Bruce Hornsby – “Anything Can Happen” (Feat. Leon Russell)

Bruce Hornsby – “Anything Can Happen” (Feat. Leon Russell)

In a few days, Bruce Hornsby will release a new album called Non-Secure Connection. It’ll feature a whole lot of collaborators, mostly from younger generations. Justin Vernon and Brad Cook, two people who have done a lot of work with Hornsby in recent years, add production, though Hornsby did most of that himself. And we’ve already posted two singles: “My Resolve,” with the Shins’ James Mercer, and “Bright Star Cast,” with Jamila Woods and Living Colour’s Vernon Reid. But the latest single that Hornsby has shared features a much older collaborator, one who is no longer with us.

On the lush and horny “Anything Can Happen,” Hornsby joins forces with the Southern rock legend Leon Russell, who died in 2016. Russell actually released a different version of the song decades ago; it was the title track of an album that he released in 1994. But Hornsby was never satisfied with the original track, so he revisited and reworked it. Here’s how Hornsby explains it in a press release:

I was able to get Leon Russell a record deal with Virgin in 1990, and we made a record called “Anything Can Happen.” I always felt that the title song wasn’t produced as well as it could have been (I’ll take the blame), and always wanted to re-cut it. Leon asked me to “write me a Barry White track,” which is how the song started. His vocal from the original demo ghosts mine for a lot of the song, and then he emerges at the end to join me in harmony. My time with Leon was extremely memorable and deserves its own article; too much amazing and funny, classic stuff.

Check out the new version below.

Non-Secure Connection is out 8/14. Pre-order it here. Check out our wide-ranging We’ve Got A File On You feature on Bruce Hornsby here.

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