Billy Preston
In 1958, young Billy Preston appeared on the big screen in St.
Louis Blues, in which he played the great composer W.C. Handy
as a child. The Paramount biopic was one of the first Hollywood
movies to feature an almost exclusively black starring cast,
including Nat “King” Cole, Eartha Kitt, Cab Calloway,
Ella Fitzgerald, and Ruby Dee. Even then, it seems, Billy Preston
had a knack for surrounding himself with stellar compatriots.
Born September 9, 1946 in Houston Texas, Billy Preston was playing keyboards for gospel superstar Mahalia Jackson at the grand age of ten. At sixteen he was touring Europe with Little Richard. One night in Hamburg, they dropped in at the Cavern Club to check out a new British band that was just beginning to stir up excitement. It was there that Billy forged a lifelong friendship with George Harrison – and his fellow Beatles. From there, he recorded, toured – and often collaborated – with Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Sly Stone, Aretha Franklin, The Jackson Five, Sammy Davis Jr., Quincy Jones, The Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan. But it was his work with the Beatles that forever secured Billy’s place in the rock’n’roll pantheon. His contributions to The White Album, Let It Be, and Abbey Road earned him an honorary title as “The Fifth Beatle.” It wasn’t just hype, either. The original single of “Get Back” was credited as "The Beatles with Billy Preston" – the first and only time another artist was so credited on any Beatles record, And with good reason. Billy’s piano solo on that track still stands as one of the most recognizable figures in their cannon. Although he first hit the charts with an instrumental gospel album, The Most Exciting Organ Ever, for Vee Jay records in 1966, Billy’s solo career didn’t truly take wing until the Beatles signed him to their new Apple label in the early seventies. Billy let loose with a streak of gold-record singles including “Will It Go 'Round In Circles,” “Nothing From Nothing,” the Grammy®-winning instrumental “Outa Space,” and “You Are So Beautiful,” which became a career-revivving hit for his friend Joe Cocker.
Ray Charles once said, “Billy Preston is the man I would like to carry on the work I have started.” A single listen to “Both Ways,” “As One,” or his response to Mavis Staples’ call in “That’s Enough,” will make it amply clear that Billy is indeed carrying it on.