Filmed between the three year span of 1972-74, this documentary follows the recording process of singer-songwriter Leon Russell. It is surprising that a film about such a popular musician took so long to be released, but here it is.
Leon Russell decided to record an album in his own recording studio located in the northeast of Oklahoma. Thinking it might be interesting to film the process he hired film director Les Blank record the goings on. This resulted in a very intimate portrait of the artist and his process. The scenes of Russell and his band working are magical. The footage is of them in studio, behind the scenes and live. You also get performances by George Jones and Willie Nelson.
Both the musician and the director come off well in this documentary. Russell for his musical talent and Blank for his vision. The time period covered by this film features Russell in his prime as a musician and as such should really be of interest to fans. Now, if you are not a fan you might find this a little hard to get through. Though fans of the era (as this is kind of like a time capsule) and films from that time period might want to take a look as Blank has taken a very artsy approach. This is certainly not your average straight forward music documentary making it hard to believe it just sat on the shelves for forty years.
