In the 1970s, when Leon Russell first achieved fame, he almost always played the “big rooms” throughout the ‘70s and into the early ‘80s. But over the last 20 years or so, Russell has been mostly been playing the rock-club circuit, like a lot of veteran roots-rockers whose latest releases no longer top the charts. Around here, that means he generally plays clubs like the 400-seat The Ark, or the Magic Bag in Ferndale.

On Thursday, however, Russell will be playing to a bigger crowd, in a larger room — the 1,700-seat Michigan Theater, on a double bill with Dave Mason — which is something of a dream pairing for fans of ‘70s classic rock.

While Russell’s profile is not as high as it once was, he’s continued to record albums that show off his eclectic spirit — and his deft-but-rousing mix of rock, gospel, soul, country and rockabilly styles.

Russell’s latest album is an anthology, “The Best of Hank Wilson.” Dating back to the early ‘70s, Russell has released several albums under the Hank Wilson persona — 1 that let Russell dig deep into the classic country catalog, but also included some bluegrass, rockabilly, Western swing and cowboy music gems, complete with country / roots music instrumentation, like pedal steel, dobro, fiddles, etc.

“The Best of Hank Wilson” pulls together 19 tracks from those records, featuring such iconic songs and standards as “He Stopped Loving Her Today,” “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” and “Jambalaya.” The disc also adds 3 previously unreleased bonus tracks: “San Antonio Rose,” “You Win Again” and “Ballad of Jed Clampett.”

Listen to the Leon Russell anthology “The Best of Hank Wilson”:

In a recent e-mail interview, when asked what initially inspired him to take on the Hank Wilson persona and delve into country / bluegrass / western music styles, Russell replied: “One year (in the early ‘70s), I was taking a car back from L.A. to Tulsa, and I noticed the amazing amount of country cassettes at the truck stops. I bought about 60 of them, out of curiosity, and realized that most all of them had been recorded in Nashville.

“All the stories I heard in L.A. about the Nashville musicians” — Russell was already a veteran L.A. session man himself before he began his solo career — “made me want to go play with them.”

Russell is hard-pressed to choose favorites among his Hank Wilson recordings. “I think they’re all great songs, and all were a lot of fun to record,” said Russell. A couple of memories stand out for him, though: “Sister Carey Smith sang with me on ‘Sweet Dreams,’ and Willie Nelson sang duets with me on ‘He Stopped Loving Her Today’ and ‘Wabash Cannonball.’”

It’s for his bluesy-rocking-gospel sound that Russell is best known, however. And for most budding, young rock fans in 1970, their 1st exposure to Russell’s talents was perhaps the Russell project that still stands out mostly vividly in their minds: Joe Cocker’s “Mad Dogs & Englishmen” live album — still 1 of the greatest live albums in rock.

Russell was the musical director for the tour that was captured on that live disc, and he assembled what turned out to be the huge band that played those shows. And his rolling, gospel-steeped piano was at the center of that album’s most distinctive and memorable performances, like the soulful and rollicking interpretations of “The Letter,” “Cry Me a River,” Russell’s “Delta Lady” and Mason’s “Feelin’ Alright.” Russell recruited many great players and singers for that band, including drummer Jim Gordon and bassist Carl Radle (both of Derek and the Dominos), saxman Bobby Keys and singer Rita Coolidge.

Russell also has fond memories of that somewhat chaotic tour, and of choosing and arranging the music. “Most of the musicians were friends of mine already, or people I had already played with, so they knew what my deal was,” said Russell. “We only had a short time to rehearse, so we picked songs that we all knew. So it was quite easy, and we were able to pull it all together pretty quickly.

“It was definitely an unusual experience, and the only time I’ve ever been on the road with that many people — I think we started out with 45 people (including musicians, singers, roadies and girlfriends).”

Russell has also written some big hits, although his best-known songs are more associated with other artists who covered them. The Carpenters had the smash hit with “Superstar” (co-written by Russell and Bonnie Bramlett) and George Benson did big business with Russell’s “This Masquerade” — a song that Ray Charles covered as well. And Cocker’s version of “Delta Lady” got heavy airplay in the ‘70s. Russell also notched Top 10 hits in the early ‘70s with “Tight Wire” and “Slippin’ Into Christmas.”

In addition, Russell has an impressive resume as a sideman / collaborator. Over the last 40 years, he’s toured or recorded with big-name acts like Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, George Harrison, Eric Clapton, the Flying Burrito Brothers, John Lennon, Bruce Hornsby, Steve Winwood, Delaney and Bonnie & Friends and J.J. Cale, among dozens of others.

Russell, an Oklahoma native, came out of the Tulsa scene, which also produced such roots rock notables as Cale and Elvin Bishop. Gospel music was big in Oklahoma when Russell was coming up, but so were country, blues and rockabilly; hence his versatility. One virtue of starting out in the Tulsa scene, said Russell, is that “Oklahoma was a ‘dry’ state at the time — there were no liquor laws, so that allowed me to start playing in clubs when I was only 14.”

Julian Konwinski of Whitmore Lake is a longtime, enthusiastic fan of Russell’s music.

“I like that he draws on such a wide range of music, and that he’s played with so many people over the years,” said Konwinski, who estimates that he’s seen Russell perform about 10 times. “And he’s just so talented — he learned to play piano and organ and guitar at a really early age, and he’s great on all of them.

“Onstage, he just flows from 1 style into another, and he does that very naturally. I think his ability to play so many different types of music like that, and to play them all so expertly, is what makes him so appealing to almost any audience.”

Kevin Ransom is a free-lance writer who covers music for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at KevinRansom10@aol.com.