THE REAL FIFTH BEATLE
Singer-songwriter Billy
Preston dies at 59

From the Houston Chronicle:

Billy Preston, the Houston-born rock, soul and gospel artist who played alongside pop music's elite, including Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan and the Beatles, has died in Scottsdale, Arizona. He was 59 years old. Preston had been battling heart and kidney problems for years.

Click here for the rest.

I've known Billy Preston for years as the hip African-American keyboard player who joined the Beatles for their "Get Back" recording sessions which were eventually released as the album Let It Be. Indeed, Preston played the cool solo on the song "Get Back;" I've always loved it, pretty groovy, even by Beatle standards. Eventually I figured out that he was also the same guy who had solo hits with his pop-funk 70s standards "Nothing from Nothing" and "Will It Go Round in Circles." Clearly, Preston was a creative force with which to be reckoned. What I didn't realize until reading this obit article is that he also played with Dylan and the Stones. Very cool. But I also learned that he played on two more Beatle records, The Beatles, a.k.a. "The White Album," and Abbey Road--he really was their fifth member, in a way that no one else could claim to be. While always well known to anybody who's been paying attention, it's a shame that he's not as famous as the people he helped to create great music. I mean, he played on the Stones' Sticky Fingers! He was a bigger part of the history of so-called classic rock than most of the people in constant overplay rotation on classic rock stations. He was that great.

Farewell, Billy Preston.


Billy singing "Get Back" in the ill-fated RSO
film Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

(Thanks to Midi Database for the cheesy Preston renditions.)

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