![]() ![]() The groups met by chance at an Atlanta hotel. Delaney and Bonnie and Friends were on a radio tour with their entourage which included a 21 year old Bobby Whitlock, and Leon Russell was on tour with Rita Coolidge. It was a case of two music worlds colliding. ![]() What is sad though, is that James Wilsey in his solo career never finished a recording of his own “Superstar.” And that’s the motivation and gist of it for our recording.īelow, hear the Holy Motors version of “Superstar” along with Wilsey’s live take. Back in 1969, Leon Russell and Rita Coolidge were a noted couple in the music world. They titled it “Groupie.” It’s definitely not a lament. But originally the song wasn’t written by a sibling duo, as you might have heard or known from yer own previous existence, but rather by Leon Russell and a married couple of soul and country music named Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett. And then Karen sang it in for the Carpenters. In a strangely similar fashion in ’71, Richard Carpenter happened to hear Bette Midler sing this same song on late night television. The melody was spaced out in echo and beautiful and he was just pushing it down hard on the vibrator bar of his silver-sparking fender Stratocaster. At that time, the song was called Groupie (Superstar). Some years back I saw James Wilsey’s performance of “Superstar” on the internet. 16 in the UK, credited to Delaney & Bonnie and Friends featuring Eric Clapton. Superstar was written by Bonnie Bramlett (of Delaney and Bonnie) and Leon Russell in 1969.Originally accorded the less commercial - if rather more candid - t. Here’s Raus with some context on the cover: Today that latest version of “Superstar” is out in the world along with news of a fifth-anniversary reissue of Holy Motors’ debut album Slow Sundown on red vinyl. That rendition of the song made its way to Lauri Raus, guitarist for Estonia’s woozy Western-psych band Holy Motors, inspiring yet another cover in the same spirit. Although he was a member of the early LA punk band the Avengers, Wilsey is best known as a member of Chris Isaak’s band - that’s him making the guitar gently weep on “Wicked Game.” Ten years ago he published a live recording of his stirring instrumental version of “Superstar” to YouTube, showcasing those same eerie slide-guitar and tremolo skills. Superstar is a 1969 song written by Bonnie Bramlett and Leon Russell with a songwriting credit also given to Delaney Bramlett that has been a hit for many. The married couple, who performed as Delaney And Bonnie, recorded the first version of the song in 1969 under the title “ Groupie (Superstar),” but it’s since been covered by countless acts, most famously the Carpenters in 1971 and Luther Vandross in 1983, though everyone from Bette Midler to Sonic Youth has taken a crack at it over the years. The old standard “Superstar” originated with Bonnie Bramlett and Leon Russell, who wrote it with an assist from Bramlett’s husband Delaney. ![]()
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