The most recent rock doc I watched just the other day was the "Tantrums and Tiaras" fly-on-the-wall programme following Elton John around in the year 1996. It's fair to say, it showed him at times in a far from favourable light. Living a life of object luxury as opposed to abject poverty, we see him indulge his every whim, mood-swinging like a diva as he goes. What a contrast then with this more music-based production as we see him reach out to one of his early musical heroes and inspirations, Leon Russell, to make a collaborative slbum from scratch of totally original material. He selected noted director Cameron Crowe, who famously included Elton's "Tiny Dancer" in his "Almost Famous" movie which brought the relatively lesser-known song to much greater prominence in the singer's catalogue, to film their convergence with this near 90-minute film being the outcome.
Russell admits himself that he was "down in the ditch" until Elton came along and lifted him up again. He doesn't really look well when you see him and yet you have to say that he looks magnificent. Yes, his singing voice initially sounds strained and he moves and speaks slowly and with difficulty, indeed we're told he suffered a near-fatal brain injury which delayed the project for weeks, but gradually he improves to the extent where he plays a full part in the album and appears to be enjoying making new music again.
I too loved Leon's early albums, just like Elton did, but of course there was a whole lot more to him than that. As Crowe's potted history of his career shows, from a young age he was a talented multi-instrumentalist, became a noted session musician and then band-leader most famously for Joe Cocker's "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" tour of America, even ending up on stage with Dylan and two Beatles at the Concert for Bangla-Desh in 1971. With his long beard, intense staring eyes and propensity for wearing big hats, he had a distinct "crazy man" persona about him but after the mid 70's his star faded, ironically just as a young, bespectacled, piano-playing English superfan came on the scene and became one of the most prolific and best-known names in rock. Still a major artist and huge draw by 2009 when this film was made, he was inspired to pay it back by inviting his former idol back into the fold. Hiring the best session musicians and a top producer T Bone Burnett, it's fair to say that Elton and his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin, in going back to the style of their earliest albums, most obviously "Tumbleweed Connection", were suitably inspired to come up with a batch of songs much more to my taste than most of Elton's recorded output since his own glory days of the 70's.
The film nicely captures the connection between these two old piano-players, Elton naturally stoked and emotional, not only at their reunion but also gathering strength and inspiration as he instinctively feels the album coming together and Leon, a little bemused af first at the attention and reverence afforded him, unfailingly polite to everyone and visibly and audibly improving as the sessions proceed.
Sprinkled among the footage of the sessions, we see Stevie Nicks drop in to pay court to Leon and an in-and-out appearance by a wandered Brian Wilson, RIP, adding backing vocals to a track although sadly there's no film of Neil Young who also contributed a vocal to the record.
Warmly directed by Crowe, who also takes time to insert some rare video footage of the emergent Elton, I'm glad to say the resultant album was a critical and commercial success, with this film nicely capturing the essential reasons why. Yes, the music is excellent but above all this film celebrates respect for one's peers, friendship and the redemptive power of music itself.
