I guess the first song I heard by him was "Tightrope". I didn't realize that he was such a prolific songwriter. I sure liked the song "Superstar" and thought Karen Carpenter kicked ass on it (wait, can you say that Karen Carpenter kicked ass on anything)? I saw Leon at the Uptown Theatre in Kansas City in 1982. Martin Mull opened for him then the stage went dark, with only one light shining on the piano stool. Out of the darkness, a white haired man with a black cape sat down and sang .."I've been so many places in my life and time..." and I was "all in." Have been since. To this day one of THE very best shows ever.
My top five Leon songs...
1. Bluebird maybe one of my top five EVER
2. Back To The Island incredible stuff
3. Superstar Karen's (and Bonnie Bramlett's) best ever
4. This Masquerade Excellence personified
5. A Song For You I know exactly where I was when I heard it the first time. Karen again?
Thanks Leon, you lost your lovely wife not too long ago, but a punk kid from nowheresville thanks you for all you've done
2 comments:
I'd add "Lady Blue" to that best of list too. And did you know that Brother Leon once subbed for Paul Revere in the Raiders while Paul was in the service back in the early '60s? This was before PR&TR hit it big on Columbia, but for a time, it was actually Leon Russell & The Raiders...
Amen.
Is there a better all around live performance than "Mad Dogs and Englishman"? If so, I wanna hear it...
Sean
PS. Hope Nashville's everything you hoped it would be...it's nice to see a good guy making good again.
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