Of course, that fodder is pretty great stuff, and at the Palladium he interlaced some of it into his rollicking performance. Russell too has written beloved hits, including the poignant “A Song for You,†which he performed during his brief opening set in a voice as gravelly and picturesque as an old Oklahoma road.
The material from “The Union,†which the pair performed in full during the middle of the show, has hooks too, along with spacious arrangements that allowed for much interplay among the members of the large band backing up the soloists. Outsanding numbers like Russell’s “If It Wasn’t for Bad†and “Hey Ahab,†a shaggy rocker by John and his longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin, satisfied fans looking for musicianly jamming — but they also boasted memorable choruses, not unlike the ones that brought John worldwide fame.
Russell might have reached that level of stardom, if not for his self-confessed prickliness and resistance to packaging. As a session musician and arranger for artists like George Harrison, the Rolling Stones and Joe Cocker, Russell was a key player in classic rock’s marriage of roots styles and modern sensibilities.
Like many outstanding artists who first peaked in the 1970s, however, Russell couldn’t rest within a marketable category. His reemergence now, despite the health problems that cause him to walk with a cane and wobble a bit when he sings, is just desserts and well timed, now that the insatiable Internet has led to renewed interest in eclectic artists like himself.
At the Palladium, Russell let John play the goodwill ambassador role to which he’s so suited; the elder artist didn’t speak a word and entered and exited without fanfare. John was more effusive, spending time reminiscing and thanking his many friends in the VIP section — including former Times critic Robert Hilburn. John credited Hilburn with kick-starting his stateside career with a review of his debut Troubadour show and dedicated “Ballad of a Well-Known Gun†from his 1970 album “Tumbleweed Connection†to the scribe.
Though he jumped up often to show off his sparkly jacket, wave to his fans and have a sip of water, John kept his theatrics to a minimum, preferring to seek out a groove with his fellow players, who included a full horn section and four backing vocalists. The great Memphis keyboard player Booker T. Jones joined in on a few songs, turning the evening into a fairly unmatchable keyboard summit; John noted that, remarkably, he’d never met the “Green Onions†maestro before he guested on “The Union.â€
Early material like “Take Me to the Pilot†and “Levon†allowed John to amply demonstrate his ability to roll and rag like a vintage bawdy house pianist. Without needing to play to the back row of an arena, he could focus on the keyboard during his own closing set. The freer mood energized John, who made sure to bow to the horns (“We have a tuba onstage!†he noted, clearly tickled) and call out his longtime mates, the drummer Nigel Olsson and the flashy, fun guitarist Davey Johnstone, who anchored the band.
As heartwarming as it was to see John finding his way back to what made him love music in the first place, his pop sense couldn’t wholly be suppressed. Ballads like “Tiny Dancer†and “Your Song,†which had the crowd swooning, ran on characteristically warm, huggable melodies; his and Taupin’s 1983 smash “I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues†sounded more like a modern-day standard than ever. And when Johnstone ripped into the riff for John’s naughty 1974 glam rocker “The Bitch Is Back,†nobody in the crowd was worrying about integrity. They were too busy shimmying and shouting, and letting the song’s gaudy, delicious chorus roll over them.
Published: Nov. 4, 2010
Updated: 4:09 p.m.
bwener@ocregister.com
http://www.ocregister.com/entertainment/-274424--.html
It’s certainly sweet and gracious how
Elton John has lent his superstar clout lately to spotlight one of his primary influences,
Leon Russell, partly in the hopes of resurrecting the once-mighty piano man’s reputation via their terrific first album together,
The Union. The Decca Records release -- a simultaneously rousing and poignant return to early-’70s form for both legends, produced largely live in the studio by a rather hands-off
T Bone Burnett -- is indeed, as David Fricke put it in his astute and uncommon
five-star review for Rolling Stone, “a rare gesture in a dying business: an act of gratitude.â€
Leon, 68, has clearly gleaned inspiration that hopefully won’t dissipate too soon: he hasn’t sounded so growlingly great in years, and his keys work, never less than sterling, has regained the sparkle that made his initial solo records (plus his work for
Joe Cocker and Delaney & Bonnie) such infectiously soulful fun. Long marginalized, his fundamental role in rock history often overlooked or undervalued, the somewhat frail yet unstoppable Oklahoman with the ever-growing Santa beard has good reason to thank his hero-worshipping progeny in the disc’s liner notes, “for giving me new air for my lungs and a reason to use them a little longer.â€
Laguna Beach residents Brooke Barbee, left, and Molly Moorhead were very excited about seeing Elton John and Leon Russell's Hollywood Palladium show on Wednesday.
ARMANDO BROWN, FOR THE ORANGE COUNTY
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Yet it’s Elton, 63, for whom this teaming, nearly four decades since he and Leon last appeared together, has done a world of good. Not only is
The Union a glowingly received hit, his highest-charting album since
Blue Moves in 1976 -- something his ego badly needed after the sadly abysmal showing for his fine 2006 throwback
The Captain & the Kid -- but it has fully re-energized him as a performer, both in the studio and, more importantly, on stage, as evidenced Wednesday night during a marvelous, nearly three-hour sprawl from he and his idol at
the Hollywood Palladium, nearly 70 years to the day that Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey opened the landmark. (Elton & Leon appear again Friday night at
Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario. Be on time: the Palladium gig started at 8 sharp.)
Granted, in many ways this is merely the fruition of an Elton revival that has been gestating since right around 9/11, when he began to show signs of renewed vitality with the album
Songs from the West Coast. At that time, ditching the gloss of his ’80s output and setting aside the Broadway balladry of his ’90s tunes, he set about satisfying two impulses: his aging audience’s need for nostalgia (placated via tours with Billy Joel and his
Red Piano production in Las Vegas) and his own desire to forge ahead musically, ironically by treading over much the same ground that made him an international sensation in the first place.
Yet, though
Peachtree Road (2004) and
The Captain & the Kid greatly expanded the retro-fresh blueprint of
West Coast, despite having almost no commercial impact, the high-profile attention garnered by
The Union (with assists from
Brian Wilson,
Neil Young and
Booker T. Jones, the latter of whom joined in for a few numbers at the Palladium) has led Elton to summon that fearless, peerless gusto he exhibited back in the days of his timeless works from 1970, his self-titled launch pad and the superior
Tumbleweed Connection.
Mind you, the rejuvenating effect this pairing has had on Leon cannot be overstated; he may be stoic as ever behind those perpetual shades, his still-nasal and now-grizzled voice more like
Willie Nelson's than ever before, but throughout Wednesday’s set you could sense a young man’s enthusiasm bursting out of his barrelhouse ivory-tickling and the dazzling filigree he added to the new material, which, performed in its sequential entirety, serves as the show’s centerpiece.
His six-song starter, focused strictly on staples from 1970-73 (“Tight Rope,†“Delta Lady,†“A Song for You,†“Stranger in a Strange Landâ€) kicked things off in grand style. But it was the gospel joy and high-end razzle-dazzle he displayed during the
Union tunes -- from roof-raisers like “Hey Ahab†and “Monkey Suit†to portraiture like the Band-ish Civil War study “Gone to Shiloh†and evocative reminiscences like “There’s No Tomorrow†and the fitting “A Dream Come True†-- that more vibrantly indicated what a redeeming infusion of fresh life has taken place in his old soul.
Elton, in fancily embroidered tails, shined on the new stuff as well; he delivers “Eight Hundred Dollar Shoes,†another great one to add to his later canon, as if singing a salute to Leon, and he was noticeably electrified during “Monkey Suit,†a barnstorming stomper like he hasn't devised since
Honky Chateau. Indeed, for all the well-meshed piano bluster between them during the new disc’s rowdier moments, the whole enterprise would collapse into hackneyed formula if it weren’t for Sir Reginald’s suddenly fired-up vocal passion. What really impressed, however, was how much his enthusiasm for this project has rubbed off on older go-to fare.
It isn’t just that this celebratory collision of New Orleans jubilation, country comfort and two-stepping Sunday-service uplift has reminded him to once again dig up gems like “Burn Down the Mission†and the even more neglected “Ballad of a Well-Known Gun,†for not everything he offered in his nine-song solo portion was from 1970. Those moments were robust, sure, but the effect that this current direction took on later material was positively remarkable: I’ve never heard such a rich rendition of “Levon,†I never imagined “Sad Songs Say So Much†could sound so souped-up and sexy, I never thought I’d get to hear horns so punchy on “The Bitch Is Back.â€
Where this inspiration leads next is anyone’s guess -- this brief tour is ending almost as fast as it began, and come mid-December Leon is back to playing the Coach House. This Palladium gig was the sort fans never expect to see, like
Keith Richards playing here with the X-pensive Winos in '88; even if it had been mediocre (far from it), the show still would have ranked high in these legends' lore. Here’s hoping, however, that the experience keeps a torch burning in both men. Neither has been so revelatory in decades.
Setlist: Elton John & Leon Russell at the Hollywood Palladium, Nov. 3, 2010
Leon: Tight Rope / Prince of Peace / A Song for You / Delta Lady / Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms > Stranger in a Strange Land
Elton & Leon – The Union: If It Wasn’t for Bad / Eight Hundred Dollar Shoes / Hey Ahab / Gone to Shiloh / Jimmie Rodgers’ Dream / There’s No Tomorrow / Monkey Suit / The Best Part of the Day / A Dream Come True / When Love Is Dying / I Should Have Sent Roses / Hearts Have Turned to Stone / Never Too Old (To Hold Somebody) / In the Hands of Angels (Leon alone)
Elton: Burn Down the Mission / Levon / Tiny Dancer / Ballad of a Well-Known Gun / I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues / piano vamp > Take Me to the Pilot / Sad Songs Say So Much / The Bitch Is Back / Your Song
Elton John & Leon Russell perform again Friday night at 8 sharp at Citizens Business Bank Arena, 4000 E. Ontario Center Parkway, in Ontario. Tickets are $66-$167.
Photo by Armando Brown, for The Orange County Register. 
Elton John não irá mais compor
So now we have another press-round from Sir Elton. It's been reported widely, including here at this site, that Elton John is now 
So now he is left to write off the stars of today and to appear graceful to his fans by suggesting he is bowing out. It's actually arrogant for him to do this - it's a reluctance to admit that he has not been relevant for longer than he was ever relevant.
