Billy Preston (9 September, 1946 - 6 June, 2006) was a child prodigy pianist. He performed with Mahalia Jackson at the age of 16 and appeared as a young W.C. Handy in a 1958 bio pic. His first solo record was a gospel album called “16 Year Old Soul”.
On tour backing Little Richard & Sam Cooke he met the Beatles (early in their career) in Hamburg, Germany (1962). He was later invited by George Harrison to join The Beatles in the studio for the filming/recording of Let It Be (1970). Preston’s most memorable performance with the Beatles is on the track "Get Back".
The apparent reason for the collaboration was the project was being done live—without overdubs—and the Beatles wanted a second keyboardist. Preston’s soulful style was to compliment the rhythm-and-blues approach the Beatles had for this album. His was a genre they’d grown up listening to and were reaching back to/paying tribute to.
While he was never considered for permanent membership in the Beatles (despite stories to the contrary), he did continue working with them through to the end of the 60s: releasing two solo albums on Apple Records (the Beatles’ label); collaborating with George Harrison on All Things Must Pass as well as joining in on The Concert for Bangladesh—one of the first significant benefit concerts of it’s kind (Madison Square Gardens,1972). He also later made an appearance in the Beatles tribute film “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (1978), as the title character—Sgt. Pepper.
He also toured with The Rolling Stones playing on significant albums such as Sticky Fingers and “Exile on Main St." In the 1970s. He worked with Bob Dylan playing as an accompanist on the track Blood on the Tracks and Aretha Franklin’s record Young, Gifted and Black, and other artists including Barbra Streisand and Miles Davis and toured with Sly & The Family Stone for a time. He won a Grammy Award for best pop instrumental performance for “Outa Space” (1971). Preston penned Joe Cocker's 1975 smash hit "You Are So Beautiful" and appeared in the movie "The Blues Brothers".
In the 80s and 90s, Preston suffered substance abuse and financial issues and spent three years in prison in 1997 for a drugs possession charge handed out earlier that year (cocaine possession and assault).
His last recordings were on the Red Hot Chili Peppers “Stadium Arcadium” album and with Neil Diamond for his “12 songs” record, both produced by Rick Rubin. The US keyboard legend passed away at the age of 59 in a hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona, as a result of “malignant hypertension that resulted in kidney failure and other complications”. Visit the website in his honor at http://www.billypreston.net/
Reaserch info gathered at: www.lastfm.com
Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/
and personal blog: http://www.copyat5.blogspot.com/
On tour backing Little Richard & Sam Cooke he met the Beatles (early in their career) in Hamburg, Germany (1962). He was later invited by George Harrison to join The Beatles in the studio for the filming/recording of Let It Be (1970). Preston’s most memorable performance with the Beatles is on the track "Get Back".
The apparent reason for the collaboration was the project was being done live—without overdubs—and the Beatles wanted a second keyboardist. Preston’s soulful style was to compliment the rhythm-and-blues approach the Beatles had for this album. His was a genre they’d grown up listening to and were reaching back to/paying tribute to.
While he was never considered for permanent membership in the Beatles (despite stories to the contrary), he did continue working with them through to the end of the 60s: releasing two solo albums on Apple Records (the Beatles’ label); collaborating with George Harrison on All Things Must Pass as well as joining in on The Concert for Bangladesh—one of the first significant benefit concerts of it’s kind (Madison Square Gardens,1972). He also later made an appearance in the Beatles tribute film “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (1978), as the title character—Sgt. Pepper.
He also toured with The Rolling Stones playing on significant albums such as Sticky Fingers and “Exile on Main St." In the 1970s. He worked with Bob Dylan playing as an accompanist on the track Blood on the Tracks and Aretha Franklin’s record Young, Gifted and Black, and other artists including Barbra Streisand and Miles Davis and toured with Sly & The Family Stone for a time. He won a Grammy Award for best pop instrumental performance for “Outa Space” (1971). Preston penned Joe Cocker's 1975 smash hit "You Are So Beautiful" and appeared in the movie "The Blues Brothers".
In the 80s and 90s, Preston suffered substance abuse and financial issues and spent three years in prison in 1997 for a drugs possession charge handed out earlier that year (cocaine possession and assault).
His last recordings were on the Red Hot Chili Peppers “Stadium Arcadium” album and with Neil Diamond for his “12 songs” record, both produced by Rick Rubin. The US keyboard legend passed away at the age of 59 in a hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona, as a result of “malignant hypertension that resulted in kidney failure and other complications”. Visit the website in his honor at http://www.billypreston.net/
Reaserch info gathered at: www.lastfm.com
Visit my ezine: http://www.concelebratory.blogspot.com/
and personal blog: http://www.copyat5.blogspot.com/
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