It’s hard to pin piano man Leon Russell down, musically speaking: He tickled the ivories at producer Phil Spector’s legendary L.A. hit factory in the ’60s, he had rumbling rock hits with “Tight Rope” and “Lady Blue” in the ’70s, and his most recent record is a collection of country classics recorded with the likes of Willie Nelson and the Oak Ridge Boys. “These people down in Nashville can take a demo and make a record just like it, only real pristine. I can’t do that, I’m more of a chainsaw sculptor,” says Russell, who comes to Palatine’s Beale Street Blues Cafe (1550 Rand Rd.) on Saturday. “I like that old style of country music – it seems to me that a lot of the modern country music is rehashed rock ‘n’ roll.” Not that Russell doesn’t like rock and pop: He says he learned valuable lessons from Spector’s working methods. “The first day when I arrived he came up to me and made a cross with his fingers and said, “Play dumb!” He didn’t want the music to be inaccessible by being too complicated.” Russell’s set at Beale Street starts at 10 p.m.; call the club at 847-776-9850 for more information.
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