Sunday, 4 December 2022

Leon Live - LEON RUSSELL***

Mighty Quinn Medley/Shoot Out On The Plantation/Dixie Lullaby/Queen Of The Roller Derby/Roll Away The Stone/Its Been A Long Time Baby/Great Day/Alcatraz/Crystal Closet Queen/Prince Of Peace/Sweet Emily/ Stranger In A Strange Land/Out In The Woods/Some Day/Sweeping Through The City/Jumping Jack Flash-Youngblood Medley/Of The I Sing-Yes I Am Medley/Delta Lady/Its All Over Now Baby Blue

This triple live album from Leon Russell was recorded at the Long Beach Arena California at the height of his popularity. His performance has been described as gospel tinged boogie-woogie. (US:9)

“Russell gives out a country preacher gospel revival style with plenty of rock and roll. Also, the energy put forth in this album is simply incredible. Russell must have been totally exhausted at the end of this performance. It's a three record set mind you, but the pace just never slows down, and listening from beginning to end will leave the listener pretty exhausted as well, but in a good way.”

“Leon is our unknown national treasure. This set was at a time when Leon was at his most popular. If you are a fan of gospel tinged boogie-woogie, this album will not disappoint you. Leon and his travelling road show are at the top of their game, and you can expect that a musician of his calibre would surround himself with top-notch people. This live performance is tight and captures the essence of his live act. The medley will leave you breathless. This is good time rock and roll.”

“Leon Live is, without a doubt, the ultimate Leon Russell experience. Not only that, it is one of the all-time great expressions of American popular music. While it does not have the more detailed, polished sound of his outstanding studio recordings, and the sound quality leaves something to be desired, it captures Leon's manic energy as no other album can. The spirit of blues, gospel, and rock & roll are alive and kicking like a mule on crack in this incredible performance.”

“Some live recordings fall very short of the experience itself. This is not one of them. Although the experience of a live show is always better than hearing it at home, Leon Live is as close to the real thing as I have heard from any artist.”

“There is a lot of energy here, incredible passion, great musicianship. In fact it's a kind of a farewell to Leon Russell's most well known period in music, when he had a big band of musicians backing him. He changed his sound after this album.”

“This rocks from beginning to end. Leon is one of the last great rock and roll pianists. While he has a number of fine records, this is one of the best live rock albums ever.”

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