LEGENDS | Claudia Lennear -- Exclusive Interview, Part 2: Friendship with Leon Russell

Claudia Lennear is one of the most well-known and successful background vocalists of all time. Since the late 1960s, she has supported some of the era's most well-known musicians and performed at some of the most significant and life-changing musical events.

In 1967, she became a member of Ike and Tina Turner's backing choir, The Ikettes. In just three years, she was featured on dozens of TV shows, toured the world (including opening for The Rolling Stones on their 1969 American tour), and recorded eight albums, culminating in the Turners' all-time biggest song, #4 "Proud Mary."

Christened by the LeonLifers as "Music Royalty," she was a background vocalist for Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen and George Harrison’s Concert for Bangladesh. Claudia was a member of Leon Russell's Shelter People and the inspiration behind songs such as “A “Song For You” and “This Masquerade,” written by Leon Russell, “Brown Sugar” by Mick Jagger, and David Bowie’s “Lady Grinning Soul.” In 2019, Lennear was inducted in the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame. She is featured in the 2013 Oscar-winning Documentary 20 Feet from Stardom.

Claudia currently teaches Spanish, French, and English at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California.

SONG: Stranger in a Strange Land
ARTISTS: Leon Russell, Carl Radle, Patrick Henderson, Don Preston, Charles (Chuck) Blackwell, Joey Cooper, Ambrose Campbell, John Galie, Marianne Lindsey, Phyllis Lindsey, Nawasa Crowder, D.J. Rogers
WRITERS: Don Preston and Leon Russell
LICENSED: To The Church Studio by Deep Freeze Films/MSC Video (Form PA # PAu-1-195-306)

Names and Places mentioned in this video:
Leon Russell
Mick Jagger
David Bowie
A&M Studios
Gram Parsons
Ikettes
Ike Turner
Tina Turner
Willie Nelson
Concert for Bangladesh
Don Nix
Don Preston
Delores Hall
Jeanie Greene
Ringo Starr
Jim Keltner
Paul Simon
Bob Dylan
Joe Cocker
Denny Cordell
Phil Specter

Songs Mentioned:
Stranger in a Strange Land
The Box Tops
The Letter
Girl From The North Country
A Song For You

Location: The historic Harwelden Mansion in Tulsa, Oklahoma
Interviewee: Claudia Lennear
Producer and Interviewer: Teresa Knox
Cinematography and Editing: Matthew Simonson, Austin Howerton
Stinger Music: Written and Recorded by Cade Roberts

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