A song for you (Leon Russell) (LP 3674 - 3681)

Leon Russell  Leon Russell (Vinyl, Shelter Records, 1970) ****  

Leon Russell  Leon Russell and the Shelter People (Vinyl, Shelter Records, 1971) ***** 

Leon Russell  Carney (Vinyl, Shelter Records, 1972) ***

Leon Russell  Leon Live (Vinyl, Shelter Records, 1973) *** 

Leon Russell  Stop All That Jazz (Vinyl, Shelter Records, 1974) *** 

Leon Russell  Will O' The Wisp (Vinyl, Shelter Records, 1975) ****

Leon Russell  Americana (Vinyl, Paradise Records, 1978) ***

Leon Russell  Life and Love (Vinyl, Warner Bros. Records, 1979) **

Genre: Pop, rock 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, RCA Music Club

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Tight Rope (Carney)

Gear costume: A Song For You (Leon Russell), Crystal Closet Queen, Alcatraz (L R & The Shelter People)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6

Active compensatory factors: Leon Russell's debut solo album came out in between his work in Asylum Choir (found here). It opens with A Song For You - a quiet introspective slow piano lead ballad. It's a plea for forgiveness and understanding from an estranged lover. A ballsy move for track one on a solo debut album, but that's Leon for you.

The rest of the album is superb too. Full of great songs, and interesting arrangements. Yes, it's an acquired taste, but I love his voice and he's on fine form throughout his first album.

I discovered its joys much later in life, truth be told. My first taste of Leon was 1971's Leon Russell and the Shelter People, an album I bought from the RCA Music Club. It arrived in the mail in 1971 and I was thrilled. So, it's one of the first albums I ever bought - therefore it has a special place in my heart.

Originally, I think I was swayed by seeing Beware of Darkness in the track listings. Anyone covering George Harrison was worth my time, I reasoned. But then I fell in love with every track - Crystal Closet Queen, Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall...All delivered in Leon's unmistakable voice. There is a joy and confidence about the album and it has a unique place in my collection.

Carney was next in 1972. It contains some superb songs like Tight Rope (I fell for this one big time in 1972) and This Masquerade. However, much of it (including much of side 2) is flat out weird.

Leon Live is an album I bought and sold and then needed to buy again. As soon as I played it, I realised why I'd sold it before. 

It's a triple album, so a lot to get through and these days I seldom have enough time to play six sides of vinyl. Then there's all the medleys and the stage announcements. It's all a bit too much. Instead, I'll stick with Russell and Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen double, and his performance on the Concert for Bangladesh triple, I think.

Stop All That Jazz reins in the weirdness from Carney but is still inventive. His version of Dylan's Ballad of Hollis Brown is certainly unique!

The album came after his country excursions and has Willie Nelson playing on it, as well as John Cale. It's a tidy little album with Leon playing some great piano on Mona Lisa Please. I like his approach on Will O' The Wisp. The excellent cover clues you into a playful album. Contrast that with the terrible cover to Americana (that didn't bode well and so it came to pass).

Although Will O'The Wisp has synths (not a good move IMHO), it is widely regarded as a return to form (i.e. Carney). Leon sounds in good voice and energetic throughout. Make You Feel Good and the single from the album - Lady Blue are two highlights.

Americana was a change of approach thanks to Kim Fowley's contribution. Elvis and Marilyn is a good example of a poppier style. That's the good news. The bad news is Kim Fowley and a mainstream pop approach to most of the album, plus strings  don't really suit his approach. That means the interesting stuff of the past is in the past.

Still - it's listenable, unlike the next two albums in my list. Before his next studio album (Life and Love), Leon and Willie Nelson teamed up for a tour. It's pretty dire and I've reviewed it previously here.

Then comes Life and Love complete with terrible Linn drums, boring arrangements and a lack lustre Leon going through the motions. Again, the cover should have clued me in. A morose Leon hiding behind sun glasses - distant and off-putting. 

I'm not sure why I bothered with these last few. I was hoping against hope that he had a resurgence in him. That would eventually come with The Union and Elton's help.

Even better was Signature Songs on Dark Horse Records.

 

Where do they all belong? And that's it for Leon. I'm not looking for any lost gems. 

That's it for the R section as well. The huge S catalogue is next with some heavy hitters just around the corner.

Your song (Elton John) (LP 2881 - 2890)

Elton John  Elton John (Vinyl, DJM Records, 1970) *** 

Elton John  Tumbleweed Connection (Vinyl and CD, DJM Records, 1970) *****

Elton John  11-17-70 (CD, Rocket Records, 1971) ****  

Elton John  Madman Across The Water (CD, DJM Records, 1971) *****  

Elton John  Honky Chateau (CD, DJM Records, 1972) *****  

Elton John  Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player (CD, DJM Records, 1973) ****  

Elton John  Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (CD, DJM Records, 1973) *** 

Elton John  Caribou (CD, DJM Records, 1974) *****

Elton John  Songs From The West Coast (CD, Rocket Records, 2001) ****

Elton John/ Leon Russell  The Union (CD, Mercury Records, 2010) ****

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: Amoeba Music (San Francisco)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Country Comfort (Tumbleweed Connection)

Gear costume: Honky Cat (Honky Chateau), Ticking (Caribou)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4

Active compensatory factors: I am by no means a completist, but I do have a large number of his classic seventies albums, plus I've read his autobiography (excellent) and Bernie Taupin's (terrible) so this will be a reasonable list.

Having said that, I've always been a little late to the party with most of his stuff, except for Tumbleweed Connection which I bought many decades ago, but we'll get to that.

First album I have of his, Elton John, was actually his second. And I only got this a few years ago while browsing the racks at Amoeba Music while visiting San Francisco.

It's okay - it does have some classics on it - Your Song, The Border Song, Take Me To The Pilot, but a lot of it sounds over-cooked and straining to be 'important'. Basically, I'm not a fan of Paul Buckmaster's overblown string arrangements, and there are too many meh songs on the album for me.

His third though, now we're talkin'!! Tumbleweed Connection is his first genius record. Bernie goes full western mythology mode and having a full album of it gives the coherence and depth that Elton John lacked.

Elton's music is the perfect counterpoint to the lyrics throughout the album. It all works magnificently. Plus, Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson appear for the first time together on this album. The classic seventies years were off and running, and it was only 1970!!

The live album 11-17-70 (mine is the American version - in the UK it was 17-11-70) is pretty damn good too. Elton, Nigel and Dee are the band and they make a mighty cohesive noise throughout. Highlights are the Tumbleweed Connection tracks and the Stones and Beatles covers - Honky Tonk Women and Get Back.

Madman Across The Water continued the surge forward. It's another spectacular set of songs. It has the hits Levon, Tiny Dancer, but the rest of the songs are great as well. The versatility is back but this time without the overcooked orchestrations by Buckmaster. 

It's mainly session musicians on these songs and there is zero problem with that; the classic Elton John Band (Johnston, Murray, Olsson) would all feature on the next album.

Which would be Honky Chateau - another progression and another landmark seventies' album. There is a lighter, fun, and yes - mellow vibe/ approach to much of the material on this album (even I think I'm Going To Kill Myself is a kind of parody - I mean - you can tap dance to it so...). 

For me, it could be his best album (Caribou is coming and that is stiff competition for Honky Chateau). He would never sound like this again though - mellow, fun, carefree.

It helps that Honky Cat is the first song. It's playful, funky as all get out and a stunning song in all ways. Rocket Man, and Mona Lisas... were the other standout singles but the rest of the material on the album is also of very very high calibre.

The purple patch continued with two albums in 1973 - Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player and the double album - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. The hits just kept on coming!

Don't...Piano Player is a more uneven album - hot songs like the first three (Daniel, Teacher I Need You, Elderberry Wine) plus Crocodile Rock and High Flying Bird are balanced by some lesser efforts. 

And I've never been a fan of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Sure there are some excellent moments - Love Lies Bleeding and Gray Seal are great songs but if I never hear Candle in the Wind and Bennie again, I will not shed a tear. 

Then there are the stinkers over the four sides (Jamaica Jerk-off is definitely one) that reduce the album in my eyes. I'm in a minority, I realise that. I think it's the over-exposure that got to me. A song like Danny Bailey has a lingering appeal because it wasn't thrashed on the radio.

Although critics didn't particularly rate Caribou, I think it's a masterpiece. Along with Tumbleweed Connection, it's the Elton John album I've owned for the longest time, so it's one I'm very familiar with. For some reason, although I wasn't an Elton John fan at the time, the songs really appealed to me. And have stuck with me over the years. 

I lost track of him for many years (all of the eighties and nineties) before buying a copy of Songs From The West Coast released in 2001. The clever videos to I Want Love and This Train Don't Stop Here Anymore are responsible for me noticing this album.

Those two are the standout ones but the album as a whole has some good moments. Was it a coincidence that this was the album that saw the return of both Nigel Olsson and Bernie Taupin? I think not. It was certainly seen as a return to form at the time.

The final album in this collection is a collaboration between Elton and his hero - Leon Russell. The Union was the result. Elton's regular band members don't appear. Instead, the album features appearances by Booker T. Jones (on Hammond B-3), Neil Young (vocals), Robert Randolph (pedal steel), and Brian Wilson (vocal harmonies).

It takes a while to embrace the album - the songs are slowly growing on me, but Leon (who sadly passed away in 2016) is wonderful of course (much more to come from him when we get to the Rs). Actually, Elton sounds on form too - maybe inspired by playing with Leon.

Where do they all belong? I may pick up a couple of later career albums like Peachtree Road if I come across them.

Something to say (Joe Cocker) (LP 2114 - 2117)

Joe Cocker   With A Little Help From My Friends (Vinyl, Cube Records, 1969) ***  

Joe Cocker   Mad Dogs And Englishmen (Vinyl, A&M Records, 1970) ***  

Joe Cocker   Cocker Happy (Vinyl, A&M Records, 1971) *****

Joe Cocker   Joe Cocker (Vinyl, A&M Records, 1971) ***  

Genre: Pop/rock 

Places I remember: Spellbound Wax Company (Gisborne); JB Hi-Fi; Vinyl Countdown 

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Feeling Alright

Gear costume: Marjorine (WALHFMF); The Letter (MDAE)

Active compensatory factors: The debut album along with Joe Cocker! was released as a double album package on Cube Records and I have that version.

It's a good debut album, but not a great 5 star classic debut album (like, The Doors, for instance). There are a couple of classics on there though. The two I've highlighted about and, of course, the title track.

The friends in this case are seriously impressive: Jimmy Page; Chris Stainton; Stevie Winwood; Henry McCullough; Carol Kaye; Tony Visconti; plus, members of Procol Harum. Wow!!

Statement of intent and massive support right there.

By the Mad Dogs And Englishmen tour Joe had enlisted the support of Leon Russell, and the band he pulled together for Joe was, again, seriously impressive.

The sound is very different to those first two albums though. Bring in the horns Leon! Bring in that down home Okie rock'n'soul revue! All good. Joe shines in this setting too, because he's got that voice!

Into 1971 and 1972 and another imaginatively named couple of albums. And this is where I came in really. 

For some reason my mother, bless her cotton socks, hated the title Cocker Happy and she absolutely would not let me buy it. I guess she found it vaguely obscene - she never explained. So I didn't buy it, I had absolute respect for her decision, until many years later.

It is a five star classic compilation. All the great hits are there and Marjorine! What an album!

Joe Cocker in 1972, was probably the first Joe Cocker I listened to a lot. All of the others I've back tracked to over the years. It's probably not that well regarded though and listening to it with the benefit of hindsight - he sounds pretty knackered.

Where do they all belong? And that's it for Joe in the vinyl category. I'll return to him when we get back to the CDs.

Tight rope (Leon Russell) (LP 2110)

Leon Russell  Signature Songs (Vinyl, Dark Horse Records, 2023) ****  

Genre: Dark Horse Records, pop/rock 

Places I remember: JB Hi-Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Tight Rope

Gear costume: Magic Mirror

Active compensatory factors: I wasn't sure what to expect from this album. On the surface it sounded like a compilation album, but I was pleasantly surprised to hear that it's Leon's re-recording of some important songs in his catalogue. 

It was originally released in 2001 on his own label and now Dhani has re-released the re-recording on the Dark Horse label.

Luckily, I'm a big Leon Russell fan, so I would have bought this anyway if I'd come across it. I especially like how it strips the songs down to pretty much just Leon on the piano and vocals. By 2001 he was sounding a little rough but that familiar Tulsa sound shines through even more without the extra instrumentation.

Where do they all belong? Another new Dark Horse album to come, this time a 2023 recording by Yusef/Cat Stevens, rather than a reissue.

Learn how to boogie (Asylum Choir) (LP 829 - 830)

Asylum Choir   Look Inside The Asylum Choir (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 1968) *** 

Asylum Choir  Asylum Choir II (Vinyl, Shelter Records, 1971) *** 

Genre: Pop/rock 

Places I remember: Vinyl Countdown and Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Ballad For A Soldier

Gear costume: Sweet Home Chicago

Active compensatory factors: Leon Russell's solo career started with these two Asylum Choir albums with Marc Benno. Prior to this he was a session musician appearing on a huge range of records.

The first look at Asylum Choir has them in a psychedelic setting, with a mixture of styles from pop/rock and ballads to barking mad sound collages. It's of its time, that's for sure.

What is clear though, is that Leon has a striking voice as early as 1968. Indian Style, Black Sheep Boogaloo close off each side and provide a sign of things to come.

The second album is much more assured in every department. Leon's vocals are much more prominent and demanding of attention. His songwriting has also come on in leaps and bounds. Plus, the playing is much more confident - so much so that side two starts with that tease about which intro to use on Straight Brother.

Where do they all belong? After/ during these albums Leon began his solo career in earnest with the first album (Leon Russell) under his own name appearing in 1970 (the second Asylum Choir album was held up for a few years and appeared after Leon Russell. Much more to come from Leon in the collection.

Don't fence me in (Willie Nelson, Leon Russell) (LP 748)

Willie Nelson and Leon Russell  One For The Road (Vinyl, CBS Records, 1979) ** 

Genre: Country

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Heartbreak Hotel

Gear costume: Trouble In Mind 

Active compensatory factors: I had no idea what to expect when I bought this. I've been on a Leon Russell kick for a while and his albums can be hit and miss but I wasn't prepared for Willie Nelson to dominate these four sides so much.

I'm surprised Leon even gets a co-billing. The second album is all Willie, doing songs arranged by Leon (trust me for not reading the fine print).

Sides one and two are the two together (but not live as I'd assumed) with Willie pretty much singing everything so it's not quite what it says on the tin.

Where do they all belong? In my very small country section. I can't see myself listening to this ever again but you never know.