Album, documentary celebrate Leon Russell’s journey

When Elton John pulled Leon Russell back into the limelight for the "The Union" album five years ago, it could have been that one last hurrah to send the 73-year-old singer and songwriter down the trail to play out the rest of his days.

Not so fast, though.

Two weeks ago, Russell returned to his native Tulsa, Okla., for the debut of "A Poem Is a Naked Person," a long-abandoned documentary capturing the whirlwind surrounding his breakout years of the early 1970s.

And last year, Russell released "Life Lessons," a standards album augmented by a big band, covering everyone from Robert Johnson to Billy Joel. He's likely to choose a few songs from it when he performs Friday at the Golden Nugget.

Consider it a fair trade for the soulful piano man who gave so many singers a classic to cover when he wrote "A Song for You," as well as "Superstar" for The Carpenters and "This Masquerade" for George Benson.

"At a certain time, I set out to write standards. I set out to write songs that everybody could sing," Russell told the Review-Journal in 2011. He wanted "Song" to be something both Ray Charles and Frank Sinatra could cover.

"That has to be a certain kind of song, (and) I managed to pull that off. I still try to write that way sometimes, try to write standards. And they're not always much to hear when you first hear them. But after so many people record them, they kind of get a life of their own."

Read more from Mike Weatherford at bestoflasvegas.com or reviewjournal.com. Tweet him @Mikeweatherford