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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant!, May 4, 2000
Leon Russell is easily one of the most underrated and underappreciated artists of all time. This, his first solo album (although when listing his albums in chronological order, I list the earlier recorded but later released "Asylum Choir 2" as his first) is the one that people should get into to become familiar with Leon's interesting musical mix. Blues, country, rock and gospel all fuse together into something some people have called Okie-Swamp music. Whatever you call it, it is incredibly infectious. And the Gold Disc is the way to go on this release because not only do you get the original order of the album (which places Russell's odd cover of Dylan's "Master of War" into proper context), you get the original cover art (with the famous Shelter egg in the top left hand corner of the sleeve), and a great number of bonus tracks including a sped up version of his Asylum-era "Sweet Home Chicago," (now called "The New Sweet Home Chicago") an awesome jam between Leon and Eric Clapton, an alternate version of "Shootout on the Plantation," a great unreleased track ("Indian Girl") and "Shine a Light" which features Leon on piano, Ringo Starr on drums and Mick Jagger singing (oddly enough, this song is credited to Leon Russell here but when it turned up later on "Exile on Main Street," it was credited to Jagger and Richards...truth be told, it sounds more Jagger and Richards to me). Aside from the bonus tracks, the album has been remastered back to its original mix (the album version of "Shootout on the Plantation" sounds more piano laden) and all of the studio banter and stops and starts have survived. And on top of all of this, "Delta Lady," "A Song For You," "Hummingbird," "Roll Away the Stone" and "Pieces Apple Lady" have never sounded better. This is the first time Leon put out so many great tracks on one album. Later, he would make more profound albums, more personal albums, more diverse albums and more complex albums but he never made a more fun album.
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29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Grab this one if your house is burning down, July 28, 2000
Leon's first album is absolutely mystical. This is music straight from Leon's soul to yours. The music somehow captures the values of the sixties while simultaneously capturing the tangible essence--like skinny dipping, or your first hippy kiss, or moving into a slightly renovated barn. If your house were burning down and you had to grab three Leon albums, this one, Will O' the Wisp, and The Wedding Album would be the three. In a small fire of course, you'd have to grab Leon and the Shelter People, too.
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25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The beginning... Leon Russell, September 1, 2004
After years of being a session player for tons of "Big Name" acts, Leon fianally went out on his own to record this album (now released and remastered on CD). It was time to ask many of the folks who he'd worked for to contribute here on this these tracks. Well, it wasn't hard, they all wanted to be a part of his first release. George Harrison guitar playing on Leon's first album led to his participation in the first rock and roll benefit concerts, the "Concert for Bangladesh.
This album was released on Shelter Records, owned by Leon and producer Denny Cordell, along with early albums by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Phoebe Snow and The Gap Band, also three albums that Leon produced and played on for the great blues guitarist, Freddie King. In the 1970's Leon was established as a major live performer and was reported by Billboard Magazine to be the top concert attraction in the world by 1973. Many different performers OPENED for Leon in this period including Elton John, ZZ Top, Willie Nelson and Charlie Daniels.
This was his first effort on the way to the top. Your collection of the era will not be complete without this CD... ENJOY!
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by Leon Russell 
