Tributes

I’ve been so many places in my life and time

Posted on by brucehhackett

In the early ’50s, when Claude Russell Bridges was growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he learned about gospel music not by going to church, but by listening to it on the radio.   He soaked up blues, folk, country and R&B the same way, and learned how to play all of it on the piano — the music of Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis Presley, you name it.  Because Tulsa was in a dry county, there were no restrictions preventing him playing in clubs there at only 14.  By age 16, he set his sights on Los Angeles, borrowed a fake ID from his friend Leon and adopted his name, and finagled his way into bars, n7bf905016c8375dd0619008b0dc9a8f1ight clubs and recording studios, where music industry people began to take notice.

Leon Russell was on his way.

By 1970-1972, he seemed to be everywhere, appearing with and/or producing records by the likes of George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Rita Coolidge, Badfinger and more.  His gospel-flavored piano, unusual vocal stylings and significant songwriting contributions made him a force to reckon with, influencing generations of musicians (particularly keyboard players) from Elton John to Bruce Hornsby.

Now, sadly, Russell is gone, dead at 74 from complications following a heart attack and surgeries.  He joins a disproportionately large group of ’60s-’70s rock heroes who have passed away in 2016. Read More

Your eyes are soft with sorrow

Posted on by brucehhackett

I remember vividly my introduction to the extraordinary Leonard Cohen.

I was 15, in that “coming of age” period of life in the summer of 1970.  A friend whose musical tastes I respected suggested I check out “Songs of Leonard Cohen,” the debut album that had been released two years prior.

I enjoyed my Beatles, my Cream, my Doors, my Hendrix…but I was also partial to the dulcet strains and harmonies of Simon and Garfunkel, Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul & Mary, Richie Havens and Crosby, Stills and Nash.  So I was receptive to an artist whose work leaned toward the introspective, the dark and brooding, the thought-provoking and poetic.

leonard-cohen-1960sAll it took to hook me was the first song on Side One, the beautifully delicate “Suzanne.”  Three verses, no chorus.  Just a Spanish-type guitar accompaniment, light strings used sparingly, a gentle female backing vocal, and the honest, yearning voice of Cohen, offering up astonishingly poignant lyrics about the wife of a close friend.

Leonard Cohen died last week, at age 82.  He wasn’t much interested in being a star, although he eventually topped the charts in some countries.  He was an artist, not a celebrity.  He was passionate about the written word — novels, poetry, song lyrics — and made his mark in all of these. Read More