Leon Russell & Friends - The Master Of Space And Time, Live! (1971)

Bootleg
Leon Russell is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as a pianist.

In 1971 Leon Russell performed at KCET studios in Los Angeles, a performance which was broadcast on TV (supposedly it was the first ever stereo rock & roll broadcast). Joining him was a band consisting of Joey Cooper (guitar), Don Preston (guitar), John Gallie (organ), Jim Horn (sax), Carl Radle (bass) and Chuck Blackwell (drums). This same band (minus Jim Horn) also backed him for his 1973 Leon Live album. Backing vocals came from Claudia Lennear and Kathi McDonald, and there were also guest spots from Don Nix and old bluesman Furry Lewis.

The set consisted of songs from Russell's first two albums, plus some interesting covers - Bob Dylan's "Girl From The North Country" (which he had been performing as a duet with Joe Cocker the year before), Jimmy Reed's "Big Boss Man", an instrumental reading of Van Morrison's "Caravan", the traditional gospel tune "Will The Circle Be Unbroken" and The Rolling Stones' "Honky Tonk Women". Nix and Lewis also got to sing a song of their own each.

Recordings of this concert broadcast have seen much bootlegging activity over the years, as they make for an excellent live album. Unfortunately the sound quality is not particularly great, but its nevertheless a very interesting listen.

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Leon Russell - Bonus tracks (1970-1984)

Compilation
Leon Russell is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as a virtuoso pianist.

The re-issues of various Leon Russell albums in recent years have brought with them quite a number of bonus tracks. This compilation brings together bonus material from the reiusses of Leon Russell, Leon Russell & The Shelter People, Hank Wilson’s Back and Stop All That Jazz. The Eric of “Jamming With Eric”, an outtake from his debut album, is Eric Clapton, who Russell knew through both of them having played with Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett (both their debut solo albums of 1970 featured backing from the Bramletts and their crew). There are also three fantastic Bob Dylan covers, outtakes from his second album, plus a brief verse of Dylan’s “Masters Of War” set to the tune of “The Star-Spangled Banner”. Also has a country-styled cover of The Rolling Stones “Wild Horses”, and a duet of “Wabash Cannonball” with Willie Nelson (which was actually a non-album single they released in 1984, but was put on the reissue of Stop All That Jazz).

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Leon Russell - Will O' The Wisp (1975)

Leon Russell is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as a virtuoso pianist.

Russell's seventh album proved to be one of his best. Will O' The Wisp is a diverse record, showcasing many sides of his sound, with tender ballads, funky grooves and rollicking piano. It seems to be very much an experimental studio album, much like Carney. Among the backing musicians are many of Russell's friends, incuding JJ Cale (guitar), Jim Keltner (drums), Steve Cropper (guitar), Carl Radle (bass), Reverend Patrick Henderson (keyboards & percussion), Karl Himmel (drums), Don Preston (guitar), Donald Dunn (bass), Al Jackson Jr (drums) and Jim Horn (sax). Russell himself plays piano, organ, clavinet, synthesizer, guitar, bass and percussion. Many of the songs have an eerie psychedelic vibe, helped by some mind-frying synthesizers in places. Of particular note is "Little Hideaway", which is a dark, breath-taking masterpiece, and "Laying Right Here In Heaven", a duet with soon-to-be-wife Mary McCreary.

One song from the album, "Lady Blue", was released as a single and became a hit, getting to #14 on the charts. The album itself got to #30, making it one of his most successful.

Stop All That Jazz (1974) <|> Wedding Album (1976)
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Leon Russell - Stop All That Jazz (1974)

Leon Russell is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as a virtuoso pianist.

Stop All That Jazz was Leon Russell's sixth solo album, and was another stylistic departure for him, and indeed quite an unusual record by itself. It's a diverse album, and as the title suggest, many of the songs play around with jazz themes and ideas. But at the same time there are synthesizers, programmed drum machines, and more.... In short, it's an experimental album, put together with Russell's unique eccentricities, making it strange and hard to categorize comfortably. And sitting in the midst of it all is a bizarre, psychedelic arrangement of Bob Dylan's "The Ballad Of Hollis Brown", and an upbeat, countryish cover of Tim Hardin's "If I Were A Carpenter". The album reached #34 on the charts.

Hank Wilson's Back (1973) <|> Will O' The Wisp (1975)
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Leon Russell - Hank Wilson's Back (1973)

Leon Russell is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as a virtuoso pianist.

After four albums and a long career as a sideman which had established him as a much-respected songwriter, bandleader and rock & roll pianist extraordinaire, Russell took an abrupt artistic turn. His fifth album was released under the pseudonym of Hank Wilson, and represented his first excursion into country music. It wasn't anything new or revolutionary, but rather his tribute to one of his favourite genres, made up as it was of almost all covers of classic country songs (by the likes of Hank Williams, Terry Fell, Bill Monroe, etc) and recorded with a host of top Nashville session musicians. There was always a little bit of country in Russell's sound, and this album showed that he was a more than capable of taking on the genre himself. It proved to be a hit, reaching #28 on the pop charts and #15 on the country charts.

Leon Live (1973) <|> Stop All That Jazz (1974)
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Leon Russell - Leon Live (1973)

Leon Russell is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as a virtuoso pianist.

After his Carney album reached #2 on the charts in 1972, Leon Russell was riding high on new-found fame and recognition. This was also strengthened by his band-leader role on Joe Cocker's 1970 Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour, and his stunning performance at the Concert For Bangladesh in 1971. Years of working in the studio trenches had begun to pay off, and when he played live he turned out to be a top concert draw. His next album was a live one, taken from a concert in Long Beach in August 1972.
Leon Live demonstrates the pure power of Russell in full-on rock mode. A triple-LP set, it's packed with turbo-charged high energy rock, powered along by his rock & roll piano. To those who had only heard him on Carney, it must have been a bit of a shock. Because when Russell wants to rock he goes all-out, and the pace never lets up throughout all 100+ minutes. It features songs from across his first three albums, all played harder and faster than the original versions. It also features several medleys, within which can be found "Amazing Grace", the Rolling Stones' "Jumping Jack Flash", Bob Dylan's "The Mighty Quinn", The Coasters' "Idol With The Golden Head" and "Young Blood". Also has a cover of Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue".
For a character as full-on as Russell, a big powerful band is needed, and Leon Live features just that. Alongside Russell himself (lead vocals/piano) are Reverend Patrick Henderson (piano/vocals), Joey Cooper (guitar), Don Preston (guitar/vocals), John Gallie (organ), Carl Radle (bass), Ambrose Campbell (percussion), Chuck Blackwell (drums), Phyllis Lindsey (vocals) and several female backing singers. Yes, that's two pianos. Patrick Henderson gets to sing a few numbers himself, and adds to the gospel flavour. Preston and Lindsey both sing lead on a song each as well. Russell had earlier worked with Preston, Radle and Blackwell on Mad Dogs & Englishmen.
The result is a stunning gospel-fuelled rock & roll extravaganza, with Russell as the piano-playing master of ceremonies. Many of the songs stretch out over ten minutes as he preaches and rambles. It's an intense experience, which will leave you breathless by the end. Judging by this album, it must have been one hell of a concert to be at.

As it's such a long record, the download is divided into two albums (Leon Live Disc 1 and Leon Live Disc 2).

Carney (1972) <|> Hank Wilson's Back (1973)
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Leon Russell - Carney (1972)

Leon Russell is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as a virtuoso pianist.

After his first two rock-orientated records, Leon Russell's third album was a bit of a change of direction, going into more mellow and introspective territories. Whilst previously he had played as the frontman of a rock & roll band, Carney saw him develop as a singer-songwriter. It is also very much a product of the studio, with Russell producing the record and playing most of the instruments himself (though he is helped out by drummers Jim Keltner and Chuck Blackwell, bassist Carl Radle and guitarists Don Preston and Joey Cooper). It's full of interesting experiments in arrangements, instrumentation and production. In comparison to his first albums, which had a very 'live' band feel, Carney sounds more like Russell experimenting by himself in his studio. The experimentation reaches its peak with the bizarre, psychedelic soundscape "Acid Annapolis". The circus-themed "Tight Rope" reached #11 on the charts, and subsequently the album reached #2, giving him the biggest hit of his career. "This Masquerade" has been covered by lots of other artists, most notably George Benson, who took it to the top ten, and won a Grammy for his version of it in 1977.

Leon Russell & The Shelter People (1971) <|> Leon Live (1973)
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Leon Russell - Leon Russell & The Shelter People (1971)

Leon Russell is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as a virtuoso pianist.

Leon Rusell's second album continued where his first left off, taking the same high-energy piano-driven rock sound and streamlining it into what became recognised as Russell's own distinctive sound. Alongside eight brilliant original songs were two Bob Dylan songs and a cover of George Harrison's "Beware Of Darkness", all re-cast in inventive new arrangements. It's often considered his best album, and was his first to go Gold. Instrumental backing came from a host of highly regarded session musicians, including bassist Carl Radle, guitarist Jesse Davis and drummer Jim Keltner. Two songs also featured the Muscle Shoals Swampers as his backing group (bassist David Hood, drummer Roger Hawkins, guitarist Jimmy Johnson and organist Barry Beckett).

Leon Russell (1970) <|> Carney (1972)
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Leon Russell - Leon Russell (1970)

Leon Russell is an American singer, songwriter and musician, best known as a virtuoso pianist.

Leon Russell began playing music in his home city of Tulsa, Oklahoma at the age of 14, before he made the move to L.A. Here he became a member of famed studio group 'The Wrecking Crew', working with producer Phil Spector and playing on countless hit records throughout the 60s. At the end of the decade he went on to work with Delaney & Bonnie Bramlett both in the studio and on stage, before organising and leading the band for Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour. His first song writing success came with “Delta Lady”, which gave Cocker a top ten hit in the UK. With this impressive resume already to his name, he was hot news when his own debut album was released in 1970. Leon Russell remains one of his best to this day, a fusion of high-octane rock, blues and gospel, dominated throughout by his distinctive southern drawl and rollicking piano. Among the other musicians that appeared alongside him were the Bramletts, Joe Cocker, Jim Gordon, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts, and many more...
It included what are usually considered his two greatest songs, his own version of “Delta Lady” (which arguably puts Cocker’s version to shame), and the tender ballad “A Song For You”, which itself has been covered by countless other artists. The divine "Hummingbird" was also recorded by BB King.

|> Leon Russell & The Shelter People (1971)
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