Leon Russell, who played classical, rock, country, blues, soul, gospel, jazz and more, dies at 74

UPDATE, March 19, 2023: A biography tells us a lot but not enough about this secretuve musical icon.

Leon Russell, a musical genre-blender who played sessions and then did concerts and records with musical greats and earned a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, died at his home in Nashville Saturday. He was 74.

"With a top hat on his head, hair well past his shoulders, a long beard, an Oklahoma drawl in his voice and his fingers splashing two-fisted barrelhouse piano chords, Mr. Russell cut a flamboyant figure in the early 1970s," Jon Pareles writes for The New York Times. He did "Wall of Sound" sessions with producer Phil Spector, started Shelter Records, led Joe Cocker's band, played at George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh and concerts with Jerry Lee Lewis and the Rolling Stones, had hit records with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson and by himself, wrote hits for others, played country music as Hank Wilson, did bluegrass with the New Grass Revival, explored jazz and blues, faded into obscurity and then resurfaced in a late-life collaboration with Elton John. The Tennessean of Nashville has a photo gallery of his career.

Russell was classically trained but a birth injury limited his timing and range of motion on keyboards. He told the Los Angeles Times in 1999, "I invented ways to play in a classical style that was not the real deal." Born Claude Russell Bridges in Lawton, Okla., in 1941, he adopted his stage name from a Los Angeles friend who loaned him an ID so he could play clubs when he was under 21. He had "a rich, hearty voice that drifted between country and soul," and his "Union" album with Elton John is "an elegant work that showcases each artist's prowess with the piano and Russell's flair for bridging pop and gospel," writes the LAT's Todd Martens. John called Russell "one of the greatest American treasures."

Russell told the LAT he was hard for radio program directors to figure out because "I was not a brand that they could always expect was going to be the same thing. I'm not as aware of categories in music as some people are. To me it's just music. I'm interested in all kinds of music." In 1978, he issued an album called "Americana" which helped define yet another genre that seemed to fit him best.

J.J. Cale, laid-back singer-songwriter, dies at 74

Dan Reilly of Spin reports: "J.J. Cale, the Oklahoma-born singer-songwriter whose songs 'After Midnight' and 'Cocaine' were made into hits by Eric Clapton, died Friday, July 26 in Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack. He was 74."

John Weldon Cale grew up in Tulsa, as did Leon Russell, and they were generally considered the chief authors of "the Tulsa Sound," which Reilly describes as a "languid mixture" of "jazz, blues, folk, and boogie." It fits into the later-defined Americana niche. He adopted the name J.J. to avoid confusion with John Cale of the Velvet Underground, Reilly notes. His success was mainly as a writer, but he hit No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1972 with "Crazy Mama."

Tim McGraw's 'Southern Voice' is a song, a theme, a message and a lesson that all need hearing

"It’s a cliché among liberals to look at the rural American South with snobbery and scorn," David Masciotra writes for the Daily Yonder, and he gives examples, before touting Democrat and social critic Tim McGraw’s new single, “Southern Voice,” from his album of the same name, as "required listening for country music fans — and for liberals who amuse themselves, and no one else, by pretending that the American South is simply a pit of toothless, rump-scratching, drunken low-lives whose favorite hobbies are burning crosses, incest, and dropping out of school."

Masciotra calls the song "a desperately needed and musically exciting documentation of the vastly rich contribution the South has made to American culture," with references to the Allman Brothers, Chuck Berry, Aretha Franklin, Dolly Parton, Hank Williams, Dale Earnhardt and Rosa Parks." I was once a disc jockey at a rural station in Southern Kentucky that played all those artists, and would still like to have a station formatted on the overlap between country, rock, blues and bluegrass.

That sort of "roots music" is harder to find in larger markets, dominated by large companies that program to niche audiences. And it's getting harder, Masciotra writes: "For most of the history of popular radio, small markets and the nation’s regions were given equal power when determining the Billboard chart rankings. For example, John Mellencamp grew in popularity throughout the Midwest before making it to flagship stations in New York and Los Angeles. Lynyrd Skynyrd started first as a Southern band. Recent changes in the way Billboard compiles its rankings have given priority to stations in the largest markets. And that is killing the kind of heartland rock played by Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Tom Petty and Bob Seger."

That's why "Springsteen’s 'Devils and Dust,' a subtle anti-war folk song told from the perspective of an active-duty solider in Iraq, and Mellencamp’s 'Our Country,' an anthem calling for unity against bigotry, poverty, and war, received greater airplay on country radio and Country Music Television than they did on rock formats," Masciotra writes. He says McGraw is one of the best at what makes country music successful, dealing with "real life issues of love, communal struggle and solidarity, as well as the existential dread and joy that bridge Saturday night and Sunday morning [I hear Ralph Stanley calling]. . . because he carries a commitment to progressive reform and a willingness to wrestle with the darker side of human nature, both personal and political. It is through this multi-colored, cracked lens that McGraw sings his music, looks at the world, and raises his 'Southern Voice'."

Mississippi starts car tag to promote Blues Trail

The Mississippi Blues Foundation and the state Tax Commission are promoting a new specialty license plate for the Mississippi Blues Trail. Luther Brown, chairman of the foundation, said it needs money to erect historical markers at more than 40 sites. “We currently have funding for 119 markers, but our wish list has grown to more than 160 sites that we think are worthy of being designated as a stop on the Blues Trail,” Brown said. “We also want the visibility of the tags on the highway, so people will have reminders about our blues heritage.”

The commission will produce the license plates once the first 200 tags are sold. The extra fee will be $31, with $24 going directly to the Blues Trail marker program. Approximately 52 markers have been unveiled to date, and the audio/video components for the markers are in the process of being developed, which will add a new level of interest.

The Mississippi Blues Foundation is a support organization made up of a diverse group of business and community leaders. The role of this group is to identify and secure sources of financial and programmatic support for the work of the Mississippi Blues Commission.

For Mississippi residents: The application for the license plate can be found on the Mississippi Delta Blues Society of Indianola’s website. Email questions to info@indianolablues.org (Web site: http://www.indianolablues.org/) or call Dr. Luther Brown at 662-846-4311 at Delta State University’s Delta Center for Culture and Learning.