Shoals Theatre Presents An Evening with Chuck Leavell

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The Musician
Chuck Leavell decided at the age of 13 he wanted to make a living performing and recording music after seeing Ray Charles in concert. At the age of 15, he made that decision a reality when he made his way to Muscle Shoals and played on a recording of Freddie North’s soul classic “Don’t Take Her, She’s All I Got.” In 1970, Leavell moved to Macon, GA where he worked his way through the ranks at Capricorn Records while touring with Alex Taylor (brother of James Taylor), Dr. John, country legend Kitty Wells, The Marshall Tucker Band and others. In 1972 having just turned 20 years old, Leavell was asked to join the Allman Brothers Band. The first album he recorded with the band was Brothers and Sisters, which included the classics “Ramblin’ Man” and “Jessica.” The album hit number one on Billboard’s Pop charts, and he went on to record several more albums with them before the Allmans temporarily disbanded in 1976. Emerging from the break-up of the Allman Brothers Band, Leavell formed the rock/jazz/blues fusion group Sea Level with Allman’s drummer Jaimoe. The band toured relentlessly during the late ’70s and released five critically acclaimed albums. Catching the ears of and becoming friends with the late rock ‘n’ roll impresario Bill Graham and keyboardist Ian Stewart, the original “sixth” Rolling Stone, in 1982 he was invited to assume a significant keyboardist/vocalist/musical director role for the Stones that continues today. Says guitarist Keith Richards: “Without the continuity that Chuck brings to us, the Stones would not be the Stones.” Leavell describes his role with the Stones as a “sort of musical navigator” who keeps track of arrangements and keeps things balanced in addition to spicing up the music with his keyboards. In 1999, Leavell released his first seasonal album, What’s In That Bag? on Capricorn Records. Since that time it has become a holiday favorite and it continues to rate highly every year in Christmas CD sales. In 2001, Leavell released Forever Blue: Solo Piano, a collection of seven original songs and three classics including “Georgia On My Mind.” With this release, Leavell reached down deep in his soul and his roots and created an extraordinary piece of work. Forever Blue is still one of the most popular solo pianos CDs around.
 
His next release, “Southscape” has been described as “Southern Jazz”, and is Leavell’s musical portrait of the south he grew up in and still lives in today. The nine tracks include eight new songs written or co-written by Leavell and a wonderful re-visitation of the classic “Jessica” that he is so well known for.
 
The record-breaking 2005-2007 Rolling Stones’ “A Bigger Bang” tour marked Chuck’s 25th year with the band, and the 147 show tour proved yet again that the Stones are indeed the “World’s Greatest Rock ‘n Roll Band.” But Leavell didn’t stop at the end of that tour…he immediately put a band together in Germany and did his own tour of Europe in September of ’07 called “Green Leaves and Blue Notes” that resulted in his double disc live recording, “Live In Germany”, released in spring of 2008. Since then, he has continued recording with various artists growing his credits to recording credits to include artists such as David Gilmore, John Mayer, Dr. John, Eric Clapton (Unplugged), Train, The Black Crowes, AC/DC, Gov’t Mule, James Otto, George Harrison, The Marshall Tucker Band, Blues Traveller, Chuck Berry, Aretha Franklin, Don Mclean, Hank Williams Jr, Bonnie Brammlett, Montgomery-Gentry, Miranda Lambert, Martina McBride, Heidi Newfield, Lady Antebellum, David Nail, Eric Church, The Allman Betts Band, Mike Gordon (of Phish), and more! In addition to recording with other artist, Leavell has released 6 albums of his own including “Chuck Gets Big” and “Back To The Woods: A Tribute To The Pioneers Of Blues Piano. Most recently, Leavell just completed the Rolling Stones 2019 “No Filter” U.S. tour, marking his 37th year with the Stones.