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Post by Jim Boylston on Jan 14, 2010 12:45:24 GMT -5
I just received an email from a friend informing me that Leon Russell underwent brain surgery this week. He's still in recovery, but there's no official word on his present condition. His upcoming concert calendar has been canceled and a scheduled album with Leon and Elton John, to be produced by T Bone Burnett, has been put on hold. Leon has had a lot of health problems in recent years, and suffers from MS. Let's all hope for a speedy recovery. Leon's contributions to popular music are immeasurable. Jim
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Post by TRK on Jan 14, 2010 13:10:44 GMT -5
I heard that a few days ago. Hoping he can recover. When I was a kid, I wore out the grooves of his first several albums. NOBODY else on the planet has a singing voice like his.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Jan 14, 2010 15:29:21 GMT -5
I think the first time I saw or heard him was on the Bangla Desh benefit concert; have a lot of his discs and never tire of them; what a great voice. I thought he really stood out at the Bangla Desh thing with his "Jumpin' Jack Flash"/"Youngblood" medley. I'm sorry to hear this and I hope he pulls through and does those projects. I found this website for him: www.leonrussellrecords.com/memory_lane.shtmlThat's some list of people he's performed with! It's a virtualy Who's Who of music. Allen
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Post by Allen Wiener on Jan 15, 2010 0:06:34 GMT -5
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Post by marklemon on Jan 15, 2010 1:05:30 GMT -5
Thanks Jim for posting that. I had not heard this news....Like a lot of you guys, I grew up on ol' Leon. Man, what a one of a kind voice....when mad Dogs and Englishmen hit the theaters in 1970, I saw that thing I know 5 times. Got the 8-track and wore it out, and like trk, wore out the vinyl as well....I can still remember almost every word and note of that concert performance. In fact, about a month ago, I bought the VHS version of that performance (as the cd's picture quality is notoriously poor). By the way, it's criminal that Joe Cocker and Leon Russell are not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Here's something that I'll bet most of you haven't seen. Check out Leon's early 1960's look before he went "hippie." These videos are classic: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yme_DnIfR6I&feature=relatedwww.youtube.com/watch?v=wUc9W7K-mi0www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ1_ThpKjT0&feature=related (look also for a young Glenn Campbell playing guitar)
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Post by Paul Sylvain on Jan 15, 2010 5:30:41 GMT -5
Leon did the most outrageous -- and in my opinion the best -- version of "If I Were A carpenter" I have ever heard. He tossed in some great lines like:
"If I was a rock star -- would you be my groupie? Would you make sweet love to me -- go to to Californy?"
and my favolrite ...
"If I was Jesus -- and I built some crosses, Could you see the future -- could you stand the losses?"
Something like that, anyway. It's been a while, but even the way he played it was unqiue.
Yes, add my voice to the chorus of well-wishers. Leon is truly an original.
Paul
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Post by Jim Boylston on Jan 15, 2010 10:29:11 GMT -5
Thanks for those links, Mark. Great! I've been following Leon for many years (also sat through repeated theatre viewings of "Mad Dogs back in the day) but I'd never seen footage from "Shindig," where he was in the house band.
I've met Leon a couple of times over the years and always found him to be a real gentleman. And what a songwriter. An unbelievable catalog.
Jim
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Post by TRK on Jan 15, 2010 11:24:27 GMT -5
I remember when I first became aware of Leon, from the pictures and film footage with the grizzled hair and voice, you'd think he was in his late forties or even fifties. He definitely looked a lot older than the peers he was working with. Turns out in 1970 he was only 28. Unreal.
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