I possess an endless fascination and curiosity about how someone can change so drastically from being a quiet, shy, piano player to the persona that became the Master of Space and Time, Leon Russell. I wish I could have asked him how it happened, how he emerged from one to the other, but sadly, I’ll never get the chance, so I continue to marvel at his drastic transformation.

In 1959, he was still Claude Russell Bridges; he hadn’t yet metamorphosed into the uber cool musician with long hair, a beard, and those iconic sunglasses, but the talent was there. Long before he became Leon Russell and had massively successful career as a solo artist, he was still a musical genius.

Leon was only about fourteen when he formed The Starlighters in the mid-1950s. He and the other band members attended Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

This is a photo of the Starlighters at the Tropicana Club, 1959. Left to right: Leo Feathers, Chuck Blackwell, Ron Ryan, Johnny Williams, and Russell Bridges wearing glasses.

A promoter at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa hired the Starlighters to back Jerry Lee Lewis at an upcoming show.

After the Starlighters’ first warm-up set, Lewis came up onto the bandstand, pointed at seventeen-year-old Leon, and declared, ”I’m not gonna set down at that piano. He plays a lot better piano than I do!” Lewis immediately hired the band to back him on a tour. (Courtesy of the OKPOP Museum)

Leon produced this record when he was seventeen. I’m blown away by his piano mastery; he was definitely destined for greatness.

Swanee River, too.