Tag Archives: Leon Russell

Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan Concerts, Bob Dylan video, George Harrison

August 1: Watch Bob Dylan & George Harrison – The Concert for Bangladesh, New York City, 1971

9 Comments

Redirecting to a newer version of this post….

Bob Dylan & George Harrison: August 1, 1971, New York
The Concert for Bangladesh (or Bangla Desh, as the country name was spelt originally) was the name for two benefit concerts organised by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, held at 2.30 and 8 pm on Sunday, 1 August 1971, playing to a total of 40,000 people at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The shows were organised to raise international awareness and fund relief efforts for refugees from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), following the 1970 Bhola cyclone and the civil war-related Bangladesh atrocities. The concerts were followed by a bestselling live album, a boxed three-record set, and Apple Films’ concert documentary, which opened in cinemas in the spring of 1972.The event was the first-ever benefit concert of such a magnitude and featured a supergroup of performers that included Harrison, fellow ex-Beatle Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Billy Preston, Leon Russell and the band Badfinger. In addition, Shankar and another legend of Indian music, Ali Akbar Khan, performed a separate set. Decades later, Shankar would say of the overwhelming success of the event: “In one day, the whole world knew the name of Bangladesh. It was a fantastic occasion …”
~Wikipedia

This was Dylan’s first live performance in two years. Harrison had to twist his arm to get him to take part in the benefit concert, and we can be very glad he did: it’s a stunning performance (both shows), modest, confident, richly textured, with Dylan feeling and communicating genuine love for the music he’s playing (in the case of” Blowin’ in the Wind” this was his first public performance of the song in seven years). Most of all, Dylan’s voice on this midsummer afternoon and evening has a rare, penetrating beauty that is immediately noticeable to almost anyone who hears it. This is, in a very real sense, the Dylan a large part of his audience dreams of hearing; this is the voice to fit the stereotyped or mythic image of Bob Dylan, guitar strumming poet laureate of the 1960s.
~Paul Williams (Bob Dylan Performing Artist I: The Early Years 1960-1973)

Madison Square Garden
New York City, New York
1 August 1971
Rehearsals before the Bangla Desh Concert

Continue reading August 1: Watch Bob Dylan & George Harrison – The Concert for Bangladesh, New York City, 1971 →

Bob Dylan, Cover versions, Leon Russell, Music Calendar

November 13: Leon Russell died in 2016 R.I.P. (Russell covers Bob Dylan)

2 Comments

dylan_bangla_color

Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges April 2, 1942, died November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music.

Born in Lawton, Oklahoma, he began playing piano at the age of four. Russell attended Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At this time he was already performing at Tulsa nightclubs. After moving to Los Angeles, he became a session musician, working as a pianist on the recordings of many notable musical artists from the 1960s. By the late 1960s, Russell diversified, becoming successful as an arranger and wrote and co-wrote songs. As a musician, he worked his way up from gigs as a sideman to well known performers. By 1970 he had graduated to solo recording artist, although he never ended all his previous roles within the music industry.

Russell was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Monday, March 14, 2011

According to his wife, Leon Russel died in his sleep Nov. 13 2016.

russel_harrison_dylan_bangla_2

Leon Russell – A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall:

Continue reading November 13: Leon Russell died in 2016 R.I.P. (Russell covers Bob Dylan) →

Bob Dylan, Leon Russell

April 2: The late great Leon Russell was born in 1942 – here singing Dylan songs

1 Comment

dylan_bangla_color

Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges April 2, 1942) was an American musician and songwriter, who recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music.

Born in Lawton, Oklahoma, he began playing piano at the age of four. Russell attended Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At this time he was already performing at Tulsa nightclubs. After moving to Los Angeles, he became a session musician, working as a pianist on the recordings of many notable musical artists from the 1960s. By the late 1960s, Russell diversified, becoming successful as an arranger and wrote and co-wrote songs. As a musician, he worked his way up from gigs as a sideman to well known performers. By 1970 he had graduated to solo recording artist, although he never ended all his previous roles within the music industry.

Russell was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Monday, March 14, 2011

Sadly, we lost Leon Russell last november (Nov 13, 2016).

russel_harrison_dylan_bangla_2

Leon Russell – A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall:

Continue reading April 2: The late great Leon Russell was born in 1942 – here singing Dylan songs →

Bob Dylan other, Cover versions

Leon Russell covers Bob Dylan – Happy Birthday Leon Russell!

8 Comments

dylan_bangla_color

Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges April 2, 1942) is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music.

Born in Lawton, Oklahoma, he began playing piano at the age of four. Russell attended Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At this time he was already performing at Tulsa nightclubs. After moving to Los Angeles, he became a session musician, working as a pianist on the recordings of many notable musical artists from the 1960s. By the late 1960s, Russell diversified, becoming successful as an arranger and wrote and co-wrote songs. As a musician, he worked his way up from gigs as a sideman to well known performers. By 1970 he had graduated to solo recording artist, although he never ended all his previous roles within the music industry.

Russell was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on Monday, March 14, 2011

russel_harrison_dylan_bangla_2

Leon Russell – A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall:

Continue reading Leon Russell covers Bob Dylan – Happy Birthday Leon Russell! →