First came the remarkable match-up of two musical giants, Alison Krauss and Robert Plant. Their 2007 album, "Raising Sand", was a critical tsunami and walked off with five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. Now two more legendary musicians, Elton John and Leon Russell, have teamed up for an album called "The Union" which was released today and will be followed by a national mini-tour which kicked off Tuesday night at New York's Beacon Theater. During last night's show, John said that the collaboration with Russell was the "culmination of a remarkable journey ... (Leon) was my idol, he was my mentor, he was everything I wanted to be as a singer/songwriter and piano player."
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Almost everyone, even the pre- and post-pubers know who Elton John is, but probably not many who are just beginning to notice hair down there will recognize the name, or the importance, of Leon Russell. Russell is widely recognized as the one of the most gifted and iconic singer/songwriter/musicians of the modern rock era. The two-time Grammy winner started out his career as a highly sought after session musician, playing for acts as diverse as The Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Elton John, Glen Campbell and The Band. Later Russell became a member of Phil Spector's famous studio band, The Wrecking Crew, and can even be seen playing the piano in the famous 1964 video of "The T.A.M.I. Show". Russell had limited chart success as a singer, his highest charting album was 1972's "Carney" which peaked at #2, and which spawned his highest charting single, "Tight Rope", which made it to #11, but maybe his greatest success is that of a songwriter.
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Every so often a song comes along which is so popular that it ends up being recorded by dozens and dozens of popular singers over the decades, and almost every time it's recorded, it gets attention. Russell wrote not one, not two, but three of those classic songs of the rock era: "A Song for You", "This Masquerade" and "Superstar". "A Song for You"'s most famous versions were recorded by Donny Hathaway, The Carpenters, Whitney Houston, and more recently, Christina Aguilera, who was nominated for a Grammy Award for her version of the song on which she teamed with Herbie Hancock. "This Masquerade" was most famously done by The Carpenters, Shirley Bassey, Helen Reddy, and won George Benson a Grammy Award for Record of the Year in 1977. "Superstar" was first sung by Rita Coolidge on Joe Cocker's legendary "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" tour and album, and later had notable recordings by Bette Midler, Cher, The Carpenters, Luther Vandross and Ruben Studdard, who was nominated for a 2004 Grammy Award for his recording.
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Oddly enough, and as often happens in the music industry, Leon Russell, while being one of the most beloved and well-respected artists in the history of popular music, has never won a solo Grammy Award and has not yet made it into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But it's okay, Russell's induction into the Hall is inevitable at some point, and as far as his shocking lack of Grammy attention, we have the feeling that that situation will soon change as well. In fact, we're guessing immediately after the next Grammy Awards ceremony comes to an end, that Russell and Elton John, both, are going to have to call in a rented truck to help them get all their awards home for their "The Union" collaboration.
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