Leon Russell in 2009
Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who, during a 60-year career, played on, arranged, wrote or produced some of the finest records in popular music history. His genres included pop, rock, blues, country, bluegrass, standards, gospel, and surf records, with six Gold Records to his credit.
His collaboration records rank as some of the most successful and as a touring musician, he performed with hundreds of Hall of Fame artists. He recorded 31 albums and at least 430 songs. He wrote “Delta Lady”, recorded by Joe Cocker, and organized and performed with Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour in 1970. More than 100 artists have recorded his “A Song for You” (1970). As a pianist, he played in his early years on albums by the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean. On his first album, Leon Russell, in 1970, musicians included Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and George Harrison. One of his biggest early fans, Elton John, said Russell was a “mentor” and “inspiration”, and they recorded The Union in 2010, John’s only duet album, which was later nominated for a Grammy.
Russell produced and played in recording sessions for Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Ike & Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones, and others. He wrote and recorded the hits “Tight Rope” and “Lady Blue”. He performed at the Concert for Bangladesh in 1971 along with Dylan and Eric Clapton, and in 2011 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Born in Lawton, Oklahoma, United States, Russell began playing piano at the age of four. He attended Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Also at Will Rogers High School were Anita Bryant, who was two years older, and in the same 1959 class, David Gates. Russell and Gates played and recorded together as the Fencement. Another student at Will Rogers at the time was Elvin Bishop. During this time Russell was already performing at Tulsa nightclubs. He took the name Leon from a friend who lent him a fake ID to get into clubs he was legally too young to perform in.
After moving to Los Angeles in 1958, he became a session musician, working as a pianist on the recordings of many notable 1960s musical artists. By the late 1960s, Russell diversified, becoming successful as an arranger[12] and songwriter. By 1970, he had become a solo recording artist, but he never relinquished his other roles in the music industry. After performing country music under the name Hank Wilson in the 1970s and ’80s, Russell largely faded into obscurity.
I wanted to give Elton something. But what do you give a guy who has six fully stocked houses? So I thought the only thing I could give him is a song. “In the Hands of Angels,” retelling of the story of the album [The Union], thanks Mr. John (“the guv’ner” in the lyrics), who knew all the places I needed to go and made me feel the love down deep inside.
Russell re-emerged in 2010 when Elton John called on him to record an album that became The Union. The album, which included guest performers Brian Wilson and Neil Young, brought renewed popularity to Russell, who later released a solo album and toured around the world.
Russell was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 14, 2011. In June 2011, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
According to Russell’s wife, Jan Bridges, Russell died at age 74 on the morning of November 13, 2016, quietly in his sleep at his suburban Nashville home. He had suffered a heart attack in July 2016 and had coronary bypass surgery, after which he postponed shows while convalescing at home. He had hoped to return to his concert schedule in January 2017.
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[Mr. Russell’s biography on Wikipedia is quite extensive. Go to the website to read the full story.]
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Russell died in his sleep at his home in Nashville, Tennessee, on November 13, 2016, at the age of 74, his wife said in a statement on his website. In 2010, he underwent surgery to stop leaking brain fluid, and he suffered a heart attack in July 2016. He was recovering from heart surgery. Leon Russell’s funeral was Friday, November 18 at Victory Baptist Church, in Mt. Juliet, TN.
Elton John, who had once been Russell’s opening act, said “He was my biggest influence as a piano player, a singer and a songwriter.” On hearing of Russell’s death, he said “My darling Leon Russell passed away last night. He was a mentor, inspiration and so kind to me.” John once recalled:
When Mr. Russell’s “Greatest Hits” album came on one day during the trip, I started to cry, it moved me so much. His music takes me back to the most wonderful time in my life, and it makes me so angry that he’s been forgotten.
Pixies vocalist Black Francis credits Russell with influencing his vocal style: “I realize there’s a certain kind of vocalizing I do that takes its cue from Leon Russell. He sang in a southern accent but it was very blown-out and exaggerated, very free and loose.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Russell
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Other Notable Musicians’ Deaths…
November 2016
16: Mentor Williams, 70, American songwriter (“Drift Away”).
15: Mose Allison, 89, American jazz musician and songwriter (“Young Man Blues”); Cliff Barrows, 93, American music director (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association); Jules Eskin, 85, American cellist (Boston Symphony Orchestra), cancer; Milt Okun, 92, American singer and music producer; Bob Walsh, 68, Canadian blues musician.
14: Holly Dunn, 59, American country music singer-songwriter (“Daddy’s Hands”, “Are You Ever Gonna Love Me”, “You Really Had Me Going”), ovarian cancer; David Mancuso, 72, American DJ and founder of The Loft.
13: Billy Miller, 62, music historian; Leon Russell, 74, American Hall of Fame musician (The Wrecking Crew) and songwriter (“Tight Rope”); Mohammad Ebrahim Sharifzadeh, 100, Iranian mugham singer and composer.
12: Frank Konigsberg, 83, American talent agent and producer; Jacques Werup, 71, Swedish musician and writer, cancer.
11: Victor Bailey, 56, American bassist (Weather Report, Madonna, Lady Gaga); Christopher Barriere, 44, American rapper (Convicts), shot; Lily, 64, Japanese singer and actress (Shinobi: Heart Under Blade), lung cancer; A. Nayyar, 66, Pakistani playback singer.
9: Al Caiola, 96, American guitarist and composer.
7: Leonard Cohen, 82, Canadian singer-songwriter (“Hallelujah”, “Suzanne”, “First We Take Manhattan”), poet and novelist (Let Us Compare Mythologies, Beautiful Losers); Biser Kirov, 74, Bulgarian pop singer; Sir Jimmy Young, 95, British radio personality (Radio 2) and singer (“Unchained Melody”, “The Man from Laramie”).