He walks slowly these days, aided by a cane. With his shock of long white hair and beard, he’s more Santa Claus than the hip Jesus he was in his heyday, and he hasn’t charted since Ronald Reagan was president, but by golly, Leon Russell’s back. The 68-year-old Russell, who wrote songs like “This Masquerade,“ “A Song for You,” and “Delta Lady,” and has played with everyone from the Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones to Eric Clapton and George Harrison, returns with a hot new album that has suddenly thrust him back into the spotlight after nearly three decades of making music in relative obscurity. And he has Captain Fantastic to thank for it.
The Union, the recently released collaborative effort between ‘70s icons Elton John and Leon Russell, has been garnering very positive buzz, including a five-star review in Rolling Stone. Written by John, his longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin, and Russell, the album was produced by T-Bone Burnett and includes guest appearances by Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, Neil Young, Booker T., Don Was, and pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph. With a track list that features the two aging musicians engaged in a sober, reflective conversation, sometimes trading lines within the same song, The Union strips both men of their early flamboyance to deliver a record close to the natural fiber of John’s Tumbleweed Connection and the glory of Russell’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen days.
Elton John first conceived of the project as a way to pay homage to Russell, his old friend and mentor, someone he’s idolized since the two met and toured together in the early ‘70s. John, who considered it a grave injustice that the musical legend had all but been forgotten over the years, made it his mission to restore some of the luster to the fabled career of rock’s ultimate session man. “You don’t write ‘A Song for You’ and get forgotten about,” says John.
Leon Russell’s love of music began at age 3 when he started studying classical piano. Born Claude Russell Bridges in Lawton, Oklahoma, in April 1942, he formed his first band at 13 and lied about his age to play piano in nightclubs with his friend, singer-guitarist J.J. Cale, and with bands like Ronnie Hawkins & the Hawks. “Oklahoma was a dry state,” says Russell. “It didn’t mean there wasn’t any alcohol—it just meant there wasn’t any laws, which allowed me to play at 14.” By 15, he was touring with Jerry Lee Lewis. He became Leon Russell after moving to California when he was 17, though never bothered to legalize the name change, an omission he views as a plus. “It’s handy,” he says. “I can be a different person for a while.”
Russell’s rich history in rock includes time as a songwriter, arranger and producer. He has done session work for Bob Dylan, George Harrison and Frank Sinatra; played piano on hits by the Beach Boys and Phil Spector; written songs for artists like Joe Cocker (“Delta Lady”) and George Benson (“This Masquerade”); and, dressed in top hat and thrift store threads, he led the mighty R&B orchestra on Cocker’s legendary Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour in 1970 when Cocker’s band bailed on him shortly before the tour kicked off.
Russell became a star in his own right soon after the Mad Dogs tour with the release of his eponymous, star-packed album Leon Russell in 1970. The album included "A Song for You," one of his best-known songs, which has since been covered by artists like The Carpenters, Helen Reddy, Whitney Houston, Donny Hathaway, and Christina Aguilera. Two years later, he scored again with Carney, which landed at #2 on record charts and popped the hit single "Tight Rope." And then in 1973, Leon Russell secured his place in music history with his hugely successful triple album Leon Live and the follow-up record Will O’ the Wisp in 1975 with its single "Lady Blue."
But by the tail end of the ‘70s, an exhausted Russell, fed up with life on the road and striving to meet studio deadlines, walked away from the music industry for a couple years and was left in the dust when the stars moved onto other collaborators and punk and hip hop took root. “I was surprised by the success I had,” says Russell. “I was not surprised when it went away. I knew about show business.” The intervening years saw Russell’s spotlight dim, for although he continued recording and working with various musicians, he was never able to attain the level of success he had achieved, nor replicate the caliber of music he had put out, in the 1970s.
When Leon Russell received the call from Elton John pitching his idea of a collaboration, Russell was understandably scared. He didn’t know what kind of shape his voice was in. There was also his intimidation at having a record producer hired by John to guide them through the process. As a producer himself, Russell was used to being in charge. Says John, “There was a point in the record where he [Leon] was still playing his tiny electric piano and T-Bone said [to me], ‘Try and nudge him into your piano booth.’ He hadn't played a grand piano for many, many years. I think that was a turning point for him on the album.”
In January, shortly after he and Elton set to work on The Union, Leon Russell underwent brain surgery to correct a spinal-fluid leak. Three weeks post-op, he was back in the studio with John and seemed to grow a little stronger with each passing day. “You could see the music starting to wire him back up,” Burnett says of Russell. His health is yet another reason Elton John’s looking out for his friend and pinning his hopes on the success of The Union. “I want [Leon] to be in a position where he can pick and choose what he does, where he doesn’t have to drive around on the bus and play so many shows.”
The Union debuted at #3 on the charts in October. The album has revitalized John’s career and given Russell a fresh start. “I want him to have wings,” John says. “I want him to make his own record. I also want him to be part of what I do in the future. He’s come back to life. And I don’t think he’s going to let it go this time.” If the success of The Union and a performance with the Zac Brown Band that brought down the house earlier this year at the Grammy Awards are any indication, Leon Russell’s greatest success might still lie ahead of him.
