From: "Dik de Heer" Date: Tue Apr 2, 2002 12:16 am Subject: Born To Be With You : Leon Russell LEON RUSSELL Born Claude Russell Bridges, 2 April 1942, Lawton, Oklahoma Singer / songwriter / multi-instrumentalist / producer / arranger. As one of the busiest session men of the sixties, Russell can be heard on hundreds of major singles, covering virtually the entire musical spectrum. A member of Phil Spector's renowned studio group, he played on many of the finest pop singles of the 1960s, also arranging classics like Ike and Tina Turner's monumental "River Deep, Mountain High". Other hits bearing his input include the Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man," Gary Lewis and the Playboys' "This Diamond Ring," and Herb Alpert's "A Taste of Honey." His associations with Delaney and Bonnie and Joe Cocker brought him to national prominence and in the 70s his own albums sold in huge quantities, but not to rock 'n' roll fans. Let's concentrate on his R&R contributions. Russell was part of a circle of musicians - including David Gates, the late Carl Radle and Johnny (J.J.) Cale - who developed their own kind of rockabilly ("Tulsa Bop") on the Kansas/Oklahoma borders and went on to become internationally known musicians in other styles. Russell began his piano lessons at the age of three and his pianisms coloured all his early efforts. He is all over David Gates's first records and had already played behind Ronnie Hawkins and Jerry Lee Lewis before he was eighteen. His own R&R recordings (as Russell Bridges), "All Right" and "Swanee River", cut in 1959 and acquired by Chess, remained unheard until they surfaced on rockabilly compilations in the '70s. Both tracks reveal Russell's admiration for Jerry Lee Lewis and Ray Charles. He also studied guitar with James Burton, though most of his session work is as a pianist. In 1979 he topped the country charts with "Heartbreak Hotel" (same song, yes), a duet with Willie Nelson. Homepage: http://www.mazeppa.com/Leon.html Biography: Steve Todoroff, Longhair Music : The Leon Russell Story (forthcoming later in 2002).