Leon Rusell, better known has 'The Master of Space and Time' among music lovers, is currently enjoying another stint in the spotlight as he finds himself busy basking in the early success of his collaborative album with Sir Elton John 'The Union',
the inclusion in the list of 2011 inductees into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as well as the announcement that he is part of the legedary line-up at the Bluesfest.Even though Elton John has a big week promoting his upcoming film Gnomeo & Juliet (opens everywhere on Friday) Elton along with Leon paid a visit to David Letterman and played the song “Hey Ahab.”
Perhaps not a household name – and arguably, that fact is bordering on criminal – Leon Russell started playing clubs in Tulsa while still in his mid-teens, as rock ‘n’ roll itself was being born. By his early 20s, he was a member of the hallowed LA studio band the Wrecking Crew, both with and without Phil Spector. Leon played with the Byrds, Mamas and Papas, Beach Boys, Sonny and Cher and many others.
As an arranger, he shaped the sound of such timeless singles as Ike and Tina Turner’s River Deep, Mountain
High, Herb Alpert’s A Taste of Honey and the Byrds’ Mr Tambourine Man. Leon’s 1970 solo debut album featured a cast of admiring stars including Cocker, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, three Stones (Messrs Jagger, Wyman and Watts) and two Beatles (George and Ringo). Russell also appeared at George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh, before reaching his own commercial peak in 1972, when the Carney album spent a month at number two in the Billboard chart.
