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Billy Preston Rip

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By Godzilla
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Paul R Long Time

Paul R

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https://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/3942909.html

Not sure if anyone's mentioned this already. The big band upstairs just gained an ace keyboard player sad.gif

Godz

So sad, One of the first "northern" tracks I heard was Billy's Bag.

And there's one of the best double siders, "The Girls Got It" bw "the Night"

Billy_preston_The_Girls_Got_It.mp3

RIP Billy

Paul R

Edited by Paul r
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Guest Jimmy Scriv

Guest Jimmy Scriv

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I remember years ago buying Billy's version of In The Midnight Hour on the Capitol Disco 66 Series. A tremendous record but somehow out of place on todays scene and I have not heard it for years.

A sad loss.

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Guest dundeedavie

Guest dundeedavie

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stunning work on the beatles stuff and the last ray charles album , especially "here we go again " with norah jones

Davie

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Guest

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A shame.

I read he was seriously ill recently-there was a dispute over who was taking care of his business affairs. He played Hammond on a track on Steve Harveys ' Everyday People ' CD last year.

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Paul R Long Time

Paul R

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I remember years ago buying Billy's version of In The Midnight Hour on the Capitol Disco 66 Series. A tremendous record but somehow out of place on todays scene and I have not heard it for years.

A sad loss.

Oops don't know what happened there. How do you delete a post?

Edited by Paul r
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Guest SteveC

Guest SteveC

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So sad, One of the first "northern" tracks I heard was Billy's Bag.

And there's one of the best double siders, "The Girls Got It" bw "the Night"

Billy_preston_The_Girls_Got_It.mp3

RIP Billy

Paul R

Here here m8 - both great trax along with Let the music play & many more. Another sad loss - RIP

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Im really saddened to see this news :D ...its all about peace and love...God Bless Billy Preston....

[/quote

:rolleyes: SO SAD :D God Bless you Billy and Thank you for your Soul!

Its a treasured soul and will be Allways soul, play on!

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Guest Netspeaky

Guest Netspeaky

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Singer-Songwriter Billy Preston Dead at 59 PHOENIX (AP) - Billy Preston, the exuberant keyboardist who landed dream gigs with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and enjoyed his own series of hit singles, including "Outta Space" and "Nothing From Nothing," died Tuesday at 59. Preston's longtime manager, Joyce Moore, said Preston had been in a coma since November in a care facility and was taken to a hospital in Scottsdale Saturday after his condition deteriorated.

"He had a very, very beautiful last few hours and a really beautiful passing," Moore said by telephone from Germany. "He went home good."

Preston had battled chronic kidney failure, and he received a kidney transplant in 2002. But the kidney failed and he has been on dialysis ever since, Moore said earlier this year.

Known for his big smile and towering Afro, Preston was a teen prodigy on the piano and organ, and lent his gospel-tinged touch to classics such as the Beatles' "Get Back" and the Stones' "Can't You Hear Me Knocking?"

He broke out as a solo artist in the 1970s, winning a best instrumental Grammy in 1973 for "Outta Space," and scoring other hits with "Will It Go 'Round In Circles," "Nothing From Nothing" and "With You I'm Born Again," a duet with Syreeta Wright.

He also wrote Joe Cocker's weeper, "You Are So Beautiful," and co-wrote with Quincy Jones the score for 1970 movie "They Call Me Mr. Tibbs." Other achievements included being a musical guest on the 1975 debut of "Saturday Night Live," and having a song named after him by Miles Davis. Among his film credits: "Blues Brothers 2000" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

Preston's partnership with the Beatles began in early 1969 when friend George Harrison recruited him to play on "Let It Be," a back-to-basics film and record project that nearly broke down because of feuding among band members. Harrison himself quit at one point, walking out on camera after arguing with Paul McCartney.

Preston not only inspired the Beatles to get along - Harrison likened his effect to a feuding family staying on its best behavior in front of a guest - but contributed a light, bluesy solo to "Get Back," performing the song with the band on its legendary "roof top" concert, the last time the Beatles played live. He was one of many sometimes labeled "The Fifth Beatle."

Preston remained close to Harrison and performed at Harrison's all-star charity event, "The Concert for Bangladesh" and at the "Concert for George," a tribute to Harrison, who died of cancer in 2001. He played on solo records by Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon.

Preston also toured and recorded extensively with the Rolling Stones, playing on such classic albums as "Sticky Fingers" and "Exile on Main Street." In the mid-'70s, he parted from the Stones, reportedly unhappy over not getting proper credit for "Melody" and other songs. He reunited with the band in 1997 on its "Bridges to Babylon" record.

His sessions credits included Aretha Franklin's "Young, Gifted and Black," Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks" and Sly and Family Stone's "There's a Riot Goin' On," three of the most acclaimed albums of the past 35 years.

The Houston native earned his performance chops at age 10 playing the keyboard for gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, and at 12 portraying a young W. C. Handy in the 1958 biopic "St. Louis Blues." He toured with mentors and fellow piano greats Ray Charles and Little Richard in the early 1960s, first encountering the Beatles while on the road in Germany.

Preston had numerous personal troubles in recent years. In 1992, he was given a suspended jail sentence, but ordered incarcerated for nine months at a drug rehabilitation center for his no-contest pleas to cocaine and assault charges. Five years later, he was sentenced to three years in prison for violating probation. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and agreed to testify against other defendants in an alleged scam that netted about $1 million.

Edited by Netspeaky
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Guest trickbag

Guest trickbag

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remember buying thats the way god planed it,with a lovely picture cover thought it was fab.

god bless.

ricky

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Stateside Long Time

Stateside

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Saw him as well with the Funk Bros but always had a place in my collection for Outer Space, although it was more funk than Northern it always amazed me how he managed to play such a complex tune with such ease - couldn't even keep up on the air keyboard.

RIP Billy

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Guest Polyvelts

Guest Polyvelts

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Billy Preston. Rest in peace you beautiful person. Your Joyful voice and broad smile brought us so much love and will continue doing so .

Thank you for the music !

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