Color Green (Noah & Corey) on Euphoria / Leon Russell 
Typically a solo feature, but as the core of Color Green has always been the duo of Corey Madden and Noah Kohll, it’s nice to get the double perspective on this one. As much as I always love this column to reveal a treasure I’m unfamiliar with, it’s just a great to find kindred spirits in foundational records. Corey dives into the legend Leon Russell, live in his element while Noah nabs a lost Americana gem that’s near to my own heart. Check out their explorations of Euphoria and Leon Live below.
Corey Madden – Leon Russel- Leon Live
Subconsciously this record has shaped my playing/live shows as the bar to achieve.
Years ago in Brooklyn I used to live walking distance to what is referred to as “The Alley” where I would spend many a day and night hanging at. There were cool stores in shipping containers that came and went including a tiny horror movie theatre that had a full schedule. Awesome. The mainstays tattoo/thrift shop (Street Fever), book store (Better Read Than Dead) and the always sick rocker record shop Rebel Rouser. Outside in their dollar bin they had Leon Live. Already being a big Leon fan I had to snag the 4 sided record with the great cover, even if was pretty beat up. It’s $1.
I could not stop listening to this record. Most likely annoying friends and any neighbors who I shared walls with. Pretty sure I bought it for some people, forcing it onto them. It’s such an incredibly executed live show. That can be so hard to capture, ya know? Obviously there are many great live records before and after, but this sticks out as special one. A true rock and roll band disguised as a tent revival gospel group. The energy is through the roof and they are on fire. This is fun.
Noah Kohll – A Gift From Euphoria – Euphoria
To be honest, I can’t really recall how this record found me. Either the single “The Letter” was recommended to me by a friend, or I stumbled upon it in a late night alchemical creation on YouTube. It honestly has everything you could ask for in a record. Strings, backwards guitar solos, vocal harmony, music concrete, fake fadeouts — it’s a journey listening to the thing front to back. I don’t know too much of the makings of the band, and a friend once told me that they are from Poughkeepsie, or specifically he said that it’s the “Poughkeepsie ” sound, whatever that means, I’ll let that be left to interpretation.
It sounds to me that Euphoria was ahead of their time in this record in some ways, the blend of country elements and baroque pop, the slight Pretty Things rips, the incorporation of the banjo, fuzz guitar solos, it all feels a couple of years too late for 1969. To me this record bridges some gaps of post Sgt Pepper production psych worship and the country rock uprising of the 70s, it’s kind of a missing link in the trajectory in my opinion. Influentially, I always admire the underdog, this record and band has been lost in time within the catalogs of great psychedelic music.
Both cemented classics, and it’s nice to see them get a shout from the band. As Corey mentions, Leon Live can be had pretty readily if you scour the bins, but depending on how scuffed and roughed you want it, there are nicer versions too. Euphoria will set you back a pretty hefty sum if you’re looking around for originals, but Capitol did officially reissue this one in 2007 and that version can be had somewhere further from collector madness. But stream it or spin it, I highly recommend it. Color Green’s upcoming album Fool’s Parade is out this Friday, July 12th from New West.