Leon Russell

Leon Russell ranks among rock’s legends behind the legends. As a member of the Los Angeles-based “Wrecking Crew” in the ’60s, a loose conglomeration of studio musicians that included Glen Campbell and Mac “Dr. John” Rebbenack, Russell can be heard on some of the biggest recordings to emerge from that era, working with the Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Bob Dylan and the Byrds. A gifted keyboardist, guitarist, bassist and songwriter, Russell struck out on his own in the early ’70s, turning out one hit album after another and becoming the top concert draw in 1973. Perhaps the oddest twist in Russell’s career, and his longest-lasting legacy, came in the mid-’70s when he gave up Los Angeles for Nashville to record as his countrified alter ego, Hank Wilson, a move representative of the evolutionary link between rock and country.