I think it's fairly well documented here that I'm a huge fan of Leon Russell.  If you aren't familiar, he is Elton John's piano-playing icon and served as bandleader for George Harrison (Concert For Bangladesh) and Joe Cocker (Mad Dogs and Englishmen).  No one can bang out honky tonk piano sounds like Leon.  I am completely obsessed with with the Mad Dogs and Englishmen album, which is odd because I mostly hate live albums… the recordings usually suck, they always leave in too much audience noise and it's just really hard to capture the passion of a real live concert.  I've found that recordings from The Fillmore tend to be the exception (listen to Aretha Franklin's Live At The Fillmore and you'll agree wholeheartedly!)  For this week's weekend song, I'll leave you with this epic number from Joe Cocker & Leon Russell from this same tour.  Joe Cocker is the visual epitome of a mad man who looks like he's literally vomiting out his words and Leon kills it as per usual, keeping the band tight and in-check, while the back-up singers flail about and belt out some seriously soulful backing sounds.

Leon Russell, 1970

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