Vale / in Memorium

[3rd degree]

Sad news a great for Geelong , condolences to his family.

[Pies4shaw]

Here's the NY Times obituary.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/arts/music/leon-russell-hit-maker-and-musicians-musician-dies-at-74.html?_r=0

I am, frankly, saddened beyond belief.

[piedys]

[Culprit]

Happens in 3's. Russel, Cohen and Robert Vaughan.

RIP

[Mountains Magpie]

[watt price tully]

[watt price tully]

Vale Leon Russell.
A wonderful musician.

[piedys]

[Pies4shaw]

Great moments in rock music:

(1) Leon Russell gifts the Rolling Stones his sax player and jams with Nicky Hopkins -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy9bicKwDBU

(2) Leon lets Eric play on his new record -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XJaDzI_wVg&index=3&list=PLQK3MwPMcctFiOd3ALwQmdYGgi4xfJY82

(3) Leon plays carnival music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-z1JjmdQ0U

(4) Of Thee I Sing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSHqvadBmuw

(5) Leon lets Bob sing on his record:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watching_the_River_Flow

What a tragedy that the entire song in its original, incendiary version isn't on youtube.

(6) Leon kicks Bob back out of the band:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvXj_WjTU5Y

(7) The greatest-ever arrangement of a soppy, slow ballad by the greatest group of musicians ever collected on one stage in the history of the universe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMRFjlZ4AOU

(8 ) A remarkable arrangement of a throw-away pop song by the greatest group of musicians ever collected on one stage in the history of the universe:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFHA15B8iNI

(9) Leon gets the greatest group of musicians ever collected on one stage in the history of the universe to cover Uncle Ray:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv25o_zzqrE&index=6&list=PLcKsmDSQYsoG2Ls6eGXgeoTtnc1kaIocw

(10) Leon decides to write a song about Rita Coolidge:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIz8n4fprxw&list=RDuIz8n4fprxw

(11) The original version of a classic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpZ7BOSmO64

(12) Leon doing what he does best:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfK2CpH3BHI

(13) The full Delaney & Bonnie album "Motel Shot" with Leon (the duet with Duane Allman on "Come on in My Kitchen" - at 22.56 - is a work of joint-genius):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQe45yQ6etE

(14) Leon (with Glen Campbell playing banjo) in 1965:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9Tfm3syUOM

(15) Giving Chuck Berry the "Oklahoma Hammer" treatment in 1964:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlYx59c8Jzk

(16) Finally, just a little 1966 arrangement Leon did in his spare time, incidentally creating a legendary single:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9Lehkou2Do

[think positive]

Love the soppy Ballard.

And joe cocker. I used a little ray of sunshine in my mums funeral video. (And Colleen Hewitt wind beneath my wings). I'd never heard of him to be honest, but wow, I can understand your feeling of loss. Pretty amazing resume in his field. Cheers mate. Some great stuff to remember him by xx

[Pies4shaw]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mENTJYDSZFA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6klDcGNpLk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XonFZjuyc6E

Some things Leon played on in his spare time that some of you might have heard.

Let me know if you know any of these.

[Pies4shaw]

Here's another one Leon played on that you might know, as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efPdeUVABBc

[HAL]

How did you hear about HAL?

[Mountains Magpie]

Top stuff P4S.

Number 8 for mine.

Leon's passing did not make it on the ABC news app. I'm still waiting for their reply to my email as to why that was the case. No doubt an age thing....

MM

PS: There is/was a colour video on Youtube from the Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour of Cry Me A River. I have the colour version of the Letter somewhere too. Damn it the whole show is worth a watch/listen folks😀
Only the Last Waltz, Derek & Dominoes and Chicago at Tanglewood compare in this general style IMHO

[Pies4shaw]

^^^ One of my most cherished possessions is a Hip-O-Select 6CD set of the 4 complete Fillmore East concerts from which the Mad Dogs and Englishman album was made. Unfortunately, the famous recording of Cry Me A River from that album doesn't seem to have been filmed (or, if it was, the film hasn't surfaced) and, remarkably, that song wasn't in the film (although, as you say, other versions are floating around YouTube).

As a kid, taken by my older brother to the local cinema to see a summer-holiday screening of Mad Dogs, Leon had a huge impact on me. He was one of those very few genuinely impeccable musicians who had style, timing and taste: he opened my eyes to the possibilities of playing something that wasn't Beethoven, Chopin or Liszt on the piano. And, even now, I am still amazed by the precision of his attack - you can play all the notes Leon played in precisely the right order but you just can't play Leon.

As for the Mad Dogs, they must really have been the greatest collection of musicians ever collected in one place. As C Michael Bailey said in his wonderful 2006 review of the 35th anniversary releases for All About Jazz, "They made history as if they did it every day."

And Leon was the absolute centre of it all.