Leon....

“So, Let’s Get Started… Gonna Make You Feel Good”

“So, Let’s Get Started… Gonna Make You Feel Good” By Bud Elder When he’s in public, it’s usually under the bright lights – his “Father Time meets the troll under the bridge” visage identifiable to even his most casual fan, although there are none of those here tonight – they’re screaming all the way back to the cheap seats. All he has to do is sit at the keyboard and nod his head. Then he plays that electric keyboard, thumping it, although his hands look as though they barely twitch. Constantly moving bass line and formulating chords you don’t usually associate with what you once thought was a relatively simple rock song. Then there’s that voice… that voice! Like another raspy American institution, Louis Armstrong, you’re never quite sure it will hit that note. But then it does, beautifully, pitch perfect. And it goes on like this through a litany of songs, many he’s written, many he just loves, as does his audience. “Mystery Train” and “Back to the Island;” “Lady Blue” and “Uncle Pen;” “Daddy Sang Bass” and “One More Love Song.” He is Oklahoma music at its most basic and at its most sophisticated. He is the designated Master of Space and Time. He is Leon Russell. “Sweet Home Oklahoma” If you asked most Oklahomans where Leon Russell was born, they would most likely answer Tulsa; however, it was in the city of Lawton where Claude Russell Bridges first made his appearance on April 2, 1942. His family later moved to Maysville, where he played in the school marching band. Next stop – Tulsa, and Oklahoma musical history. “We moved to Tulsa from Maysville when I was in the seventh grade. I’ll never forget my first night there hearing police sirens because the police in Maysville didn’t have them on their cars,” said Russell. There were other new experiences in Tulsa – nightclubs… with pianos inside. And a burgeoning young musician, aged 12-14, playing the pianos inside those nightclubs. “These were my first experiences playing in front of a live audience,” Russell said. “Even at that age, I was working almost every night, which was, I guess, good training for a future performer. Don’t forget, Oklahoma was a dry state then, and that was why they would let a very young musician do his thing,” Russell continues. His influences at this time? “I loved Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and Harpo Marx,” said Russell. However, when asked who was his first true mentor during this period in his life – a time when he was already playing with soon-to-be musical legends in their own right, such as J.J. Cale and David Gates – Russell answers succinctly, Sonny Gray. Gray, who continues to live in Tulsa, is another piano playing fool and a recording one, as well. “I guess I had the first basement recording studio of its kind in Tulsa,” Gray said. “I think back on those days and all the fun we had making music.” Of Russell’s skills during this period, Gray refers to him as a “boogie-woogie”-style keyboard player. “Leon was the piano player in a band that David Gates had formed,” Gray said. “Who would have thought that just several years later those two would have been sharing space on the top of the pop music charts?” Immediately upon graduation, Russell and his band, “The Starlighters,” which included J.J. Cale, Chuck Blackwell and Johnny Williams, played with another “boogie-woogie” piano man and hero of Russell’s, Jerry Lee Lewis. “We got a call from Cain’s Ballroom in 1958, saying that Jerry Lee was scheduled to do a show there, and had left his band in London. The folks at Cain’s knew that we knew his songs, so we were hired,” Russell said. One of Russell’s first recording sessions was in Oklahoma City. Russell explains, “It was in Gene Sullivan’s studio, and it was financed by a Tulsa DJ named Jerry Adams. It was very exciting. Gene was half of a duo called ‘Wiley and Gene,’ who were quite famous in Oklahoma. I believe they wrote ‘When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again.’” However, with all that was going on musically in Oklahoma, Leon set his sights and piano keys west, and found a brand new way to make his music. “Hustlers Stand Around Me I’m Lost and All Alone Can’t Tell the Bad From the Good I’m Out in the Woods” Russell moved to Los Angeles and became a “go-to” guy for session work, as well as the piano component of producer Phil Spector’s “Wall of Sound.” Along with a talented group, collectively called “The Wrecking Crew,” Russell made recording history throughout the ‘60s. “I always wrote songs in one form or another, and arranging and playing sessions is what I did for a living. I went to California to get into advertising, until I found out it was such a bloody business,” he said. Surely, somewhere, there is a complete recording list notating the piano studio work of Leon Russell. During this time in L.A., aside from being part of a studio group called “The Routers,” which had a huge hit with the song “Let’s Go,” and the “The Super Stocks,” who were known for their hot rod and surfer songs, Leon was the house piano player for the huge hit ABC show “Shindig.” Russell played with the likes of B.B. King, the Everly Brothers, the Righteous Brothers, Herb Alpert, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Ike and Tina Turner, The Monkees, The Rolling Stones and, in what must have been an extraordinary recording session, Frank Sinatra (it has been said that Leon is the pianist on “Strangers in the Night”). Asked about his favorite sessions, Russell says: “I played on a Sam Cooke record one time, with Don Costa producing and arranging and Bobby Womack playing guitar. For some reason that time has always stayed with me. Costa was Sinatra’s arranger and producer.” There were other special sessions and personalities, as well. “Bobby Darin was a singularly exciting producer and performer. I played on ‘18 Yellow Roses,’ ‘Danke Schoen’ with Wayne Newton, and many other recordings. It was a wonderful time.” Paying attention then was a young English pianist-singer-songwriter who was watching Russell very closely, and to this day, Elton John gives Russell credit for his showmanship, songwriting abilities and piano playing. “Elton says I am a heavy influence. I couldn't say exactly what I’ve been to him, but I'm very happy that he talks about me all the time,” Russell said. “Well, You’re Showing Me A Different Side…” In 1967, Russell, perhaps taking a cue from Sonny Gray, built a studio in his L.A. home; he and musician Marc Benno recorded songs together that would become known as the “Asylum Choir.” As a solo performer, Russell’s first gold record was for “Leon Russell and the Shelter People” in 1971. “Carney,” which contained the hit song “Tighrope,” hit number 11 on the pop music charts the following year. The triple album “Leon Live” reached number nine on the same charts in 1972. Other popular albums that reached chart status: “Will o’ the Wisp;” “Make Love to the Music” and Wedding Album,” both made with then-wife Mary McCreary; and “One for the Road,” a legendary duet album with Russell’s musical soul mate, Willie Nelson. In 1973, Billboard magazine named Leon Russell the top live act in American popular music. Those who have hit it big with Leon Russell compositions include Ray Charles (“A Song For You”); The Carpenters (“Superstar”); and George Benson (with a number one recording of “This Masquerade”). And does he have a favorite song? “I like the ones that everyone likes… that’s sort of the point of writing pop material,” Russell said. We’re Lost in a Masquerade At the height of Russell’s popularity, he released a country album – a real, twangy country album – called “Hank Wilson’s Back.” That particular moniker is one that remains with Russell to this day. His current release, “Best of Hank Wilson,” combines songs from the first four “Wilson” recordings with such classics as Nelson’s “Night Life,” George Jones’ “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” plus a precious bonus track of the “Ballad of Jed Clampett.” “Once I was taking a car trip from L.A. to Tulsa and noticed these amazing country cassettes in the truck stops along the way,” Russell said. “I bought about 60 in one stop and realized they had been recorded in Nashville – this was a dream of mine to be able to play with these musicians, so we went there to record.” And Now I’m Gone, From Maine to Mexico Russell recently founded Leon Russell Records to release his own material in both traditional and digital formats. Since its inception, Russell has recorded: “Signature Songs,” acoustic versions of his greatest hits; “Moonlight and Love Songs,” featuring lavish arrangements of standards; “Guitar Blues,” “Face in the Crowd,” “Crazy Love,” “Hymns of Christmas,” and “Rhythm and Bluegrass – Hank Wilson 4;” “Angel in Disguise,” which Russell claims is his best album in 25 years; and finally, three CDs all released on the same day – “Bad Country,” “Almost Piano,” which is all instrumentals, and a classic rock album, “In Your Dreams.” In light of today’s precarious record industry, why did Russell start his own company? “The record industry has changed immensely, and downloading is primarily the record commerce of the future,” he said. “Plus, artists want to be able to control their own vision.” Today, Russell is in constant demand. Since the beginning of 2009, he has been all around the country and as far away as Japan. In the past five years, Leon has averaged about 140 shows per year. What is Russell’s vision of the future? “At my age, one primarily tries to stay alive (and keep my sideburns, too),” he said. Any detailed biography of Leon Russell would be remiss not mentioning the wildly successful “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” tour or his famed “Church Studios” in Tulsa. However, there are two specific questions that fans would love to ask: Your favorite Oklahoma performers? “Barney Kessel, Gene Autry and Roger Miller.” Where do you like to eat when you come home? “Lotaburger and Coney I-Lander.” Fans of Leon Russell know that any performance, any new recording, is not about nostalgia. You’ll never hear anyone say they ‘used’ to love Leon Russell. He is as current as the “one hit wonders” that play on top 40 radio. He continues to create, continues to adapt, continues to work. He is a consummate musician, one with an almost staggering talent. And, with all that, he’s one of us – Sooner born and Sooner bred. A song title from one of his latest albums perhaps best describes him – he is THE “Oklahoma Boogie.” “Don’t Let Them Lie Don’t Let Them Scare You Don’t be Afraid of the Things You See Don’t Let Your Eyes Fool You Don’t Be Afraid It’s Only Me” from distinctlyoklahoma.com