RIP Leon Russell

We lost another one to 2016.

Leon Russell was a multi-instrumentalist from the 60s and 70s (and then had a brief resurgence a few years ago when he dueted with Elton John).

He's best known for a blend of Honky Tonk and Gospel piano playing which he used most famously with Delaney & Bonnie and Joe Cocker.

Delaney & Bonnie are one of the sleeper bands from the 60s that I'm surprised no one talks about. George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Stephen Stills, and one of the Allman Brothers played with them in various formations of the group (in fact, George learned how to play slide guitar from Delaney). I would guess the reason they're sort of ignored is that there are lots of Christian themes in their songs. Lots of hymns and gospel tunes.

The backbone of their sound is from Leon's piano playing. Elton John has stated that Leon's piano playing inspired a lot of his early songwriting (think Honky Cat from Honky Château). He was ahead of his time compared to other funky southern soul-inspired rock bands like Doobie Brothers and Foghat. Unfortunately, his vocals aren't super spectacular.

Here are 3 songs he performed on that I'd recommend:

[[TW: female backing vocals, Leon's voice]]







BONUS: Sunday Morning Roof Raising

Oh yeah, Leonard Cohen died too.