Remembering Leon Russell
Rock legend Leon Russell passed away in his sleep on Sunday in his Nashville home. Russell had been recovering from heart bypass surgery from July at the time of his death and had hoped to resume touring in January. Russell came to prominence in the 1970s, quickly proving his talents not only as a rock musician, but in the blues, gospel, and country genres as well, leading to his collaborating with titans of all genres over the last 50 years: everyone from from B.B. King to Elton John to Willie Nelson. Russell played and/or wrote songs for Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, and Ike and Tina Turner, and his music has been covered by Amy Winehouse, Sonic Youth, and Ray Charles to name a few. In 2011, Russell was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In one interview during the last year of his life, Russell said he owed much of his success and the general make-up of who he was to an injury he sustained at birth that left him slightly paralyzed in his right side, saying the discrepancy gave him “a strong sense of duality…It gave me an outlook into this place that we live on and if I hadn’t had that, I’d probably be selling cars in Paris, Texas.” Russell was 74. (NPR)
Saxon Pub is Going Nowhere (and There was Much Rejoicing)
The future of the Saxon Pub has been decided: it’s staying right where it is. Over the past several months, there had been talk of moving the South Lamar landmark to the Saint Elmo Market District to act as an anchor tenant for the mixed-use project. This speculation followed the transition of landlordship of Saxon Pub from Jeffrey Rabkin to Gary Keller, head of Keller-Williams realty and founder of the All ATX nonprofit. Apparently, Keller is on a mission to involve himself as much as possible into the preservation of historic Austin venues, and keeping the Saxon right where it is is part of that plan. (Austin-American Statesman)
-Taylor Wallace
