Leon Russell was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and roll, country, gospel, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, southern rock, blues rock, folk, surf and the Tulsa sound. His recordings earned six gold records and he received two Grammy Awards from seven nominations. In 2011, he was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Summer in Paradise is the twenty-seventh studio album by American rock band the Beach Boys, released on August 3, 1992, by Brother Records. Produced by Terry Melcher, it is the only album not to feature any new contributions from Brian Wilson, and has been regarded as the band's critical and commercial low point, failing to chart in either the US or UK and receiving almost unanimously negative reviews. In North America, it was the group's first album to only be released on CD and cassette, with a rare vinyl pressing only released in South Korea. The Beach Boys did not record another album of predominately original material until That's Why God Made the Radio in 2012. Summer in Paradise was left out of Capitol's Beach Boys CD reissue campaign of 2000 to 2001, as well as all other reissues for most of the group's discography. Both it and its predecessor, Still Cruisin', are currently out of print. Summer in Paradise, along with Still Cruisin', were pulled from later re-releases due to poor public reception.
Icehouse are an Australian rock band, formed in Sydney in 1977 as Flowers. Initially known in their homeland for their pub rock style, the band later achieved mainstream success playing new wave and synth-pop music and attained Top 10 singles chart success locally and in both Europe and the U.S. The mainstay of both Flowers and Icehouse has been Iva Davies supplying additional musicians as required. The name "Icehouse", adopted in 1981, comes from an old, cold flat Davies lived in and the strange building across the road populated by itinerant people.
The Grass Roots is an American rock band that charted frequently between 1965 and 1975. The band was originally the creation of Lou Adler and songwriting duo P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri. In their career, they achieved two gold albums and two gold singles, and charted singles on the Billboard Hot 100 a total of 21 times. Among their charting singles, they achieved Top 10 three times, Top 20 six times and Top 40 14 times. They have sold over 20 million records worldwide.
Spoiled Girl is the 12th studio album by American singer-songwriter Carly Simon, released by Epic Records, in June 1985.
Roger Curtis Linn is an American designer of electronic musical instruments and equipment. He is the designer of the LM-1, the first drum machine to use samples, and the MPC sampler, which had a major influence on the development of hip hop. Roger Linn is also a member of the Dead Presidents Society, a group of innovators in the field of electronic music.
John Cowan is an American soul music and progressive bluegrass vocalist and bass guitar player. He was the lead vocalist and bass player for the New Grass Revival. Cowan became the band's bassist in 1972 after the departure of original bassist Ebo Walker and was noted as being the only member of New Grass Revival not to come from a bluegrass background.
The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use samples of acoustic drums, and one of the first programmable drum machines. Its designer, the American engineer Roger Linn, wanted a machine that would produce more realistic drum sounds and offer more than preset patterns.
Afternoons in Utopia is the second album by German synth-pop band Alphaville, released in 1986 via Warner Music. The album was recorded between September 1985 and May 1986.
"Staying Power" is the first track on Queen's 1982 album Hot Space. It was written by lead singer Freddie Mercury and is notable as being the only Queen song to have a horn section, which was arranged by Arif Mardin. The song is driven by a funk-styled bass riff beginning in D minor and modulating to E minor throughout the song. John Deacon does not play bass guitar on this song—instead playing rhythm guitar on a Fender Telecaster. Roger Taylor programmed a Linn LM-1 drum machine for the track. Brian May is on his Red Special. In a Stylus review of the album, critic Anthony Miccio described the song's style as "an electro-disco track with frenetic horns."
A Song for You is the fourth studio album by the American music duo the Carpenters, released on June 22, 1972. According to Richard Carpenter, A Song for You was intended to be a concept album with the title tune opening and closing the set and the bookended selections comprising the 'song'. "A Song for You" was written by songwriter Leon Russell.
Somewhere in My Lifetime is the third studio album by singer Phyllis Hyman. It was released by Arista Records in 1979, becoming Hyman's debut Arista release.
Leon Russell and the Shelter People is the second solo album by the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Leon Russell. Released in 1971, it peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 200 in the United States. The album has gold certification for sales of over 500,000 albums in the US and Canada.
Wedding Album is a studio album by Leon Russell and his then wife, Mary Russell, otherwise known as Mary McCreary. It was the first album released on Leon Russell's record label, Paradise Records, which was distributed by Warner Bros. Records. Leon and Mary Russell are also credited as producers of the album, with the exception of the final track, "Daylight", which was produced by its writer, Bobby Womack.
Paradise Records was an American record label founded by Leon Russell in 1976 in Burbank, California.
Stop All That Jazz is an album by singer and songwriter Leon Russell. The album was recorded in 1974 at Russell's House Studio in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Paradise Studios in Tia Juana, Oklahoma; Pete's Place in Nashville, Tennessee; and Shelter The Church Studio, in Tulsa. Stop All That Jazz is Russell's sixth solo album.
Americana is an album by singer and songwriter Leon Russell. The album peaked at number 115 on the US Billboard 200. The album was first released as a vinyl LP Album by Leon's new label Paradise Records. Americana was re-released on CD by Wounded Bird Records in 2007 and again in 2012 by Ais. The album was by produced by Leon Russell.
Solid State is an album by singer and songwriter Leon Russell released in 1984. It was solely produced by Russell. The album was recorded in Paradise Studios in Burbank, California. The album was re-released on CD in 2011. Most of the songs were written by Russell and Douglas A. Snider, who later write songs for Tom Jones and B.J. Thomas.
Rhythm & Bluegrass: Hank Wilson, Vol. 4 is an album by singer and songwriter Leon Russell and the band New Grass Revival with Russell singing under the pseudonym Hank Wilson. Produced by Russell, the album was recorded in the 1980 but was not released until October 23, 2001. This is Russell's second album with New Grass Revival, who became his backup group and opening act in 1979.
On a Distant Shore is an album by singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Leon Russell. Produced by Mark Lambert and Leon Russell, the album was released on September 22, 2017, Leon's 38th album on Palmetto Records. On a Distant Shore is Leon's last album, as he died in November 2016, aged 74. The album was recorded at ThirtySeventeen studio in Nashville, Tennessee in 2016. Leon Russell's daughter, Coco Bridges, performs backing vocals on the album and also did the album cover painting. Leon Russell's daughter, Sugaree Noel Bridges, performs backing vocals on the album. Russell reinterpreted "This Masquerade", "Hummingbird" and "A Song for You", three of his best-known songs, and also added an orchestral arrangement by Larry Hall.
