It was with true sadness that I  read about the death of Leon Russell this past Sunday, November 13. I was very fortunate to catch live him twice in the last 6 years.  While I intend to pay homage to a great musician with an amazing career,I would also like to stress how important  it is to attend shows of a living legend when they come to your town. They may never get another chance to come back again.

As we all get older, many of the legends of rock are checking out at an alarming rate. Musicians who had a big influence on your life are showing up on the Obituary pages pretty regularly. This trend will not abate anytime soon. I have long subscribed to the belief that we need to embrace these living legends and Hall of Famer’s while we still have them. Earlier this year, I saw David Grisman and Del Mc Coury, both living legends. David is 71 and Del is 77. You may never get another chance to see these masters, alone or together!Sure, there are tribute bands that pay homage to many who are rocking out in Heaven today. While you can find a Tribute band in your town almost every weekend, I don’t see the Leon Russell tribute band becoming a reality anytime soon.

Leon led a remarkable life and played with some of the greatest acts to ever grace the performance stage. He played in session bands supporting the likes of Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin,Sam Cooke and the Ventures. He was in Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound Orchestra, backing up many R&B greats. In the 70’s,  his played piano on “Mr. Tambourine Man” by the Byrds,Herb Alpert’s “Taste of Honey ,”Live with Me” by the Rolling Stones and all of the early Beach Boy albums  including “Pet Sounds”. He performed at  George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh and with  Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen.Leon also had a very successful solo career,creating popular and critically acclaimed music of his own. He also wrote songs which became hits for others,including. “Delta Lady”, “This Masquerade”, “A Song for You” and “Superstar”. In this decade (2010), he made great music with the likes of Elton John and Elvis Costello.

I saw him at the Charleston Pour House twice, in 2010 and 2014. The PH is a bar with a stage that might pack 200 people when lucky. When he played there, you could literally stand next to his piano! During his shows, there wasn’t time for a lot of chit chat with the audience. His tunes might run 4 to 5 minutes, with Leon handling the vocals and piano playing. Once a song ended, Leon was onto the next one in seconds! You might hear 30 songs in a show, reminiscent of Willie Nelson performances. The band hardly has time for a mouthful of water  before cranking up the next tune. At the end of his performance, he would say to the crowd, this is usually the time you bring us back to great applause. At his age, he wanted to dispense with the formality of it all. His encore flowed smoothly, as he would then plow through at least a half-dozen songs that he made popular while playing with other artists.He played and sang songs by Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Joe Cocker and George Harrison among others he had the pleasure of performing with.. You couldn’t help but dance and smile.

Leon Russell gave us albums such as “Leon Live “,”Carney”, “One for the Road” with Willie Nelson and “Union” with Elton John. I highly recommend listening to him and John create a masterpiece of music on “Union”. Leon was inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011.He leaves behind his current wife, Janet Lee Constantine and six children. He also leaves this earth with an indelible impression on the lives of millions who enjoyed his music. Play some of his videos and albums and remember where you were when you first enjoyed these songs.

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