For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.
Today's CoronaVinyl category is "R," and in my recent vinyl acquisition from my neighbor, there were a few Leon Russell albums, including two from the mid '70s with his then-wife Mary McCreary. The album I'm going with today is 1976's Wedding Album, their first album together.
Russell is one of those musicians that seemed to be everywhere and seemed to have played with just about everyone in the '60s and '70s. He got his start as a teenager in the late '50s in his hometown of Tulsa, and then went to LA, where he was a member of the famed Wrecking Crew. He played keyboards on my favorite Christmas album of all-time, Phil Spector's iconic 1963 A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector. He was a session musician and backing musician for dozens of huge artists, like The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Joe Cocker, George Harrison, Ray Charles, Elton John, Eric Clapton, The Byrds, Glen Campbell, B.B. King, Willie Nelson, Barbra Streisand, and many others. He was also a great songwriter, writing or co-writing several hit songs for Gary Lewis & The Playboys, "Superstar" by The Carpenters, and others. He also released dozens of solo albums and had a few Top 15 solo hits in the '70s -- 1972' "Tight Rope" (#11) and 1975's "Lady Blue" (#14). He was eventually inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2011.
In 1975, Russell married Mary, who herself had a pretty solid musical background. She was part of Little Sister, a group of three women that provided backing vocals for Sly & The Family Stone.
With both of them being musically inclined, it's not surprising they teamed up to make some music together. Wedding Album is a nice pop/soft rock/soul album, and Leon and Mary share lead vocals on the album. Most of the songs are duets. Various musicians helped out on the album, but my favorite credit is Teddy Jack Eddy, which was a pseudonym for actor Gary Busey, who played drums and provided handclaps on the album.
Wedding Album reached #34 on the Billboard album chart, and the song "Rainbow In Your Eyes" reached #52 on the Billboard Hot 100.
They released another album the following year (Make Love to the Music), and had two kids together before divorcing in 1980.
Favorite song on Side 1: "Fantasy"
This is the most soulful and sultry song on the first side.
Favorite song on Side 2: "Lavender Blue (Dilly Dilly)"
This is another soulful one, and Russell has a nice piano riff. Also, I just like the phrase "dilly dilly."
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