The Texan Who Saved the Beatles
December 21, 2021 7:44 PM Subscribe
So when Preston strolls into Apple Corps wearing a cool, black leather jacket, he’s hardly starstruck. He doesn’t know the band has been looking for a keyboardist; he’s just there to hang. Earlier in the recording sessions, the band was hoping to gain some momentum by hiring a keyboard player so they could record live, rather than having to pause so one of them could lay down a track. Preston’s arrival was so perfect that Lennon casually offered him the gig: “If you’d like to do that, you’re welcome to, and then you’d be on the album.”
Preston shines through even more in the reimagined Let It Be... Naked. (YouTube playlist)
posted by hippybear at 8:34 PM on December 21, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 8:34 PM on December 21, 2021 [3 favorites]
When watching “Get Back,” (which is a kind of endurance event of its own), Billy Preston’s arrival is nothing short of miraculous. The energy change, both on-screen and for the viewer, is palpable; we sat up straighter, stopped fucking around with our phones… it was clear that a Professional had arrived and Shit was getting Accomplished.
And all done with nearly effortless-seeming cool and friendly but serious attention.
posted by dragstroke at 8:45 PM on December 21, 2021 [13 favorites]
And all done with nearly effortless-seeming cool and friendly but serious attention.
posted by dragstroke at 8:45 PM on December 21, 2021 [13 favorites]
my intro to Billy Preston was the Concert for Bangladesh album where he performed That's The Way God Planned It. Twelve year old me was somewhat confused at the overt religiosity of the lyric (rock stars didn't go to church, did they?) yet I couldn't deny the sheer power and glory of the performance.
He stole the show
Later I'd hear the term gospel music.
posted by philip-random at 9:12 PM on December 21, 2021 [4 favorites]
He stole the show
Later I'd hear the term gospel music.
posted by philip-random at 9:12 PM on December 21, 2021 [4 favorites]
Really, the great thing about Get Back is the journey, from beginning to end. Yes, heavily edited (holding my fingers for a physical media 16 hour "directors cut" edit), but there's a shape to the journey. And the brilliant thing is, at the end... is that live concert. In full, for the first time ever. And the lads are having SO MUCH FUCKING FUN playing together live for an imagined audience on the streets below...
It's a masterwork of documentary filmmaking. I think maybe the only other director to hand the material to for shaping might have been Richard Linklater, who has played with time for many decades of his career.
posted by hippybear at 9:17 PM on December 21, 2021 [11 favorites]
It's a masterwork of documentary filmmaking. I think maybe the only other director to hand the material to for shaping might have been Richard Linklater, who has played with time for many decades of his career.
posted by hippybear at 9:17 PM on December 21, 2021 [11 favorites]
A great story beautifully told. Cheers to the five Beatles and to journalist Cat Cardenas.
posted by bryon at 9:24 PM on December 21, 2021
posted by bryon at 9:24 PM on December 21, 2021
Later in the session, as Preston steps behind a Hammond organ on “Let It Be,” McCartney stops in his tracks. Usually this would signal that he thought something was wrong, and he’d go on to issue a series of exacting notes on the take. But this time, he stops to acknowledge the style Preston is bringing to the track—something McCartney admits he couldn’t have done. “Coming from the north of England, it doesn’t come through easy, you know—all the soul,” he says, chuckling at himself.
I love Paul.
[And Preston was ... incredible. Thanks for posting this!]
posted by chavenet at 1:09 AM on December 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
I love Paul.
[And Preston was ... incredible. Thanks for posting this!]
posted by chavenet at 1:09 AM on December 22, 2021 [3 favorites]
I'm still working through Get Back and last night watched the part of Preston's revival. Paul's reaction when he starts playing on "I've Got a Feeling" is incredible: such utter delight. It was amazing the way he transformed those songs. The whole band is lifted so much by his arrival.
(And as someone who noodles around on guitar but isn't, y'know, at all an expert, I'll never not be amazed by those total pros who come in and just immediately get a song and can just jam along.)
posted by synecdoche at 4:10 AM on December 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
(And as someone who noodles around on guitar but isn't, y'know, at all an expert, I'll never not be amazed by those total pros who come in and just immediately get a song and can just jam along.)
posted by synecdoche at 4:10 AM on December 22, 2021 [2 favorites]
(Er, Preston's "arrival," not "revival.")
posted by synecdoche at 4:34 AM on December 22, 2021
posted by synecdoche at 4:34 AM on December 22, 2021
(Er, Preston's "arrival," not "revival.")
It does kind of work:
"But then Preston burst in, grinning a grin, to help with the good album's revival"
No?
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 6:07 AM on December 22, 2021 [11 favorites]
It does kind of work:
"But then Preston burst in, grinning a grin, to help with the good album's revival"
No?
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 6:07 AM on December 22, 2021 [11 favorites]
Hearing Billy Preston play in the Get Back movie was great. It really does seem like he lifted them all up. Even on the "Let It Be.. Naked" album (which is Let it Be de-Spectorized, but also heavily featuring Paul's preferences for the production) the keyboards aren't as emphasized as they ought to have been. Watching the movie made me realize how groovy Get Back, Don't Let Me Down and I've Got A Feeling are (and in a new way for the Beatles, could have been a great new direction for them), and you can see how much John and Paul and later Billy Preston and even George and Ringo loved just playing those particular songs.
posted by thefool at 7:24 AM on December 22, 2021
posted by thefool at 7:24 AM on December 22, 2021
This is a great article I came across, Will It Go Round In Circles? The Conflicted Legacy of Billy Preston. Warning: this article discusses abuse, addiction, and the emotional, social, & legal conflicts that follow.
" Billy Preston is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
This is a rudimentary statement of fact—do with it what you will.
Strictly on the merits—nine-time nominated/two-time Grammy winning singer, songwriter, musician and side man for the most celebrated icons in all genres of American popular music—there is no question he should be in. Based on the incessant, catastrophic ephemera dogging his personal life even after death in 2006—and the arbitrary, political, “glamor, fame and money”-driven stewardship of that peculiar institution—he probably will never be.
But one thing that can most definitely happen is all of the artists and estates of artists who have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—many of whom have expanded their legends on the strength of Preston’s invaluable contributions—can certainly flex their collective muscle with the Hall’s board of directors and ensure his enshrinement within their ranks "
posted by winesong at 8:53 AM on December 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
" Billy Preston is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
This is a rudimentary statement of fact—do with it what you will.
Strictly on the merits—nine-time nominated/two-time Grammy winning singer, songwriter, musician and side man for the most celebrated icons in all genres of American popular music—there is no question he should be in. Based on the incessant, catastrophic ephemera dogging his personal life even after death in 2006—and the arbitrary, political, “glamor, fame and money”-driven stewardship of that peculiar institution—he probably will never be.
But one thing that can most definitely happen is all of the artists and estates of artists who have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—many of whom have expanded their legends on the strength of Preston’s invaluable contributions—can certainly flex their collective muscle with the Hall’s board of directors and ensure his enshrinement within their ranks "
posted by winesong at 8:53 AM on December 22, 2021 [4 favorites]
That's a little outdated, he was indeed inducted this year. But they aren't wrong in that it was much later than it should have been.
posted by tavella at 11:43 AM on December 22, 2021
posted by tavella at 11:43 AM on December 22, 2021
I was really disappointed with Let It Be.. Naked. The title is stupid, the cover is stupid. I wanted them to release Get Back with the originally planned cover and the Glyn Johns mixes.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:27 AM on December 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by kirkaracha at 10:27 AM on December 23, 2021 [1 favorite]
Let it Be would not be the record it was without Billy Preston.
What I thought was cool about the concert on the roof was that when the Beatles actually toured you could see them but couldn't hear them due to the crowd noise, but for the concert on the roof you could hear them but couldn't see them.
posted by oldnumberseven at 10:10 PM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
What I thought was cool about the concert on the roof was that when the Beatles actually toured you could see them but couldn't hear them due to the crowd noise, but for the concert on the roof you could hear them but couldn't see them.
posted by oldnumberseven at 10:10 PM on December 24, 2021 [1 favorite]
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