Leon Russell

Singer, songwriter, sideman, bandleader, American treasure Leon Russell has done it all. As an in-demand piano man, he's pounded the ivories alongside a long list of living legends — his rippling lines on Bob Dylan's "Watching the River Flow" are so expressive, they practically qualify the tune as a duet. Joe Cocker had a 1969 hit with Russell's soul-soaked "Delta Lady," and Russell became ringmaster of the ragtag rock 'n' roll circus that was Cocker's notorious Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. And even though Russell's bluesy Oklahoma drawl suits his R&B ballad "A Song for You" and bittersweet bossa nova "This Masquerade" to a T, those songs gained even greater renown in the hands of Donny Hathaway and George Benson, respectively.

In Next Steps, kick it on the country side with Leon's alter ego.

Along with fellow Okies like J.J. Cale, Leon Russell perfected a unique brand of Americana known as the Tulsa Sound. A big part of that sonic stew is country, and Russell made a batch of albums under the country alias Hank Wilson, scoring several hits to boot. "Wilson" mixes it up with the Outlaw Country king himself, Willie Nelson, on a pumped-up version of the Carter Family classic "Wabash Cannonball," and blends bluegrass with big-city soul when the Newgrass Revival backs him on Ray Charles' mighty R&B testament "I Believe to My Soul." But when he honors his roots, singing "I'm going back to Tulsa one more time" on "Home Sweet Oklahoma," there's no secret identity necessary. In Deep Cuts, follow Russell all over the musical map, from melancholy jazz moods to paisley pop productions.

Leon Russell's music is as many-sided and deceptively complex as the man himself. He's as likely to be found trading verses with Joe Cocker on a soul-drenched version of Bob Dylan's "Girl from the North Country" as lending his blues-baked lungs to Thelonious Monk's timeless jazz nocturne "Round Midnight." Russell even dipped a toe in psychedelia back in the '60s with Marc Benno, in the pair's Asylum Choir days, but even amid the trippy tones and art-pop trappings of that duo's L.A.-lampooning tune "Welcome to Hollywood," the bluesy bends in Leon's voice make for an unmistakable musical fingerprint.

With his trademark top hat, long silver locks, and old-prospector beard, Leon Russell has always cut a flamboyant figure as instantly memorable as his music. Whether you've heard him pumping out his own hits like "Tight Rope," or hammering the 88s behind the likes of Bob Dylan and Joe Cocker, you know Russell the moment he enters your ears. Even those who've never heard a note he recorded are more intimate with him than they realize — under the title "Superstar," his tune "Groupie (Superstar)" (which he never cut himself) became a huge hit for the Carpenters, and other Russell classics have been covered by everyone from Kenny Rogers to Christina Aguilera. Bits of blues, rock, gospel, bluegrass, and more come bounding out of his tunes, sometimes all at once, making up a style whose only possible label is simply "Leon Russell." The thing is, he's been at it since the '60s, so how do you catch up on what you may have missed? Easy — you soak up all the crucial components of his legacy as assembled for you right here.