{"id":1554,"date":"2011-03-04T15:54:52","date_gmt":"2011-03-04T22:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=1554"},"modified":"2011-03-04T15:54:52","modified_gmt":"2011-03-04T22:54:52","slug":"elton-johnleon-russell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2011\/03\/elton-johnleon-russell\/","title":{"rendered":"ELTON JOHN\/LEON RUSSELL"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>E<\/strong>LTON JOHN\/LEON RUSSELL<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Union<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

[Decca Records]<\/p>\n

This much-anticipated collaboration between Elton John and Leon Russell had all the ingredients for greatness\u2014two brilliant singers and pianists, an extraordinary producer in T Bone Burnett, and a profound mutual admiration between the artists involved. It turns out that \u201cgreatness\u201d is too strong a word, but the album does have its rewards. As you might expect, The Union<\/em> mixes Russell\u2019s bluesy, gospel-flavored keyboard work with John\u2019s more pop-oriented approach. Fine moments include \u201cGone to Shiloh,\u201d a haunted ballad (featuring guest vocals from Neil Young) that sits well alongside Russell\u2019s early \u201970s work; \u201cJimmie Rodgers\u2019 Dream,\u201d a light-hearted country-pop tune laced with pedal steel; and \u201cMonkey Suit,\u201d a barrelhouse boogie rocker fitted with a Cajun vibe and a white-robed gospel chorus. One wishes the songwriting were stronger, given the presence of two of the premier contemporary-music composers of our times. Instead, a sense of sublime elegance seems to have been substituted for memorable songs. \u2013Russell Hall<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ELTON JOHN\/LEON RUSSELL The Union [Decca Records] This much-anticipated collaboration between Elton John and Leon Russell had all the ingredients for greatness\u2014two brilliant singers and pianists, an extraordinary producer in T Bone Burnett, and a profound mutual admiration between the artists involved. It turns out that \u201cgreatness\u201d is too strong a word, but the album […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[196,1066,1063,1064,1062,1065],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1554"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1554"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1557,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1554\/revisions\/1557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}