Chords for Leon Russell - CBS Sunday Morning
Tempo:
122.6 bpm
Chords used:
G
D
C
Am
Eb
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[Dm] I'd be happy [E] if the world [A] was a lie [Dm] to me too
I [Bb] [C] know that you could be [Dm] just like you should
Elton [N] John and Leon Russell are veteran piano men with a new album, The Union.
It's just been named one of the year's best by Rolling Stone and has also been nominated for a Grammy.
How these old friends became newfound colleagues is a story our Russ Mitchell has to tell.
It gives me the greatest pleasure to introduce [A] Leon Russell!
[G]
[D] [Am] [G]
[Am] It's like watching [Dm] rock and roll [Am] history [G] reborn.
This [D] wonderful man who looks like God or Moses comes out [F] and plays the piano and [Am] starts singing in that voice.
[Em] [G]
[Am] [G] [D] [Am] Look back a [D] few decades and they might seem [Am] like an [Eb] odd couple.
It's a little [Cm] bit funny.
In this corner, [D] Elton John.
You know his hit songs.
[G]
[Bm] And [C] surely you remember his outrageous [D] costumes.
[A] And Father Time over [Ab] there.
[Dbm] [Eb] That's Leon Russell.
[Bb]
[C] You played in the clubs here as a teenager?
Yeah, [Eb] Oklahoma was a dry state and consequently there was no liquor laws.
And I was able to take advantage of that by playing in the nightclubs at the age of 14.
That's real handy.
Almost 50 years ago, Russell hit the national [D] stage straight out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. [Dm] Hey!
[D] [A] As [D] the 60s picked up steam, he [B] grew out his do.
[Gb] Everybody join hands.
[Db] [Am]
Becoming a mainstay [G] of the Woodstock generation.
[F]
[C] He [Em] famously [C] organized the band for Joe [Fm] Conker's Mad Dogs in [C] Englishman tour in 1970.
[F] [Ab] Along the way, he had a few hits of his own, including a true classic.
[Dm]
[A] A [C] song for you, [Fm] sung by just about everyone.
[Bb] [Gm]
[Dm] [Bb] [Am]
[D] [Dbm]
[D] [F] [C]
[G] [C] [B]
[E] [Am] I've called him the master.
[B] I've always called him the master.
When anyone says, who's your favorite piano player?
I say, well, the master is Leon Russell.
Which made it especially nerve-wracking when Elton looked out in the audience at a Los Angeles club as he made his US debut in [N] 1970.
Second night, I'm in the middle of Burn Down the Mission.
And I look to my right and there's only 250 people in the tribunal.
In the second row, I see this long mane of silver hair.
And Leon was a pretty handsome guy.
But he was also kind of scary looking.
Because he was kind of these glasses and his hair was like, God, I'm going to have to meet him afterwards.
And he's going to tell me how to play the [G] piano.
[C]
[Gm] [C] [G] But while Elton John went on to superstardom, the glory days wound down for Leon Russell.
He fell off the charts and virtually off the map.
[Eb] He's such an amazing musician.
He's done so much.
And it's kind of like, you know, not really getting the recognition for it, [Em] I think.
We caught up with one of Russell's daughters, [Eb] Tina Rose, at [Ab] the studio Russell [N] used to own in Tulsa.
For the last 20 years, a lot of folks hadn't seen him.
What have the last 20 years been like for him?
He's been working really hard and been on tour, you know.
However, the tours had shrunk.
And aside from a few diehard fans, Leon Russell was largely forgotten.
He had this incredible long silver hair.
But Elton John had not forgotten.
On Elvis Costello's cable interview show two years ago, the talk turned to inspirational figures.
And Leon Russell was at the top of the list.
But certainly piano playing wise, I would say he's my biggest hero.
Then Elton took off on his annual African safari with an iPod full of Leon Russell music.
It brought me back to a time in my life where it was so exciting and so wonderful.
So I was laying in bed watching as the world turns and he was laying on an elephant and he called me.
I rang him up and said, it's me.
You won.
39 years later.
But would you like to do a record?
And he said, do you think I can?
I went, what do you mean you think you can?
Of course you can.
[G] I can hear your heart pounding in my ear.
So into the studio they [Gm] went.
In those four days, [N] we got 10 songs [C] written.
[F] [C] All the things you [G] do.
Not even brain surgery.
Midway through recording, [D] he stopped Russell.
He would get stronger and come into the studio and do his thing and then go back and rest in the hotel.
And we got him a lazy boy chair for the [G] studio so he could relax.
But as soon as the backing singers started coming in [Eb] and people came in to pay tribute to him.
But as soon as the backing singers came, he lit up.
[Bb]
A [Ab] national [Eb] tour followed and Leon Russell said goodbye [G]
to the decades [Bbm] of obscurity.
I don't want him [Abm] ever to go back.
I won't let him.
He's [Eb] never going back there.
Leon, are you OK with that?
[Bb]
It's very comforting to have such a champion.
Now, [Ab] as you might have noticed, [Eb] Leon Russell is a man of few words.
[Bb] But in [F] this case, [Db] he [Cm] got the last [Bb] word with a song that says a simple thank [A] you.
[D] Well, I could have been sick.
[A] I could have [D]
died.
[B] Tell me about [A] that song.
Elton sort of came to the bottom of the barrel and pulled me out.
I was real thankful.
I wanted to give [D] him something.
[Gb] [Eb] I was thinking to myself, what do you give a guy that's got six fully staffed houses [Bm] and ten of everything else?
I decided I'd give him a song.
[Em] I was in [G] the hands of [D] angels.
[F] I have to ask you, Sir Elton, the first [C] time you heard the hands of angels, what was your reaction?
I cried.
I love that.
It's beautiful.
[G] [Bm] It was a thank you [N] song.
Nobody to my knowledge had written a song about me before.
It's lovely to see the ice melting and to see that smile come across his face.
He has his pride back.
I [Bb] [C] know that you could be [Dm] just like you should
Elton [N] John and Leon Russell are veteran piano men with a new album, The Union.
It's just been named one of the year's best by Rolling Stone and has also been nominated for a Grammy.
How these old friends became newfound colleagues is a story our Russ Mitchell has to tell.
It gives me the greatest pleasure to introduce [A] Leon Russell!
[G]
[D] [Am] [G]
[Am] It's like watching [Dm] rock and roll [Am] history [G] reborn.
This [D] wonderful man who looks like God or Moses comes out [F] and plays the piano and [Am] starts singing in that voice.
[Em] [G]
[Am] [G] [D] [Am] Look back a [D] few decades and they might seem [Am] like an [Eb] odd couple.
It's a little [Cm] bit funny.
In this corner, [D] Elton John.
You know his hit songs.
[G]
[Bm] And [C] surely you remember his outrageous [D] costumes.
[A] And Father Time over [Ab] there.
[Dbm] [Eb] That's Leon Russell.
[Bb]
[C] You played in the clubs here as a teenager?
Yeah, [Eb] Oklahoma was a dry state and consequently there was no liquor laws.
And I was able to take advantage of that by playing in the nightclubs at the age of 14.
That's real handy.
Almost 50 years ago, Russell hit the national [D] stage straight out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. [Dm] Hey!
[D] [A] As [D] the 60s picked up steam, he [B] grew out his do.
[Gb] Everybody join hands.
[Db] [Am]
Becoming a mainstay [G] of the Woodstock generation.
[F]
[C] He [Em] famously [C] organized the band for Joe [Fm] Conker's Mad Dogs in [C] Englishman tour in 1970.
[F] [Ab] Along the way, he had a few hits of his own, including a true classic.
[Dm]
[A] A [C] song for you, [Fm] sung by just about everyone.
[Bb] [Gm]
[Dm] [Bb] [Am]
[D] [Dbm]
[D] [F] [C]
[G] [C] [B]
[E] [Am] I've called him the master.
[B] I've always called him the master.
When anyone says, who's your favorite piano player?
I say, well, the master is Leon Russell.
Which made it especially nerve-wracking when Elton looked out in the audience at a Los Angeles club as he made his US debut in [N] 1970.
Second night, I'm in the middle of Burn Down the Mission.
And I look to my right and there's only 250 people in the tribunal.
In the second row, I see this long mane of silver hair.
And Leon was a pretty handsome guy.
But he was also kind of scary looking.
Because he was kind of these glasses and his hair was like, God, I'm going to have to meet him afterwards.
And he's going to tell me how to play the [G] piano.
[C]
[Gm] [C] [G] But while Elton John went on to superstardom, the glory days wound down for Leon Russell.
He fell off the charts and virtually off the map.
[Eb] He's such an amazing musician.
He's done so much.
And it's kind of like, you know, not really getting the recognition for it, [Em] I think.
We caught up with one of Russell's daughters, [Eb] Tina Rose, at [Ab] the studio Russell [N] used to own in Tulsa.
For the last 20 years, a lot of folks hadn't seen him.
What have the last 20 years been like for him?
He's been working really hard and been on tour, you know.
However, the tours had shrunk.
And aside from a few diehard fans, Leon Russell was largely forgotten.
He had this incredible long silver hair.
But Elton John had not forgotten.
On Elvis Costello's cable interview show two years ago, the talk turned to inspirational figures.
And Leon Russell was at the top of the list.
But certainly piano playing wise, I would say he's my biggest hero.
Then Elton took off on his annual African safari with an iPod full of Leon Russell music.
It brought me back to a time in my life where it was so exciting and so wonderful.
So I was laying in bed watching as the world turns and he was laying on an elephant and he called me.
I rang him up and said, it's me.
You won.
39 years later.
But would you like to do a record?
And he said, do you think I can?
I went, what do you mean you think you can?
Of course you can.
[G] I can hear your heart pounding in my ear.
So into the studio they [Gm] went.
In those four days, [N] we got 10 songs [C] written.
[F] [C] All the things you [G] do.
Not even brain surgery.
Midway through recording, [D] he stopped Russell.
He would get stronger and come into the studio and do his thing and then go back and rest in the hotel.
And we got him a lazy boy chair for the [G] studio so he could relax.
But as soon as the backing singers started coming in [Eb] and people came in to pay tribute to him.
But as soon as the backing singers came, he lit up.
[Bb]
A [Ab] national [Eb] tour followed and Leon Russell said goodbye [G]
to the decades [Bbm] of obscurity.
I don't want him [Abm] ever to go back.
I won't let him.
He's [Eb] never going back there.
Leon, are you OK with that?
[Bb]
It's very comforting to have such a champion.
Now, [Ab] as you might have noticed, [Eb] Leon Russell is a man of few words.
[Bb] But in [F] this case, [Db] he [Cm] got the last [Bb] word with a song that says a simple thank [A] you.
[D] Well, I could have been sick.
[A] I could have [D]
died.
[B] Tell me about [A] that song.
Elton sort of came to the bottom of the barrel and pulled me out.
I was real thankful.
I wanted to give [D] him something.
[Gb] [Eb] I was thinking to myself, what do you give a guy that's got six fully staffed houses [Bm] and ten of everything else?
I decided I'd give him a song.
[Em] I was in [G] the hands of [D] angels.
[F] I have to ask you, Sir Elton, the first [C] time you heard the hands of angels, what was your reaction?
I cried.
I love that.
It's beautiful.
[G] [Bm] It was a thank you [N] song.
Nobody to my knowledge had written a song about me before.
It's lovely to see the ice melting and to see that smile come across his face.
He has his pride back.
Key:
G
D
C
Am
Eb
G
D
C
[Dm] I'd be happy _ [E] if the world [A] was a lie [Dm] to me too
_ I [Bb] [C] know that you could be [Dm] just like you should
_ Elton [N] John and Leon Russell are veteran piano men with a new album, The Union.
It's just been named one of the year's best by Rolling Stone and has also been nominated for a Grammy.
How these old friends became newfound colleagues is a story our Russ Mitchell has to tell. _
It gives me the greatest pleasure to introduce _ _ [A] Leon Russell!
_ _ [G] _ _
[D] _ _ [Am] _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
[Am] It's like watching [Dm] rock and roll [Am] history [G] reborn.
This [D] wonderful man who looks like God or Moses comes out [F] and plays the piano and [Am] starts singing in that voice.
_ _ [Em] _ [G] _ _
[Am] _ _ _ [G] _ _ [D] _ [Am] Look _ _ _ _ back a [D] few decades and they might seem [Am] like an [Eb] odd couple.
It's a little [Cm] bit funny.
_ In this corner, [D] Elton John.
You know his hit songs.
[G] _ _ _ _ _
_ [Bm] And _ _ _ _ [C] surely you remember his outrageous [D] costumes. _
_ _ _ _ [A] And _ _ _ _ Father Time over [Ab] there. _
_ _ [Dbm] _ _ [Eb] _ _ That's Leon Russell.
_ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [C] _ _ _ You played in the clubs here as a teenager?
Yeah, [Eb] Oklahoma was a dry state and consequently there was no liquor laws.
And I was able to take advantage of that by playing in the nightclubs at the age of 14.
That's real handy.
Almost 50 years ago, Russell hit the national [D] stage straight out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. [Dm] Hey! _ _
[D] _ _ _ _ [A] As _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] the _ _ _ _ 60s picked up steam, he [B] grew out his do.
[Gb] Everybody join hands.
[Db] _ _ [Am]
Becoming a mainstay [G] of the Woodstock generation.
_ [F] _ _
_ [C] _ _ He [Em] _ famously [C] organized the band for Joe [Fm] Conker's Mad Dogs in [C] Englishman tour in 1970.
[F] _ _ [Ab] Along the way, he had a few hits of his own, including a true classic.
[Dm] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [A] A _ _ _ [C] song for you, [Fm] sung by just about everyone.
_ _ _ [Bb] _ [Gm] _ _ _
_ [Dm] _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ [Dbm] _ _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ [F] _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [C] _ [B] _
[E] _ [Am] _ I've called him the master.
[B] I've always called him the master.
When anyone says, who's your favorite piano player?
I say, well, the master is Leon Russell. _
_ _ Which made it especially nerve-wracking when Elton looked out in the audience at a Los Angeles club as he made his US debut in [N] 1970.
Second night, I'm in the middle of Burn Down the Mission.
_ And I look to my right and there's only 250 people in the tribunal.
In the second row, I see this long mane of silver hair.
And Leon was a pretty handsome guy. _
_ _ But he was also kind of scary looking.
Because he was kind of these glasses and his hair was like, God, I'm going to have to meet him afterwards.
And he's going to tell me how to play the [G] piano.
[C] _ _
[Gm] _ _ [C] _ [G] But while Elton John went on to superstardom, the glory days wound down for Leon Russell.
He fell off the charts and virtually off the map.
[Eb] He's such an amazing musician.
He's done so much.
And it's kind of like, you know, _ not really getting the recognition for it, [Em] I think.
We caught up with one of Russell's daughters, [Eb] Tina Rose, at [Ab] the studio Russell [N] used to own in Tulsa.
For the last 20 years, a lot of folks hadn't seen him.
What have the last 20 years been like for him?
_ _ He's been working really hard and been on tour, you know.
However, the tours had shrunk.
_ And aside from a few diehard fans, Leon Russell was largely forgotten.
He had this incredible long silver hair.
But Elton John had not forgotten.
On Elvis Costello's cable interview show two years ago, the talk turned to inspirational figures.
And Leon Russell was at the top of the list.
But certainly piano playing wise, I would say he's my biggest hero.
Then Elton took off on his annual African safari with an iPod full of Leon Russell music.
It brought me back to a time in my life where it was so exciting and so wonderful.
So I was laying in bed watching as the world turns and he was laying on an elephant and he called me.
I rang him up and said, it's me.
You won.
39 years later.
But would you like to do a record?
And he said, do you think I can?
I went, what do you mean you think you can?
Of course you can.
[G] I can hear your heart pounding in my ear.
So into the studio they [Gm] went.
In those four days, [N] we got 10 songs [C] written.
[F] _ [C] _ All the things you [G] do.
Not even brain surgery.
Midway through recording, [D] he stopped Russell.
He would get stronger and come into the studio and do his thing and then go back and rest in the hotel.
And we got him a lazy boy chair for the [G] studio so he could relax.
But as soon as the backing singers started coming in [Eb] and people came in to pay tribute to him.
But as soon as the backing singers came, he lit up.
_ [Bb] _
A _ _ [Ab] national _ _ [Eb] tour followed and Leon Russell said goodbye [G]
to the decades [Bbm] of obscurity.
I don't want him [Abm] ever to go back.
I won't let him.
He's [Eb] never going back there.
Leon, are you OK with that?
[Bb]
It's very comforting to have such a champion.
Now, [Ab] as you might have noticed, [Eb] Leon Russell is a man of few words.
[Bb] But in [F] this case, [Db] he [Cm] got the last [Bb] word with a song that says a simple thank [A] you.
[D] Well, I could have been sick.
[A] _ _ _ I could have [D]
died.
[B] Tell me about [A] that song.
_ Elton sort of came to the bottom of the barrel and pulled me out.
I was real thankful.
I _ wanted to give [D] him something.
_ [Gb] [Eb] I was thinking to myself, what do you give a guy that's got six fully staffed houses [Bm] and ten of everything else? _
I decided I'd give him a song.
[Em] I was in [G] the hands of [D] angels.
_ _ [F] I have to ask you, Sir Elton, the first [C] time you heard the hands of angels, what was your reaction?
I cried.
I love that.
It's beautiful.
[G] _ _ _ [Bm] It was a thank you [N] song.
Nobody to my knowledge had written a song about me before. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ It's lovely to see the ice melting and to see that smile come across his face.
He has his pride back. _ _ _ _ _
_ I [Bb] [C] know that you could be [Dm] just like you should
_ Elton [N] John and Leon Russell are veteran piano men with a new album, The Union.
It's just been named one of the year's best by Rolling Stone and has also been nominated for a Grammy.
How these old friends became newfound colleagues is a story our Russ Mitchell has to tell. _
It gives me the greatest pleasure to introduce _ _ [A] Leon Russell!
_ _ [G] _ _
[D] _ _ [Am] _ _ [G] _ _ _ _
[Am] It's like watching [Dm] rock and roll [Am] history [G] reborn.
This [D] wonderful man who looks like God or Moses comes out [F] and plays the piano and [Am] starts singing in that voice.
_ _ [Em] _ [G] _ _
[Am] _ _ _ [G] _ _ [D] _ [Am] Look _ _ _ _ back a [D] few decades and they might seem [Am] like an [Eb] odd couple.
It's a little [Cm] bit funny.
_ In this corner, [D] Elton John.
You know his hit songs.
[G] _ _ _ _ _
_ [Bm] And _ _ _ _ [C] surely you remember his outrageous [D] costumes. _
_ _ _ _ [A] And _ _ _ _ Father Time over [Ab] there. _
_ _ [Dbm] _ _ [Eb] _ _ That's Leon Russell.
_ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [C] _ _ _ You played in the clubs here as a teenager?
Yeah, [Eb] Oklahoma was a dry state and consequently there was no liquor laws.
And I was able to take advantage of that by playing in the nightclubs at the age of 14.
That's real handy.
Almost 50 years ago, Russell hit the national [D] stage straight out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. [Dm] Hey! _ _
[D] _ _ _ _ [A] As _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] the _ _ _ _ 60s picked up steam, he [B] grew out his do.
[Gb] Everybody join hands.
[Db] _ _ [Am]
Becoming a mainstay [G] of the Woodstock generation.
_ [F] _ _
_ [C] _ _ He [Em] _ famously [C] organized the band for Joe [Fm] Conker's Mad Dogs in [C] Englishman tour in 1970.
[F] _ _ [Ab] Along the way, he had a few hits of his own, including a true classic.
[Dm] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [A] A _ _ _ [C] song for you, [Fm] sung by just about everyone.
_ _ _ [Bb] _ [Gm] _ _ _
_ [Dm] _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ [Am] _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ [Dbm] _ _ _ _
_ _ [D] _ [F] _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [C] _ [B] _
[E] _ [Am] _ I've called him the master.
[B] I've always called him the master.
When anyone says, who's your favorite piano player?
I say, well, the master is Leon Russell. _
_ _ Which made it especially nerve-wracking when Elton looked out in the audience at a Los Angeles club as he made his US debut in [N] 1970.
Second night, I'm in the middle of Burn Down the Mission.
_ And I look to my right and there's only 250 people in the tribunal.
In the second row, I see this long mane of silver hair.
And Leon was a pretty handsome guy. _
_ _ But he was also kind of scary looking.
Because he was kind of these glasses and his hair was like, God, I'm going to have to meet him afterwards.
And he's going to tell me how to play the [G] piano.
[C] _ _
[Gm] _ _ [C] _ [G] But while Elton John went on to superstardom, the glory days wound down for Leon Russell.
He fell off the charts and virtually off the map.
[Eb] He's such an amazing musician.
He's done so much.
And it's kind of like, you know, _ not really getting the recognition for it, [Em] I think.
We caught up with one of Russell's daughters, [Eb] Tina Rose, at [Ab] the studio Russell [N] used to own in Tulsa.
For the last 20 years, a lot of folks hadn't seen him.
What have the last 20 years been like for him?
_ _ He's been working really hard and been on tour, you know.
However, the tours had shrunk.
_ And aside from a few diehard fans, Leon Russell was largely forgotten.
He had this incredible long silver hair.
But Elton John had not forgotten.
On Elvis Costello's cable interview show two years ago, the talk turned to inspirational figures.
And Leon Russell was at the top of the list.
But certainly piano playing wise, I would say he's my biggest hero.
Then Elton took off on his annual African safari with an iPod full of Leon Russell music.
It brought me back to a time in my life where it was so exciting and so wonderful.
So I was laying in bed watching as the world turns and he was laying on an elephant and he called me.
I rang him up and said, it's me.
You won.
39 years later.
But would you like to do a record?
And he said, do you think I can?
I went, what do you mean you think you can?
Of course you can.
[G] I can hear your heart pounding in my ear.
So into the studio they [Gm] went.
In those four days, [N] we got 10 songs [C] written.
[F] _ [C] _ All the things you [G] do.
Not even brain surgery.
Midway through recording, [D] he stopped Russell.
He would get stronger and come into the studio and do his thing and then go back and rest in the hotel.
And we got him a lazy boy chair for the [G] studio so he could relax.
But as soon as the backing singers started coming in [Eb] and people came in to pay tribute to him.
But as soon as the backing singers came, he lit up.
_ [Bb] _
A _ _ [Ab] national _ _ [Eb] tour followed and Leon Russell said goodbye [G]
to the decades [Bbm] of obscurity.
I don't want him [Abm] ever to go back.
I won't let him.
He's [Eb] never going back there.
Leon, are you OK with that?
[Bb]
It's very comforting to have such a champion.
Now, [Ab] as you might have noticed, [Eb] Leon Russell is a man of few words.
[Bb] But in [F] this case, [Db] he [Cm] got the last [Bb] word with a song that says a simple thank [A] you.
[D] Well, I could have been sick.
[A] _ _ _ I could have [D]
died.
[B] Tell me about [A] that song.
_ Elton sort of came to the bottom of the barrel and pulled me out.
I was real thankful.
I _ wanted to give [D] him something.
_ [Gb] [Eb] I was thinking to myself, what do you give a guy that's got six fully staffed houses [Bm] and ten of everything else? _
I decided I'd give him a song.
[Em] I was in [G] the hands of [D] angels.
_ _ [F] I have to ask you, Sir Elton, the first [C] time you heard the hands of angels, what was your reaction?
I cried.
I love that.
It's beautiful.
[G] _ _ _ [Bm] It was a thank you [N] song.
Nobody to my knowledge had written a song about me before. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ It's lovely to see the ice melting and to see that smile come across his face.
He has his pride back. _ _ _ _ _