Delaney Bramlett - You Never Looked Sweeter - GNP Crescendo 328 27/01/08

60s Los Angeles pop aficionado, Steven Evanich, contacted the site with information on three 'lost' Jack Nitzsche arrangements for Delaney Bramlett. Recorded August 4, 1964 at RCA Records studio, two of the cuts, "Heartbreak Hotel" & "You Never Looked Sweeter", gained a 45 release on G.N.P. Crescendo, while the third, "Tomorrow Never Comes", had to wait seven years until it was issued by G.N.P. on a 'cash-in' LP, "Genesis", credited to Delaney & Bonnie, although Bonnie only appeared on three cuts. The tracks were produced by pop goddess Jackie DeShannon, with Leon Russell tickling the ivories. The information comes not from the record label or sleeve credits but from a July 1999 'Discoveries' article on Leon Russell, written by Steve Todoroff. He started by cataloguing all mentions of his hero Leon Russell's session details from record labels and sleeve note credits etc. but as a true obsessive fan this was not enough. He contacted the L.A. Musicians Union in Hollywood and hired several of the staff to work overtime trawling their archives for mention of Russell. The 'Discoveries' article features some of the fruits of this labour with the details displayed in date, label, studio, artist, tune and session leader information, while the 'colour' is provided not only by label scans and photos but by recollections from Russell himself. Fascinating stuff! The planned book, Long Hair Music: The Leon Russell Story, should prove an essential purchase.