling at the throne of Leon Russell. Find the episode (1/1) and give it a look.
Yes, God bless Leon Russell and God bless a music age gone by.
Thanks for the words, Bob.
-Sean Anglum
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Leon Russell gone.
I was newly married, unemployed and trying to decide if I should try to make my living as a musician or get a real job. I was kind of wandering around one day, waiting for my wife to finish work, and I saw a new movie theater in a strip plaza. This was a novelty back in the early 70’s, so I pulled up for a closer look to see what was playing. "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", starring Joe Cocker. Well, I liked Joe, even though I thought his spastic stage movements were strange (my parents were revolted by both his movements and looks, so that pushed him up several notches in my book).
So I go into this move theater that was smaller than any I’d ever been in, and there are like maybe 5 other people inside. And I’m blown away!! What a sound! What music! What a heck of a lot of people on stage! It was the very embodiment of sixties hippie ethic, hang out with a bunch of friends, play music, none of that get a real job crap! (The term day job had not been invented yet).
That’s the tour that drummer extraordinaire Jim Gordon took so many drugs he went crazy, or his schizophrenia finally surfaced. I’m sure I was not the only one who noticed Rita Coolege with a black eye in some scenes.
It was the first time I ever heard of Leon Russell, who looked so cool with his top hat, and so in charge of everything. And he had a cool title, "Master of Time and Space"! None of that boring "Musical Director" crap in that era. I went out bought Mad Dogs and Englishmen right away, and Leon Russell’s albums after that. He lost me when he started going more country and I started raising a family and buying less music.
As you point out, we lived through a golden age of music. I saw that movie partly because the poster was so cool. And tour movies were pretty rare in those days. An era is passing.
---Dale Janus
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I LOVE Asylum Choir and in my senior yr. of HS (1072) I put the lyrics to “Ballard for a Soldier” in the school newspaper. Boy did I get in trouble for that! Last time Leon played in Vermont I went and, after the show, he autographed my Mad Dogs and Englishmen album and the page with the lyrics in the original newsletter.
I agree with you—a true rock icon!
Dawn McGinnis
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My god Leon taught the Englishman how a southern rocker could raise hell in George's Concert for Bangladesh. This is the Leon I will always cherish.
Mick Barlament
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Watch the performance of A Song For You at his R&R HOF induction ceremony, accompanied by John Mayer. I was verklempt.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT5aYRgmgyM Dick Wingate
_____________________________________________
It's just a shame how we're losing one rough-hewn gem after the next--those perfectly-imperfect visionaries who, as Bob Lefsetz would say, would never make it today; never win American Idol. The '60's still had some of the staged stiffness of previous decades, but the '70's gave full birth to the deconstructed superstar (who yes, had paid their dues)...Russell, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Paul Williams, Randy Newman, Harry Nilsson, Dr. John. They came at us from our radios at every angle, challenging what pop music was and meant, supported by an age when rock, folk, metal, shlock, funk, soul and even reggae all flowed from the same point on the radio dial.
I wish I had appreciated it more at the time, but there's no doubt about the electric bolt that went through me as a young teenager watching Leon destroy "Youngblood / Jumpin' Jack Flash" during the Concert for Bangladesh film. Cued by George Harrison's "A couple of numbers from Leon...", it was the highlight of the movie for me, and I listened to it over and over when I finally got the LP at Christmas.
It makes me very sad that younger ears no longer have that thrill of hearing an awkward voice and gangly appearance transformed by passion and breath-taking talent into something of depth, power and lasting beauty.
Ted Doyle
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My parents are boomers, and that triple live album was one of their faves - put it on the turntable and have a Leon Russell dance party all night. I was so excited when I could finally give it to them on CD. They used to tell us about the lady on stage with a rolling pin that danced (at least when they saw him) and it continues to be a fond (streamed) memory when I need a lift. You are 100% right, anyone w/o a boomer in their life won't have any idea, or care. I saw the delight he brought people with my own eyes, and for that i am grateful.
Paul Resta
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Sometimes you get it so right, it just makes me think all day
about a person like Leon who deserves so much more.
When I listen to the vocal on "A Song For You" I will
always know why his memory is to be revered and cherished
for all the remaining days of my life.
Thank's for the reminder. He deserved it.
Leigh Goldstein
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Helluva write-up, Bob. I'm under 40 (by a hair), but have all Leon's early 70s albums (on Vinyl, no less!). His time in the spotlight may have faded by the time I was coming of age in the early 90s, but his influence certainly hadn't waned. My first rock concert was the Black Crowes "High As The Moon Tour" in 1992, which had some unique staging, part of which included unveiling a massive ceiling-to-floor image of Leon at the piano as a backdrop during the extended version of "Remedy." No one on stage ever said his name. It was just assumed that you either knew who he was, or if you didn't (and I didn't) you would be inspired to find out. I was definitely inspired to find out. Even the greatest artists usually have a 5-year run where you can find the majority of their highest achievements. 1970-1975, Leon Russell put out some of the catchiest, weirdest, funkiest pop music in America. For a spell, he was basically the coolest person on this planet. RIP Space Captain.
Matthew Sterling
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Was on you tube and watched/listened to A Song for You, marveling at how a guy who cant really carry a note can sing the shit out of song. Sure enough when I looked up it was an hour later and I was saturated in Leon. RIP
Alan Fenton
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The last time I saw Leon was sitting in a folding chair on the lawn of The Ypsilanti Country Club in Michigan.
It was a terrific show and I hung around afterwards in hopes of getting some Master of Space and Time insight.
We sat outside his RV and talked about a few things when I asked about the Wedding Album he did with Mary, a favorite of mine, as it had yet to come out on CD.
"Yeah, well that wedding thing didn't stick and she got that one in the divorce. I don't really know what her plans are, and we're not getting back together any time soon, so I couldn't say."
Such an amazing talent, such a crazy cool guy.
Thinking about getting back to the island.....
drgmatic
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Re: Leon Russell
When I am asked about the greatest concert I have ever been to. I say this:
Well....These are some of my greatest memories
10th row center Wilson Pickett, Mitch Ryder, The Young Rascals, Cream, The Who at Murray the K's Easter shows
RKO Theater Easter Sunday 1967
I was in the front row for Zep's first show at the Fillmore East January 28th 1969
I was 10th row center for Hendrix New Years Eve 1969/70 Band of Gypsy's Fillmore East
I was first row balcony for the Live recording of the Band's Rock of Ages concert New Years Eve 71/72 at the academy of Music, NYC
I was at MSG for all three Stones 1969 shows. That includes the riot at the November 28th matinee where I wound up being crowd surfed into the front row!
Stones MSG July 1972
The Dead in NYC with Pigpen 26 times from 69-72 (pick among almost all)
Bowie at Carnegie Hall September 28th 1972
Pink Floyd's The Wall, 2 shows at Nassau Coliseum, Feb 27 & 28 1980
Roy Orbison at the Beacon Theater, NYC Feb 26th 1988
Cat Stevens last month ago in NYC
All great. All transformative.
But the most unexpected and among my most cherished of the kind of feelings that makes you want to proclaim that the power of rock is the greatest feeling of all was Leon Russell at the Fillmore East March 28th 1970.
I walked out of the Fillmore that night and said to myself
"That may have been the single greatest rock concert I have ever seen so far!"
It felt like a gospel hour. It bordered on the religious. The players were amazing and Leon's control of the chaos by the sheer force of his own performance, when it seemed, everyone else was playing the best show of their collective lives, was ...well...
MAJESTIC.
I have used that phrase only twice to describe a live rock experience.
Leon was the first time, The Stones 1972 at MSG the second.
Great company.
Leon was one of the greatest rockers of all time.
A fucking legend!
Jay Jay French
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I was one of those who dove deep and read the album credits, too…and I started early. One of the first albums I remember listening to in full (I was about 8-9 years old) was Gary Lewis & The Playboys’ Greatest Hits. My older brother had bought it in the cut-out bin and brought it home from college one weekend in late ‘69.
I saw "This Diamond Ring" was on it, and I vividly remembered having been about 5 years old and that being one of my favorite songs on the radio atthe time. Though I was a wee lad, I was fully engaged with the radio. I remember JFK, the Beatles on Sullivan, the first Brit invasion, the first Supremes hits, etc.
I have also been playing the piano by ear ever since I could sit upright on the stool. I would listen to the radio and run to our beat-up old "Upright Grand" to feel around and then pound out whatever I'd heard that I liked. Thus, I always wanted to know who the piano player was on any record. When I saw Leon Russell’s name on that Gary Lewis album, it stuck with me.
The first thing by Leon Russell to really hit me full-on in the face,
though, was his absolutely incendiary performance of "Jumpin’ Jack Flash" and "Youngblood" on the Concert For Bangladesh album. First heard it on late-night FM..a weak station out of San Antonio (120 miles away) that only came in after midnight.
I remember thinking "Really? This was the same guy that played on the squeaky-clean 'This Diamond Ring' and co-wrote 'Count Me In’, and produced Gary Lewis’s hits? Those bastions of clean-cut, happy,
oh-so-far-removed-from-raw-sexuality Beach-Boysian tunefullness? Really?"
That was late ’71, so I would’ve been 12. Talk about "an awakening"! Even though some at the time decried it, to me at that tender age, Leon’s performance left the rest of the record in the dirt! When a friend of mine’s older brother bought the Bangladesh set, I asked him if I could borrow it. He reluctantly agreed, and I played Leon’s cut over and over for weeks on end until he demanded his album back. Finally broke down, saved up and bought my own copy.
Leon’s full-bore showmanship (as well as the impossibly sexy girl backup singers!) on the Bangladesh box set blew me away. It was the further clarion call of a burgeoning (and confused) sense of sexuality that had first reared its head in the summer of 1970, upon hearing "All Right Now" by Free, Zep’s "Whole Lotta Love", and "Venus" by Shocking Blue.
When Leon’s “Jumpin’ Jack Flash/Youngblood” entered my young consciousness, it led me to dive into the rest of what he had to offer,
both previously and the albums he released over the next few years. Now, as 2016 continues its bloody harvest of the heroes of my youth, all I can do is put on an album and say "RIP, master performer, showman, keyboard-pounder and producer." I’m gonna haul out my copy of Concert for Bangladesh tonight.
Thanks for keepin' on keepin' on, Bob. This is coming to you from nobody special...just another life-long musical Seeker who knows exactly what you mean. I may be on the downward slide toward 60 now, but I still remember that thrill: It WAS like opening a Dead Sea Scroll to hear a new song on the radio or listen to a new album in its entirety for the first time!
Byron Beyer
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I dread reading you're emails now for fear of who's next!
Richard Griffiths
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