When Elton John appeared on Elvis Costello’s talk show Spectacle their conversation turned to Leon Russell, a somewhat forgotten musician who has worked with Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, George Harrison and basically everybody. After the show, John contacted Russell and now they’re planning to work together on an upcoming album produced by T-Bone Burnett.
“That was a complete result of … ‘Spectacle’ – by me talking about Leon, playing Leon, seeing him (on video) and then phoning him up, saying, ‘Listen, I haven’t seen you for so long, I just want to tell you how much I loved you,’” John told the Canadian Press. “And he loved the show, and then I said ‘Let’s do something together.’ … I’m so excited about that.”
John is still discussing the project with T-Bone Burnett, so they likely won’t enter the studio until next year, but the collaboration certainly solidifies Burnett’s status as the producer du jour.