Who Are You Revealed

Congrats to Neil from Canton, MA, for correctly answering that the mystery artist coming in January to the Narrows is none other than that guy over there: Leon Russell.

(Sorry, I don't have the exact date, but we'll post that soon.)

Neil gets himself an official Narrows Center for the Arts t-shirt, signifying that he is a man of wealth and taste.

Leon Russell was and is a true Renaissance music man. He easily associated with the hippest and squarest music makers as an instrumental whiz and producer during the 1960s and beyond. Whether it was Joe Cocker or Frank Sinatra, Leon was hip to what was going down. I've read that his work on the "Gary Lewis and the Playboys" records in the 1960s made those poppy confections from Jerry Lewis' son a lot better than one might expect.

And he wrote some wonderful tunes, including "This Masquerade," which was a hit for George Benson, but first appeared on Russell's "Carney" album in 1972, which hit the toppermost of the poppermost.

As I write this, I am looking at my copy of the album--record, not CD--from that period. I'm pretty sure I got it around 1972. It's on A & M.

On it are Leon's monster hit "Tightrope," "This Masquerade," and my favorite "If the Shoe Fits," which goofs on groupies and hangers-on, and has a lyric that goes something like: "We're from Rolling Stone, so it's okay."

Among the musicians on the album was Carl Radle, who played bass for Derek and the Dominos, but was actually a longtime friend of Russell's, even playing in Gary Lewis and the Playboys for a time.

One of the drummers was Jim Keltner, who also worked with Gary Lewis and the Playboys, but also the Rolling Stones, John Lennon and even Fiona Apple!