“Day After Day” was Badfinger’s biggest hit.

George Harrison invited Leon Russell to play piano on Badfinger’s third album in the summer of 1971. The piano part complemented Pete Ham’s and Harrison’s dual slide guitars on “Day After Day.” (Church Studio)

I always loved the way the piano sounded on this tune and when I found out that it was Leon I was blown away. It’s like so many songs I’ve loved over the years only to discover that Leon’s contribution was the magic that made them so memorable.

“He just sat down, closed his eyes, and played the part in one take.”

According to sound engineer Richard Lush, Russell nailed the “Day After Day” piano line almost instinctively.

I’m repeating a comment from YouTube about this recording. “George Harrison asked Leon Russell to add the piano accompaniment. They played the tracks that had already been laid down, as Leon sat in the studio by himself. After listening to it once, he sat at the piano with his eyes closed. George thought he had fallen asleep and said Leon’s name a couple of times over the speaker. Leon held his hand up and then a moment later told them he was ready and to roll tape. He played the part in one take. Don’t know if it’s true, but a cool story.”

Russell – like so many greats – had an almost spiritual sense for when not to play, and on “Day After Day” he seems to materialize only at the emotional inflection points. He doesn’t play on the piece – he haunts it, and once done, disappears from the song again like incense in a draught. He is a spectral presence, and this plays on my imagination as a strange portent for the tragedy that would befall Badfinger the band. https://danegiraud.substack.com/

Of course it’s true. I’m not at all surprised. Leon was a visionary, a musical genius, and will always and forever be the master of space and time.

PS I know there was a tragic end to Badfinger but this isn’t an exposé, just another example of the hundreds of songs that were all the better because of Leon Russell’s magic touch.