Previous posts traced some of the highlights of Leon Russell's career, and today we'll say goodbye to a true pioneer of Americana – in fact, that's the name of an album he released in 1978.
Up until the mid 70s he had enjoyed commercial success and a series of collaborations with major artists such as Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, & Bob Dylan. From 1971 through 1975 he released four gold albums. In 1975 he married his backup singer who became his musical partner. Afterwards his musical approach changed and his popularity waned.
In 1979 there was one final burst of commercial success when he partnered with the Outlaw country legend Willie Nelson. They recorded a country album,“One for the Road,” in 1979. That and their tour and were each great successes – the album went gold and reached #3 on the country charts, and #25 on the pop charts. The single, “Heartbreak Hotel” went to #1 on the country charts.
Here's a great clip from the tour of Willie and Leon doing “One for the Road.”
Throughout the 80s, 90s, and 00s Leon Russell's career was a mere shadow of what it had been. This changed dramatically in 2010 with the release of “The Union” a duo project with Elton John. Produced by the legendary T-Bone Burnett, this album went to #3 in the pop charts and reintroduced Leon to the world and a new generation of fans.
Here is Elton John inducting Leon Russell into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, this is a wonderful moment in time that will warm your heart.
I mentioned in a previous post that Leon was a member of the Wrecking Crew, a loose group of the top session players in Los Angeles in the 60s and 70s.
Here's a fun clip from a documentary film about them that deals with Leon Russell. By the way, I generally only interview musicians, but when this film came out I made an exception and interviewed the director of this film.
To close out, here is a nice clip of the Leon Russell being honored, along with some of the surviving members of his band from the Mad Dogs and Englishmen Tour, by Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi. I recall when I interviewed Derek Trucks in 2009 he mentioned that Mad Dogs and Englishmen had influenced him and Susan in how they would form their band. This clip is from 2015, about a year before Leon Russell passed on, that's him on piano, and Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes on vocals with Susan.
