With hindsight, Look Inside… is a truly bizarre and longforgotten studio project from Leon Russell and fellow Choir member Marc Benno. At the time it bridged the transition between Russell’s time as a member of Phil Spector’s legendary Wrecking Crew, his work as a session man with, among others, Jan & Dean, The Byrds and The Beach Boys, and his emergence as a solo artist in his own right.
At times within touching distance of the mainstream, at others completely off the map, the album is both in tune with the times and stylistically all over the place. Its liberal use of sound effects and all manner of studio trickery between bouts of Beatleesque production styles gives it a distinctly Zappa-esque feel. Originally released on Mercury imprint Smash in 1968, with an infamous toilet roll-featuring sleeve (the UK version opted for a more psychedelic look), the album promptly sunk without trace. Some 27 years on, there’s plenty to commend it to all seekers of genuine left-field pop-pysch ephemera from back in the daze.
