Got this e-mail entitled “Billy Preston medical intrigue” indicating that the keyboardist is very sick, and that there is a big fight between his family and his manager. The details of the story are largely confirmed here. I wish him well.
Pictured, my first Billy Preston album, on Apple Records, produced by some guy named George Harrison.
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And speaking of George, The Capitol Albums Vol. 2 is coming out tomorrow, featuring stereo and mono versions of The Early Beatles, Beatles VI, Help! and Rubber Soul. Though I never got the first Capitol Albums, I may have to get this one, if only for the Help! instrumentals, and some of the false start bits on Rubber Soul. But what comes next? Yesterday and Today and Revolver, but then you have all of the albums that were virtually identical in the U.S. and the U.K. Will the next box set feature Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour, trying to lure people to buy those songs, in that order, yet again? The only other Beatles album not released in the UK at the time was the Hey Jude/Beatles Again disc, but that was on Apple.
