Tag: Billy Preston

Put Billy Preston in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

on what would have been Billy Preston’s 65th birthday, I’m making a pitch for him to make it into the rock hall as a session musician.

Billy Preston, George Harrison, President Gerald Ford, all deceased.

While I’m less and less caring about who gets selected for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Performer category, I’ve become more and more interested in categories such as early influences and non-performers. I’m especially intrigued by the sideman category since Leon Russell was inducted in 2011. After all, he was a performer of some commercial success, but not enough to make it as a performer. But he played on a lot of albums for other artists and was inducted based on that.

The late Billy Preston is similarly situated. He had greater singles success than Russell, with songs such as Outa-Space, Will It Go Round in Circles, Space Race, and Nothing from Nothing, though less so with his albums. But he was well known as a session musician. “Preston collaborated with some of the greatest names in the music industry, including The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Band, Nat King Cole, Little Richard, Eric Burdon, Ray Charles, Joe Cocker, George Harrison, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Sam Cooke, King Curtis, Sammy Davis Jr., Aretha Franklin, the Jackson 5, Quincy Jones, Mick Jagger, Peter Frampton, Phyllis Hyman, Richie Sambora, Sly Stone, Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Norah Jones, and Ringo Starr.” Not to mention gospel great Mahalia Jackson. Both Russell and Preston played on the legendary Concert for Bangladesh.

The label on the “Get Back” single credits “The Beatles with Billy Preston”. Here’s the famed Beatles doing Get Back, live on the rooftop.

More Preston appearances:

Ray Charles & Norah Jones-Here We Go Again. Billy on organ.

John Lennon-God. Billy on piano.

Johnny Cash-Personal Jesus. Billy on piano.

Ringo Starr-I’m the Greatest. Billy on organ.

But probably my favorite piece is Billy at the organ on The Rolling Stones-I Got The Blues from the album Sticky Fingers.

So, on what would have been Billy Preston’s 65th birthday, I’m making a pitch for him to make it into the rock hall as a session musician.

Oh, and here’s the first song from Billy’s first Apple album, That’s The Way God Planned It, a song called Do What You Want To.

 

C is for Circle Songs

The Cyrkle was a Pennsylvania band, managed by Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein, and named by John Lennon.


The circle is considered the perfect symbol, something with no beginning and no ending. So I decided that all I want to post today are songs, specifically circle songs.

LISTEN TO The Circle Game by Joni Mitchell

Joni Mitchell, a Canadian singer-songwriter, ended her 1970 Ladies of the Canyon album with this oft-covered tune. In fact, Tom Rush had already put it on his 1968 album named after this song. Here’s a 1967 version from Joni. Buffy Sainte-Marie had a minor hit with the song as well.

LISTEN TO Happiness Runs by Donovan

Donovan was one of those 1960s singers that some critics pegged as “the next Bob Dylan”, which is always an unfair comparison. Here’s the Scottish singer on the Smothers Brothers singing Lalena, then Happiness Runs (at 3:50) in 1968. I remember watching it at the time and loving it. The song at the end is, according to one source, Unknown Song, featuring Jennifer Warnes.
Happiness runs in a circular motion
Thought is like a little boat upon the sea.
Everybody is a part of everything anyway,
You can have everything if you let yourself be.

LISTEN TO Windmills of Your Mind by Alison Moyet

English pop singer Alison Moyet is one of several artists to perform this song by Michel Legrand and Alan and Marilyn Bergman, “from the 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair. Noel Harrison performed the song for the film score. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1969.” The most famous version was by the late English pop/soul crooner Dusty Springfield, but there have been many others, including Petula Clark, Vanilla Fudge (!), Neil Diamond and Sting.
Like a circle in a spiral
Like a wheel within a wheel
Never ending or beginning
On an ever-spinning reel.

LISTEN TO Will It Go Round In Circles by Billy Preston

American soul singer and keyboardist Billy Preston was a child prodigy and played with musicians such as Ray Charles and Sam Cooke. He befriended the Beatles and later became the first person to get a credit on a Beatles single. He was signed to the Beatles’ Apple Records, but his real success came when he moved to A&M Records and had four Top 10 hits, including this #1. Unfortunately, Billy died in 2006, at the age of 59.

LISTEN TO Will the Circle Be Unbroken by Michelle Wright, Iris DeMent, and Mairead Ni Mhaonaight

Will the Circle Be Unbroken is a 100+ year old song, which I most associate with legendary country music artists the Carter Family. It has been often covered, notably by Johnny Cash, who married into the Carter family when he wed June; and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, whose album of the same name “brings the longhaired West Coast band together with some of Nashville’s greatest artists.”

LISTEN TO Red Rubber Ball by The Cyrkle

Finally, a bit of a cheat. The Cyrkle was a Pennsylvania band, managed by Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein, and named by John Lennon. This was their biggest hit, as it went to #2 in 1966, written by Paul Simon.

ABC Wednesday – Round 8

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