Carney (Leon Russell album)

Carney
Studio album by Leon Russell
Released	June 26, 1972 (1972-06-26)
Genre	Pop, rock
Length	37:29
Label	Shelter
Producer	Denny Cordell Leon Russell
Leon Russell chronology
Asylum Choir II (1971) Carney (1972) Hank Wilson's Back (1973)

Carney is Leon Russell's third solo studio album, released in 1972. It peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 200 and was the first for Russell to contain a hit single — "Tight Rope" b/w "This Masquerade" — which reached number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Robert Christgau	B−[2]

In a review for Allmusic, the critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine called "Tight Rope", the opening track, "an excellent introduction to an off-kilter, confused, fascinating album" and said that the album "consolidates his two extremes, offering a side of fairly straightforward roots rock before delving headfirst into twisted psychedelia on the second side."^[1] Critic Robert Christgau expressed similar sentiments, writing, "Not the radical falloff some report — just slippage, the first side listenable and the second flaky."^[2]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Leon Russell except where indicated

1. "Tight Rope" – 2:59
2. "Out in the Woods" – 3:35
3. "Me and Baby Jane" – 3:52
4. "Manhattan Island Serenade" – 3:25
5. "Cajun Love Song" – 3:08
6. "Roller Derby" – 2:22
7. "Carney" – :47
8. "Acid Annapolis" (Leon Russell, Don Preston) – 2:47
9. "If the Shoe Fits" – 2:21
10. "My Cricket" – 2:55
11. "This Masquerade" – 4:22
12. "Magic Mirror" – 4:56

Personnel

• Leon Russell – vocals, guitar, bass, piano
• Don Preston – guitar, vocals
• Joey Cooper – guitar
• Carl Radle – bass
• Chuck Blackwell – drums
• Jim Keltner – drums
• John Gallie – organ

Chart positions

References