Leon Russell will play a pair of Big Island concerts as part of his “Life Journey” tour, but the title of one of his popular tunes, “Back to the Island,” seems an equally apropos theme. ADVERTISING Leon Russell will play
Leon Russell will play a pair of Big Island concerts as part of his “Life Journey” tour, but the title of one of his popular tunes, “Back to the Island,” seems an equally apropos theme.
The 72-year-old Russell, who was inducted in 2011 to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame, will play tonight at Wainaku Center just north of Hilo’s “Singing Bridge” and Saturday night at the Sheraton Kona Resort Convention Hall.
Although he was already a successful songwriter and part of a legendary group of first-call Los Angeles session players known as The Wrecking Crew, Russell gained wider fame as bandleader and keyboardist for Joe Cocker’s “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” tour of 48 cities, which spawned a live album and a full-length documentary film.
“The premiere was in London and it was in a rather large theater. It seemed to me it had 3,000 seats in it,” Russell told the Tribune-Herald. “When I walked into that theater, I was invisible, basically, and when I walked out, I had 3,000 pairs of eyes lookin’ at me. So it was pretty much an overnight jolt, as far as people knowin’ who I was.”
Russell also gained wider fame as a songwriter by penning Cocker’s 1969 hit “Delta Lady.” His own recording career took off shortly thereafter, performing his own compositions such as “A Song for You,” “Tightrope,” “This Masquerade” and “Lady Blue.” His medley “Jumpin’ Jack Flash/Youngblood” from “The Concert for Bangladesh” is still considered one of the classic live rock performance recordings more than four decades later.
Asked if any of his songs was a favorite, the Oklahoma native replied, “Not really.”
“You write ’em and they have lives of their own after that,” he explained. “It’s not really like I’m writing ’em myself; they just come through me in a way.”
In 2010, Elton John and Russell released the album “The Union,” which garnered critical raves and shot to No. 3 on the Billboard album chart.
“I was just watchin’ TV one day and I got a call from Elton,” Russell said. “I hadn’t talked to him in 35 years; it’s not as though we spoke every day. And he said how much he liked my stuff and the next thing I know he was asking if I’d like to do an album together.”
The collaboration also led to John becoming executive producer on Russell’s latest album, “Life Journey,” produced by Tommy LiPuma and released earlier this year. Although it contains the originals “Big Lips” and “Down in Dixieland” and blues legend Robert Johnson’s “Come on in My Kitchen,” the recording, more than anything, is a nod to the great American songbook, with classics such as “Fever,” “Georgia on My Mind,” “I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good” and “New York State of Mind.”
“Tommy LiPuma’s responsible for picking the songs,” Russell said. “One day, we just talked. I ran into him at Montreaux. I’ve known him for 45 years, but we never did anything together. … When we got to talkin’, I asked if he’d be interested in doing this and he said, ‘Yeah, I’ll make time to do it.’”
Gates for tonight’s show open at 5:30 p.m. Bruddah Waltah Aipolani will play at 6 p.m. with Russell at 7 p.m. There will be a signed instrument auction at intermission during Russell’s set, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit music education at Connections Public Charter School, said promoter Les Hershhorn.
General admission is $45 with an $80 VIP package that includes table seating, a Leon Russell “Life Journey” Tour laminate and limited edition concert poster. There will be no public parking at Wainaku Center. Parking will be at the county’s Aupuni Center parking lot and shuttles running to and from the venue. The first shuttle will be at 4:45 p.m. for VIP ticket holders, with general admission ticket holders boarding at 5:15 p.m. and shuttles running about every 15 minutes.
On Saturday in Kona, doors open at 6:30 p.m. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. General admission is $45 with VIP table seating $65.
Tickets are available at CD Wizard, Hilo Guitar and Ukulele and Hilo Music Exchange, Hilo; Taro Patch Gifts, Honokaa; Waimea General Store in Parker Square, Waimea; Sound Wave Music, Kainaliu; Kiernan Music, Kainaliu; and by visiting www.lazarbear.com.
For more information, call 896-4845.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
