Rolling Stones Keyboardist Chuck Leavell Plays Fundraiser For Phoenix House Of Tuscaloosa

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Accomplished Alabama-born musician Chuck Leavell has performed with the Rolling Stones for four decades and was a member of the Allman Brothers Band at its commercial height. He's recorded with the likes of George Harrison, Eric Clapton, John Mayer and David Gilmour, but in all of his travels, the 70-year-old keyboardist and songwriter has never forgotten about home.

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"Tuscaloosa is my old hometown, and it's always a joy to come back here," Leavell told Patch in a sit-down interview on Tuesday ahead of a private benefit show at the North River Yacht Club later in the evening. "I have such great memories here playing the YMCA every Friday night with my first band [The Misfitz]."

Raised in Tuscaloosa after his family moved from Birmingham, Leavell has maintained close ties to the city. And it was a worthy cause that brought him back.

The sold-out, private show Tuesday featured Leavell performing a retrospective look throughout his career, along with telling stories. Proceeds from the show will benefit The Phoenix House and its mission of helping those struggling with drug and alcohol addiction.

"I've just been blessed in my career to play with a lot of different artists, whether it's the Stones, Clapton, George Harrison, John Mayer, my own band — Sea Level — The Allman Brothers Band," he said of his planned set for the event. "I don't have time to do a complete two hours ... but we'll take some snippets of highlights of the career and play some songs and tell some stories along the way."

Founded in the late 1960s and operating as its current incarnation since 1972, The Phoenix House is a freestanding residential treatment facility in the former West End Christian building that has served over 10,000 clients during its history. The nonprofit's clients typically come from the court system, jails and the homeless population.

"You know, in my business, you see a good bit of addiction, right?" Leavell said. "I had a wonderful friend, drummer, that was one of the best drummers ever growing up here that unfortunately passed away due to addiction and there have been others that had mental health issues, like Tippy Armstrong, a great guitarist.

"So I've seen it and I've seen those who have turned it around, Eric Clapton, he was quite a case," he added. "But he went through probably a very similar thing that many [at The Phoenix House] have done and he's very involved in recovery and sponsors the Crossroads Program. So when you see things like that you believe that it can be done."

Phoenix House Executive Director Ted Sexton said the private event Tuesday night at the North River Yacht Club sold out in a week after the word was put out that Leavell would be the main attraction.

"We're just ecstatic Chuck is here and very appreciative of the community support," Sexton said. "Our next step is our capital campaign."

In thinking back on his humble musical roots in Alabama ahead of his special fundraiser appearance, Leavell credited his parents — particularly his mother — for his love of the piano.

"That's where I learned to play the piano and played and just kind of imitated her," he said.

Leavell's musical tastes would develop from an early age, but one formative experience came when he was a teenager and saw Ray Charles perform at Coleman Coliseum.

"I think I was 13, maybe, and I was already playing," he recalled. "But when I saw him, it was life changing."

While he couldn't credit just one individual or moment with helping his career along, Leavell did remember the early opportunities he was given in Muscle Shoals.

"It's more like a journey, so I wouldn't point to one person," he said. "I was invited to play recording sessions [in Muscle Shoals] when I was 15 or 16. When I moved to Macon, [Georgia] the opportunities continued. Phil Walden was the owner of Capricorn Records and the manager of the Allman Brothers Band. When I first went to Macon and took a tour of the facilities, the studio, the offices, the booking agency, it was opportunity staring me right in the face and they were welcoming. They were like, 'come over here, we'll find you something to do, it doesn't matter, just come on in.' And so that was inspirational to have that kind of welcoming to move there."

After getting his start playing keyboards for the late Dr. John, Leavell met Gregg Allman and was asked to play on his first solo album — a southern rock classic titled "Laid Back."

It was through his work on "Laid Back" that Leavell eventually found himself a member of the Allman Brothers Band in September 1972, following the death of the legendary guitarist Duane Allman — a founding member of the band.

Leavell was only 20 years old.

"You have to remember that Duane had died about a year from this, and so they had been out as a five-piece band for quite some time for that year," he said. "And so I think by accident, I offered them something different than replacing Duane Allman, which you just don't do."

He would go on to be featured on the studio album "Brothers and Sisters," which included "Ramblin' Man" and the Grammy-winning performance of "Jessica."

The Allman Brothers Band, after embarking on one of the first stadium tours for a rock band, also included Leavell's work on it 1975 studio album "Win, Lose or Draw."

After discussing his five or so years with the Allman Brothers Band, Leavell went on to tell several stories from his time as a member of the Rolling Stones, mentioning 79-year-old Mick Jagger's exercise routine, the kind heart and invincibility of Keith Richards and the recent death of longtime drummer Charlie Watts.

"[Watts] was just such a lovely guy, such an integral, important and essential part of the band," he said. "But Charlie Watts would never want to be the reason for the band to stop. He would be upset if we threw the towel in because he's not here."

Leavell has worked as the principal touring keyboardist for The Rolling Stones since 1982 and said much has changed since the days of performing 120-130 shows over an 18-month period.

"We don't do the long tours like we used to ... that doesn't happen anymore," he explained. "Now the paradigm is about 14-15 shows and a rehearsal and all of that lasts about three months. They don't like to work or tour in the cold months, so it's usually late spring or summer."

The lighter touring schedule is preferable for Leavell, who stays busy with various other pursuits including a quail-hunting business and 2,500-acre tree farm in Macon, Georgia.

His passion for conservation, along with his extensive musical career were also points of focus in a well-received 2020 documentary directed by Allen Farst entitled "Chuck Leavell: The Tree Man."

Despite staying busy with a wide-range of pursuits, musical and otherwise, Leavell expressed his excitement to return to Tuscaloosa for Tuesday evening's private show and to support a worthy cause.

"I feel blessed to have grown up in this town,"he said. "I still feel like it's my hometown. I don't have any family here anymore since Mom passed, but I've got a lot of friends and tonight is going to be a very special thing."

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