Elton John and Leon Russell: The Union

"Leon Russell was my biggest influence in the late 60s and early 70s, from a piano-playing point-of-view and from a vocal point-of-view. I've been influenced by a lot of other piano players too, but Leon was my man; he was the master as far as I was concerned. ... He was in the Troubadour club on the second night I played there in 1970. I saw him sitting in the audience and I was petrified because he was my idol. You couldn't miss him; he was such an incredible looking man with his silver hair and his dark glasses. He was so kind to me from the word 'go' and we did concerts together. We did the Fillmore East. We did other dates together and for me that was a dream come true to actually play with him, and for him to be so nice to me. ... He was the greatest bandleader of his era. He did Delaney & Bonnie and Joe Cocker with Mad Dogs and Englishmen and then his own records and then, of course, the Concert for Bangladesh. ..." (CD notes by Elton John).
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