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by Tom Von MalderLeon Russell has used his new album, “Carney” (Capitol SW-8911), to give a sideshow view of life and music of these days. Most of it is fascinating and lively.Russell has long stood for excitement in rock. He has been the guiding light behind such well known groups and happenings as the Asylum Chorus, Delaney Bonnie, Joe Cocker, Mad Dogs and Englishmen and the Concert For Bangla-Desh. This album, his third far Shelter Records which he helped to found, was a year and a half in the making. The care he gave it comes through too.HE IS BEST KNOWN for his rollicking piano and it is here, too, in “Magic Mirror, a song about how others see us, and “Tight Rope,” the fast rising single that uses the circus analogy to tell of a love story. “Carney,” the title track, is full of the midway atmosphere.Many more diverse sounds are found as Russell appears to be experimenting and having fun at the same time.“Out in the Woods” has jungle sounds and Zulu words, while “Cajun Love Song” gets pretty hokey. He turns to satire in “If the Shoe Fits ...” Which hits hard at the growing counter-culture.If you haven’t already, you should get your tickets for “Carney.”a studio with the support of others and electronics that Marc Bolan’s gang can do wonders in creating a mysterious, other-worldly atmosphere in song.On stage, T. Rex is too much Bolan and he just can’t carry it off. Each song is stretched out to what Bolan calls “boogie,” but I call a boring mishmash of sounds (even to his playing guitar with a tambourine).YET T. REX does show indications of catching on (at least on records) a little bit here. So AM Records has reached into its vaults to come up with a two-record release of two “previously unavailable” 1968 albums.Back in the days of “A Beginning” (AdtM SP-3514) T. Rex was Tyrannosaurus Rex, a non-electric duo — being Bolan and percussionist Peter Took. We are given a generous helping of 26 songs most of which could easily have been left in those vaults. Occasional glimpses of what was to become T. Rex come through but not enough to justify this album for anyone but the historian.England’s No. 1 group T. Rex has failed to make it big in America. Only one single, “Bang a Gong,” really ever caught on here.Up until Saturday night this puzzled me, but then I saw them in concert and realized that T. Rex is a basic nothing on their own in an auditorium. It is only inLeonRussell
Newspaper Details
Hoffman Estates Herald
Hoffman Estates, Illinois, US
Fri, Oct 06, 1972
Page 19
Full Page
Clipped by
Clifford M.
CZ 04 Jun 2025
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