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Biography
Russell began learning piano at the young age of three, quickly displaying talent from an early age. He lied about his age at 14 in order to gain a gig at a Tulsa, US nightclub, during which he played with Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks before touring alongside Jerry lee Lewis. Resettling in Los Angeles, US, Russell established himself as a session musician, working with everyone from Forsey Burnette, Glen Campbell, The Byrds, Phil Spector and The Rolling Stones. Russell was responsible for arranging classic hits including, Ike & Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High,” the Byrds “Mr Tambourine Man” and Herb Alpert’s “A Taste of Honey.”
In 1967, he built his own studio, before recording “Look Inside the Asylum Choir, a collaborative album with Marc Benno. Russell then released his first, self-titled solo album in 1971, as well as working on sessions for B.B King, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan. A tour with the Rolling Stones prompted Russell to focus more seriously on his solo career, which would pay dividends, scoring a hit single with 1972’s “Carney” and later “Tight Rope.”
In the late 70s/80s, Russell continued to work as a session musician, helping to secure George Benson a Grammy Award for “Masquerade’ In 1976, as well as collaborating with his wife, Mary McCreary, on their two albums, “The Wedding Album” and “Make Love to the Music.” A solo release, “Americana” and a collaborative album with Wille Nelson, “Willie & Leon” arrived in 1979, with Russell increasingly moving towards a country/bluegrass sound, forming the band “the New Grass Revival,” who began to tour widely. Russell also recorded several albums in tribute to Hank Williams, received with moderate success, alongside a steady stream of solo releases.
In 2010, a collaboration with Elton John, on “The Union,” helped to reignite Russell’s career, gaining widespread positive acclaim and commercial success. Russell then ventured back on the road before returning to the studio to record his first solo album in several years, “Life Journey” in 2014.
Live reviews
When Leon Russell steps on the stage with his long white hair and beard, his black sunglasses, and his cowboy hat placed neatly on his head you know that you are about to witness an interesting performance. Leon Russell is one of the best renowned pianists in his genre and to see him play his baby grand piano with flames painted all over it is nothing short of amazing.
His performances are always captivating and he includes various styles of music into his performance. He is well regarded as helping form a style of music called the Tulsa Sound, which includes elements of country, rockabilly, rock and roll, and blues. Leon Russell tours with a backing band to help fill out his sound consisting of members on the electric guitar, bass, and drums. His performance is always diverse. He might be playing a fast paced rock song at one moment and then at the next moment he might switch to a slower ballad.
Leon Russell’s performance is also always engaging due to the vast amount of hits he performs live. He will perform some of his original songs such as “Prince of Peace” and then he will perform cover songs that are huge hits like “Wild Horses” and “Great Balls of Fire”. Leon Russell has proven himself to be a talented musician not only by his live performances, but also by the amount of songs he has performed on as a session musician. He has performed with many talented musicians ranging from Elton John, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and Frank Sinatra. He has also received critical success and was just recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. To see Leon Russell play his soulful and inspired music on his piano is a true treat to the ears, and to hear his over exaggerated southern voice resonate through his songs adds a unique flavor to his performance that defines his originality.
wjmcc
In the modern world of music its pretty strange to think you could forge a career from being a session musician yet this is exactly how Oklahoma singer/songwriter Leon Russell made his name and money in the 60s and 70s. The man had untapped musical talent though and fortunately headed to the studio to record his own solo material and since then has enjoyed a large following all on his own merits.
Despite now being 73 years old, Leon seems to enjoy nothing more than getting up onstage with a group of musicians, sitting behind the piano and playing songs that the crowds love so much. He looks totally content and speaks with such joy between the music that you really cannot imagine him settling into a retirement anytime soon. His country soul comes out during covers of 'A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall' by Bob Dylan whilst he cites 'Wild Horses' by Rolling Stones as one of his favourite songs of all time. It is a wonderful evening of live music with a man who has had one of the most interesting careers in the business.
sean-ward
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