Leon Russell came back to Tulsa just one more time.

The iconic singer, musician, songwriter and friend to many who influenced and shaped rock and roll was celebrated with stories, laughs and tears from thousands Sunday at a funeral for Russell, who died Nov. 13 near his home near Nashville. He was 74.

Born Claude Russell Bridges in Lawton, Russell got his start as a musician in Tulsa in the 1950s and started down a path that would take him to stages around the world, playing alongside some of music’s biggest names and influencing their own sound.

“That’s what Leon did: He made magic, and helped a lot of people in his music and art,” said Jim Halsey, a renowned promoter who worked with Russell and was a lifelong family friend. “Their art and their music can do a lot of healing.”

The full effects of that musical healing were felt Sunday. Along with stories about Russell’s life from Halsey and others who worked closely with Russell, performances of “Home Sweet Oklahoma” by John Fullbright and “A Song For You” by Taylor Hanson led the crowd to bob their heads in rhythm as many wiped away a tear. Russell’s band for the past several years of extensive touring joined them on stage, including Jack Wessel and Tulsa natives Beau Charron and Brandon Holder.

“Leon was a master of that healing with his music.”

Thousands packed into the Mabee Center auditorium, with a casket under the spotlight, radiating light off the white flowers and Russell’s classic white cowboy hat. A city proclamation to declare Sunday Leon Russell Day was presented to Russell’s family, including wife Jan Bridges who hugged her loved ones as the proclamation was read.

But many there Sunday wanted to share their stories about Russell, what made him as a musician and what set him apart as a friend and mentor.

“It was a student-teacher relationship: I was not always a willing and happy student, he was not always a willing and happy teacher,” said Steve Ripley, a family friend of Russell and frequent musical collaborator.

Ripley started working as a sound engineer for Russell, was fired by him in Los Angeles, but eventually got back to working with him and playing with him. When Ripley and his partners took over ownership of Russell’s famed Church Studio just east of downtown Tulsa on Third Street, the first recordings were a bit of serendipity.

“Leon was the first person to record there. They brought him and took over,” Ripley said. “He loved being back in that old studio and having his friends drop by and say hello.”

Many talked about Russell’s musical prowess, which was quickly recognized in the studios of Los Angeles when Russell moved there from Tulsa at 17. He became a go-to session musician and well known as a top player in the town. That led him to work with the Beach Boys and put him in front of crowds leading Joe Cocker’s band with the Mad Dogs and Englishmen.

“Like (Tulsa-based musician who played with Russell frequently) Jim Karstein likes to say, as soon as Leon got in and showed his stuff, he went right to the top of the stack,” said Steve Todoroff, a longtime friend of Russell, who has worked to collect all of the old 45s and LPs that Russell played on throughout his career. He’s donated the hundreds of items in that collection to the forthcoming Oklahoma Museum of Popular Culture.

Musician Bruce Hornsby spoke Sunday about his experience working with Russell. Hornsby recognized the special talents Russell had that set him above the rest. Like when playing, Hornsby said you could turn off the metronome keeping time and let Russell play, and if you turned it back on minutes later, Russell wouldn’t have skipped a beat.

“The way that guy could groove, he was a human metronome,” Hornsby said. “It was a great goal of his: He wanted to write songs for the Great American Songbook.”

Russell recorded a series of pure country albums under the moniker Hank Wilson, flexing his muscles in the genre of his home while showing off his skills in rock, blues, soul and gospel.

“To hear him with those Nashville guys, he sings them down one after the other,” Ripley said. “It’s an astonishing thing, above some level where the rest of us are.”

It doesn’t happen often, Ripley said, but every now and then there’s “a crack in the cosmos” that allows a great, profound and prolific artist like Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and George Harrison.

“Leon was one of those crack-in-the-cosmos guys,” Ripley said. “They can’t explain their thing. The rest of us just work for a living.”

And that’s how you put a punctuation mark on a behind-the-music panel.

Hudson co-wrote the song (lyrics, listen to them, are applicable to current events) during his distinguished career as a musician, songwriter and record producer. He has collaborated not just with Aerosmith but with performers like Ringo Starr, Ozzy Osbourne and Hanson.

Hudson joined Hanson and engineer C.J. Eiriksson on stage Monday night for an “Inside the Album” panel moderated by Tulsa World music writer Jerry Wofford. The event was the latest in the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture’s Music Mixer and Panel Series.

How are albums created? How do you choose partners in creating an album? How heavy should the producer’s influence be? What are positives and negatives of how technology has changed the recording process?

Guests listened to music pros tackle the questions and — bonus — learned the following things:

• Osbourne, when recording, sings in his underwear.

• When Zac Hanson was a child, Hudson used a Peanuts cartoon of piano-playing Schroeder and Lucy to achieve a desired performance in recording. See how she’s gazing at him?

• Hudson compared working with some acts to kidney surgery. He couldn’t wait to get out of the room. But, in regard to his continuing relationship with Hanson, he said, “With these guys, it’s fun to go to work every day because they are the real deal.”

Wofford began the panel by asking participants to weigh in on Leon Russell, who died Sunday. Of course, many kind things were said. “He continually brought people together, wherever he went,” Taylor Hanson said.

But Hudson, whose stories can be as colorful as his rainbow beard, shared a tale about how Joe Cocker, after joining Russell and Billy Joel on stage, lost his lunch while singing “Feelin’ Alright.” Cocker wiped his face and kept singing.

“Nobody stopped,” Hudson said. “But Leon kind of looked at Billy Joel like ‘what the hell was that?’ ”

Can you imagine having to tell a Beatle he’s doing something incorrect musically? Hudson, who produced or co-produced nine albums for Starr, found himself in that position once when he had to inform Paul McCartney he was playing the wrong chord. Nobody else was willing to do it, so Hudson spoke up. McCartney accepted Hudson’s advice like a champ.

“The great guys want to be told when it’s wrong,” Hudson said. “They want to be told how to make it better, and that was Paul McCartney.”

Hudson said songwriting is what separates the men from the boys when it comes to recording albums. Hopefuls presented songs they had written to Hudson during the panel.

The panelists didn’t sound like fans of the autotune trend. Zac Hanson said technology should be used to help things that are otherwise great and not be used to turn something bad into something good.

The panelists were, however, in favor of pushing boundaries. Eiriksson, who has worked with U2, said one of Bono’s sayings is “If it’s not broke, break it.”

Hanson is, of course, a homegrown band. Asked why it was important to appear at the panel, Isaac Hanson cited a good relationship with Tulsa FMAC. An invitation came. Hanson accepted.

“It was a good opportunity to do it,” he said. “We are working on some projects right now and so we were able to do it.”

After the panel, the director of the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture said the mission of Tulsa FMAC is two-fold.

“We are working hard to promote Tulsa as a nationally recognized creative hub, but we are also dedicated to providing resources to further develop our local creative class,” Abby Kurin said.

“We created this Music Mixer & Panel Series to provide an opportunity for people working in or interested in the music industry to network and learn from each other.”

Kurin said the “Inside the Album” panel was another example of how FMAC was able to utilize local resources found in Tulsa to highlight important, relevant topics.

“Our event provided insight and inspiration to incredible musicians in the room and music fans in general. With the star power at this event and the rich music history that Hanson, Mark and C.J. bring to the table, you might at first glance think this is an event happening in a major city. But it’s not L.A. It’s not New York. This is right here in our backyard, in Tulsa. We’re incredibly proud of that, and honored to be the office that gets to spend our days telling that story to the rest of the world.”

A crowd gathered at Cain’s Ballroom to listen to an “inside the album” music panel featuring Mark Hudson, the Hanson brothers and CJ Eiriksson. The event was hosted by the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture. JESSIE WARDARSKI/Tulsa World

Isaac Hanson (right) talks to audience members after a music panel hosted by the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture at Cain’s Ballroom on Monday. JESSIE WARDARSKI/Tulsa World

Audience member Lucky Williams gives his demo CD to a music panel of Mark Hudson, the Hanson brothers and CJ Eiriksson at Cain’s Ballroom. JESSIE WARDARSKI/Tulsa World

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