Leon Russell: Crystal Closet Queen/Of Thee I Sing


Leon Russell released some of the great songs of the early 1970s, including A Song for You, which is considered a classic. He then seemed to largely walk away from the spotlight. Russell reemerged in 2010, noticeably older, when he and Elton John — who called Russell an early inspiration — released an album entitled The Union. Here is If it Wasn’t for Bad, one of the cuts from the album.

Earlier work from Russell include Stranger in a Strange Land and a classic cover of Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall. The talent is clear in this very early version of Roll Over Beethoven.

The version of Crystal Closet Queen/Of Thee I Sing with The Shelter People above is great as both music and a time capsule. The notes say the footage is from a PBS special and that Crystal Closet Queen it is about Little Richard, but I am not sure of that.

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4 Comments

  1. Reply
    rikki west October 23, 2012

    Wow! Thanks for rockin my world tonight!

  2. Reply
    rikki west October 23, 2012

    Wow! Thanks for bringing That little jewel back to mind!

  3. Reply

    [...] a lot of it is. The problem is that the Mad Dogs and Englishmen gang — led by the genius Leon Russell — was just a bunch of kids when they did [...]

  4. Reply

    [...] is Beware of Darkness from the concert for Bangladesh. He is accompanied by Leon Russell. I get tired of referring to him as the great Leon Russell, but it’s the truth. The version [...]

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