Leon Russell dead at 74

[Ridgerunner]

It seems I am just a neophyte compared to you...

I became a dedicated fan back when "Hank Wilson's Back" was released in 1973...

I don't know if you were aware of the other OP that namvet had posted... Here is a link...
Rocker Leon Russell dies in Nashville at 74

I to thought it strange that http://www.usmessageboard.com/members/25451/ never posted...

 

[Pogo]

It seems I am just a neophyte compared to you...

I became a dedicated fan back when "Hank Wilson's Back" was released in 1973...

I don't know if you were aware of the other OP that namvet had posted... Here is a link...
Rocker Leon Russell dies in Nashville at 74

I to thought it strange that http://www.usmessageboard.com/members/25451/ never posted...

Hank Wilson was great, loved that album. He made a second one too.

I know TD's a fan. She either didn't see this thread or is too broke up to post. Thanks for the link to the other one, maybe we should get 'em merged.

 

[Pogo]

Here's a brief CV for the profound impact Leon Russell had on American music, all before he became Joe Cocker's musical director and launched his solo recording stuff, which would be around 1968-70 (thanks to 45cat for info)

1964:

• The Crickets - (They Call Her) La Bamba / All Over You (Liberty) - Arranger
• Gary Lewis And The Playboys - This Diamond Ring / Hard To Find (Liberty) - Arranger

1965:

• Bobby Vee - Cross My Heart / This Is The End (Liberty) - Arranger
• Gary Lewis And The Playboys - Count Me In / Little Miss Go-Go (Liberty) - Arranger/Composer
• Gary Lewis/Playboys - Save Your Heart For Me / Without A Word Of Warning (Liberty) - Arranger/Composer
• Gary Lewis /Playboys - Everybody Loves A Clown / Time Stands Still (Liberty) -Arranger/Composer
• Joe And Eddie - Walkin' Down The Line / It Ain't Me Babe (GNP Crescendo) - Arranger
• Leon Russell - Everybody's Talking 'Bout The Young / It's Alright With Me (Dot) - Artist/Composer/Producer
• Tommy Sands - The Statue / Little Rosita (Liberty) - Producer/Arranger
• Gary Lewis/Playboys - She's Just My Style / IWon't Make That Mistake Again (Liberty) - Arranger/Composer

1966:

• The Spotlights - Batman And Robin / Dayflower (Smash) - Composer/Producer
• Gary Lewis/Playboys - Sure Gonna' Miss Her / I Don't Wanna Say Goodnight (Liberty) - Arranger
• Brian Hyland - 3000 Miles / Sometimes They Do, Sometimes They Don't (Philips) - Arranger/Producer
• Del Shannon - The Big Hurt / I Got It Bad (Liberty) - Producer/Arranger
• Gary Lewis And The Playboys - Green Grass / I Can Read Between The Lines (Liberty) - Arranger
• Jimmy Boyd - I Would Never Do That / Lazy Me (Imperial) - Producer/Arranger/Composer
• Del Shannon - Show Me / Never Thought I Could (Liberty) - Producer/Arranger
• Brian Hyland - The Joker Went Wild / I Can Hear The Rain (Philips) - Composer/Arranger
• The Shindogs - Who Do You Think You Are / Yes I'm Going Home (Viva) - Producer
• Gary Lewis & The Playboys - My Heart's Symphony / Tina (Liberty) - Producer/Arranger
• The Astronauts - Main Street / In My Car (RCA Victor) - Producer
• Gary Lewis/Playboys - Paint Me A Picture / Looking For The Stars (Liberty) - Arranger/Composer
• The Robbs - Next Time You See Me / I Don't Feel Alone (Mercury) - Producer
• Gary Lewis/Playboys - Where Will The Words Come From / May The Best Man Win (Liberty) - Arranger
• Gene Clark - Echoes / I Found You (Liberty) - Arranger
• James Darren - All / Misty Morning Eyes (Warner Bros) - Arranger
• The Pipsqueeks - Santa's Little Helpers / Santa's Magic Flute (Warner Bros) - Arranger

1967

• Harpers Bizarre - 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) / Lost My Love Today (Warner Bros) - Arranger
• Gary Lewis/Playboys - The Loser / Ice Melts In The Sun (Liberty) - Composer
• The T-Bones- The Proper Thing To Do / Tee Hee Hee (Liberty) - Arranger
• The Everly Brothers - She Never Smiles Anymore / The Devil's Child (Warner Bros) - Arranger
• Le Cirque - Land Of Oz / I'll Be Thinking Of You (Buddah) - Composer/Producer
• Glen Campbell By The Time I Get To Phoenix / You've Still Got A Place In My Heart (Capitol) - Arranger
• Wayne Newton Love Of The Common People / It's Still Loving You (Capitol) - Arranger

1968

• Tom Northcott - 1941 / Other Times (Warner Bros) - Producer/Arranger
• The Parade - The Radio Song / I Can See Love (A&M) - Arranger
• Don Preston And The South - City Lights / I Found Love (A&M) - Producer/Arranger
• Dorothy Morrison All God's Children Got Soul / Put A Little Love In Your Heart (Elektra) - Producer
• Joe Cocker - Delta Lady (Composer/Arranger)... She Came In Through the Bathroom Window (Producer/Arranger).... The Letter (Producer/Arranger)

---- and that's not even counting his credits as a keyboard player on many if not most of those tracks, or publishing through Skyhill, or future composer credits including Superstar for the Carpenters and This Masquerade for George Benson .... so with this we have but scratched the surface here

--- and I saved this one as an example of the infectious gospel-styled energy that was his trademark:

​

Lucy Hamilton

That list above isn't even complete, and I should have realized, I have a single from this record right here next to me:

Daughters of Albion (1968, Fontana) - Producer,/Arranger/Publisher (Skyhill)

 

[Ridgerunner]

I know TD's a fan. She either didn't see this thread or is too broke up to post. Thanks for the link to the other one, maybe we should get 'em merged.

Agree whole heartedly regarding the merge of the threads... Would love to hear from TD though...

 

[Pogo]

I know TD's a fan. She either didn't see this thread or is too broke up to post. Thanks for the link to the other one, maybe we should get 'em merged.

Agree whole heartedly regarding the merge of the threads... Would love to hear from TD though...

Eh - yanno what, I just traipsed over there and there's not much in it, excepting that marvelous first-person story from Indianapolis. I posted a pic of Sugaree over there for ya.

 

[Staidhup]

Sad news, great performer. Shit this getting old isn't what they said it would be.

 

[Pogo]

>> Russell credits his artistic development to a birth injury that damaged his upper vertebrae and left him slightly paralyzed on the right side of his body. “It gave me a very strong sense of duality,” he says. “my left side was much stronger than my right side --- it wasn't as smart... but it gave me an outlook into this plane that we live on and if I hadn’t had that, I’d probably be selling cars in Paris, Texas.... I always had to decide what I was going to play and the decide if I could play it, I had to do all that in front of the actual real time that I was actually playing” <<
​

--- From a 2015 interview, sound file at the link - concerning a documentary about Leon made 42 years ago but only released 2015

​

 

[Ridgerunner]

Pogo again sir, plenty mahalo's

 

[Pogo]

Pogo again sir, plenty mahalo's

Aloha

 

[Ridgerunner]

I seen J.J. Cale in 1977 in Amsterdam in an old church called the paradiso club...

JJ Cale & Leon Russell at the Paradise Studios, LA 1979

 

[Ridgerunner]

For those Loyal Leon Lifers...

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

---That clip is from the DVD I produced, which premiered on the big screen about a week ago on the first anniversary of his passing.
Leon Russell monument fund-raiser includes film, music and more

I'm taking the film on the road and screening it at film festivals and art house theaters around the country but
you can also buy the DVD, the link is in the article.

The Master of Space and Time is definitely missed quite a bit.

 

[Checkerboard Strangler]

For those Loyal Leon Lifers...



View attachment 102444

Are you one of my Leon Lifer buddies? WOW!
It is really special to know there's another Lifer here!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Yes CBS I have been a Loyal Leon Listener since fluff was a kitten...

 

[depotoo]

 

[depotoo]

 

[S.J.]

Leon was a good writer and composer but his songs sounded better when other singers covered them. That's not a bad thing though. Same is true with Dylan, Cohen, Tom Waits, etc. Creating the music is what counts.

That's a great song. But why did Leon leave out the piano solo? That's the best part of the song IMO.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Leon was a good writer and composer but his songs sounded better when other singers covered them. That's not a bad thing though. Same is true with Dylan, Cohen, Tom Waits, etc. Creating the music is what counts.

Folks you mentioned plus Kristofferson, Cash, Nelson, Cocker, Rod Stewart and the list goes on forever are definitely not classically trained vocal musicians... Successful musicians write with their heart and experiences that they live... I have a 16 year old nephew who is very talented... He plays really well and covers songs like most 16 year olds... He wants to write and tries so hard to put together meaningful songs... He gets so frustrated... I have tried to explain that he has to have his heart broken and he has to break a couple of hearts to experience good song writing skills. I know his parents get pissed at me but I told him he needs to wake up in a ditch some Sunday morning with a atrocious hangover... Music come from life and living it... Most of the great song writers have been rode hard and put up wet one to many times...
God Bless the Song Writers...

 

[S.J.]

Leon was a good writer and composer but his songs sounded better when other singers covered them. That's not a bad thing though. Same is true with Dylan, Cohen, Tom Waits, etc. Creating the music is what counts.

Folks you mentioned plus Kristofferson, Cash, Nelson, Cocker, Rod Stewart and the list goes on forever are definitely not classically trained vocal musicians... Successful musicians write with their heart and experiences that they live... I have a 16 year old nephew who is very talented... He plays really well and covers songs like most 16 year olds... He wants to write and tries so hard to put together meaningful songs... He gets so frustrated... I have tried to explain that he has to have his heart broken and he has to break a couple of hearts to experience good song writing skills. I know his parents get pissed at me but I told him he needs to wake up in a ditch some Sunday morning with a atrocious hangover... Music come from life and living it... Most of the great song writers have been rode hard and put up wet one to many times...
God Bless the Song Writers...

Yeah, you can't stir somebody else's soul until yours has been stirred. The music comes from inside too, as well as the lyrics. My son was like your nephew a few years ago. He quit for a couple of years but now he's back in the game. Excellent guitar player.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don't know what is wrong with me... I get emotionally involved with a great tune and some spectacular lyrics... Songs that I connect with will bring me to tears quicker than freight train passes a tramp... I have lost it a couple times this year with the passing of some musicians... Best of luck to your Son...