Leon Russell: The Master of Space and Time's Journey Through Rock & Roll History

Fantastic under appreciated songwriter and artist

Leon Russell was a brilliant musician, producer, arranger and songwriter. A handful of his songs are American standards and few, if any, other artists contributed so much to so many other artists' recorded work, live performances and career successes than Russell did in his era (the early stages of the dawn of modern popular music around 1960 through his passing in 2016). He also was short-sighted, venal, held grudges and mightily struggled with his own demons, internal and external alike. This is all brought to you in an epic, eminently readable way by the author, Bill Janovitz. If he was just the ungodly talented piano player that everyone recognized, he deserved a great book. Yet, Janovitz is honest and direct about Leon's foibles and struggles, but never loses sight of how singularly brilliant he was and how he could, at any moment, set any room on fire with his genius. Highly recommended.

I haven’t finished the book but I’ll give it four stars because it’s packed with stories and details about a fascinating figure in popular music.Often a publisher will have an editor review a manuscript to catch confusing writing, non sequiturs, illogical paragraph breaks and the sort of thing that appears in every raw manuscript but Hachette Books skips this step, doing a real disservice to both author and reader.Chapter one, page one, paragraph four begins with this sentence: “Like Leon Bridges, who had been playing the clubs and bars of Tulsa since he was fourteen.” Sadly, that’s not an isolated example.It’s not about being a grammar snob it’s about being professional and thinking clearly. I’m sure that somewhere there’s a bright high school student who could have proofread this and made a good book a great read.

Leon Russell's career reached far back prior to his days of fame, playing on some of the most famous records of the giants of the music business. His own musical career saw numerous phases, and his albums are greatly treasured today. This is by far the most comprehensive and well written book about Leon, and I would highly recommend it to anyone, certainly those of us from that era will enjoy the recollections.Book arrived on time and in perfect condition.

As a fan since childhood (early 70's), I watched the highs and the lows from a distance. But I feel Bill portrayed this giant effectively and fairly.

This book has some heft. About 300 pages. I started out thinking this could be a slog but it's anything but. I'm only halfway at this point but even just that is worth the price. Every single page has at least a tidbit of what I've wanted to know about Leon and his art ever since I first heard him. Case in point: His first solo album is one of the best albums ever, and loaded with contributions from superstars. But the LP and CDs have never credited who played what on which tracks. While not a complete sessionography, this book gives a few of those sought-after details. And practically every page is like that. The research Janovich did is deep and thorough. If you love Leon's work you MUST have this book! I've read 20 or so rock bios and this is simply one of the best. You will not be disappointed.

if your a fan & or interested in the music business in respect of how things were done during this time & how LR worked; this book is for you. I loved it & learned a lot

Quite a musical genius and quite a messed up man. I had no idea how many famous songs he helped play on before he found his own fame. Fascinating bits along the way keep me going but the book is way, way too long with so many people helping to tell the story it is overkill.A sad story in many ways but his contributions will live forever.

Reading enjoyment

Un livre très intéressant pour suivre le parcours musical de Leon Russell, un des plus grands auteurs/musiciens US qui a eu une influence déterminante dans les années 70/80 et dons plusieurs titres figurent dans le great american songbook. Une discographique complète aurait été bienvenue. En plus assez facile à lire pour un non anglophone ayant des connaissances basiques en anglais.

Great background stories for a long time fan.

A remarkable account of the life of an exceptionally talented songwriter, musician, arranger and singer. He seemed, to me at least, to have fallen away from the spotlight by late 70’s / early 80’s so the second half of the book about his subsequent “life and times” was the most interesting. A great read (recommend for those of us in our mid to late 60’s).

Just read.