February 25 – Tuesday – Leon Russell

Leon Russell played with numerous artists like Gary Lewis and the Playboys (Lewis – son of Jerry Lewis) and Glen Campbell in the 1960s, then received recognition as a songwriter when Joe Cocker recorded “Delta Lady.” His style is what I would term country/rock/blues/soul and a bunch of other stuff. Wikipedia reminded me that this was referred to as the Tulsa Sound. He has leant his talents to artists of varying genres, and co-wrote the song “Superstar,” which was originally performed by Rita Coolidge, and recorded by The Carpenters, who had a hit with it, and our own Bette Midler, with Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. I got to hear about two minutes of Delaney and Bonnie on this, Leon’s premiere solo album. “Delta Lady” is the only one of the songs mentioned so far that is on this album, but it does include “Roll Away the Stone” and “A Song for You.” He plays quite a formidable piano, and his voice is not good, but oh so distinctive. He’s probably best known for his very long hair that seems to merge with his beard and mustache. At 72, his hair style remains the same, it’s just all white now.

A pleasant workout tonight. My mind was somewhere else, on fond and sad memories brought on by my mood and the songs, and I was content with that.