By the time Carney was released in 1972 Leon's star was already fading and a young upstart called Elton John was cornering the eccentric piano playing rocker market. Leon had also been outflanked by Jow Cocker who after touring with Leon on the Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour took Leon's backing band away from him and scored a big hit with Delta Lady, Leon's ode to Rita Coolidge.There are some magnificent songs on Carney but the album had a willfulness about it with some interesting (?) instrumental moments.
However any album with songs as good a Tight Rope, This Masquerade (an interesting version here introduced by Elton) and My Cricket and Magic Mirror is always going to be worth checking out.
It was not until recently that I realised that some of the album was recorded at Muscle Shoals so that is another point in its favour.
Sadly the belief in Elton, despite his commercial success, i find hard to accept, but...... Leon is a one-of-a-kind. He made Mad Dogs, and gone his own way. But his collaboration with Elton on the Union gave him a few more $$$'s admittedly. And why Bob Dylan decided to screw him at the Concert for Bangladesh by playing A Hard Rains Gonna fall is beyond me... shades of Sting....
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