RIP Billy Preston 1946-2006

I know everyone's waiting to see what I have to say about my film shoot from this past weekend (in short, it was crazy, but outstanding) but I had to take a little time out upon news of the passing of Billy Preston this morning. For those who don't know, Mr. Preston was a musical giant. An acclaimed singer and pianist, he played behind Ray Charles, Little Richard, Aretha Franklin, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles (amongst others) before launching his own solo career which produced such hits as "Will It Go Round in Circles", "Outa-Space", "Nothing From Nothing" and "With You I'm Born Again" featuring Syreeta.

While working on a story about Sly Stone in the summer of 2000, I befriended Sly's sister Rose, who put me in touch with Mr. Preston. One warm summer day, I drove to his home in Ladera Heights, where he introduced me to his family, then held court with me for nearly an hour on his upbringing, his troubles and most importantly, his love and respect for music and the phenomenal talents he has been blessed to play with.

The piece was slated to run in a national magazine but a new editor took over and ixnayed the previously agreed to set up. So I held it. My only regret is that I wasn't really into the Beatles when I met him and, for that alone (especially now that I've seen the Let It Be movie), I could've asked him so many more questions.

So here's the interview, in its entirety.

Black music is losing.

Elevate.

JG: You had such a prodigious childhood and you were playing at a young age, but overall, what was your childhood like?
BP: Overall, it was a very nice childhood. I’m from a very musical family, a Christian family and my mother played piano and my older sister also played. There was always a piano in the house. My sister started playing when she was three and I did too.

JG: Who were your first big influences?
BP: Wow… Ray Charles, of course. Ray Charles and the reason is that his music was gospel, it had this gospel vibe. And I really related to him. I used to put my choir robe on and pantomime to his music. So he became my idol then. And then, of course, a lot of the gospel musicians that were big at the time: Curtis Dublin, Herbert Picard, Reverend James Cleveland and a lot of the piano players that were playing in those days were a great influence to me. I grew up with Andrae Crouch, who was also a musician, we were in a group together called C.O.G.I.C. We used to always listen to the records and learn.

JG: I once read an article on Sly Stone where you were once quoted as having said that you met him at a party where you were listening to Ray Charles. Tell us a little bit about your friendship with Sly Stone.
BP: Well, Sly’s like a brother. He’s like…. We’ve always considered ourselves 50% of each other. Because when we play together, it’s just magic. It’s just a wonderful experience. Sly is just… Sly! You know, he’s a character. We both had dreams at the time to form a group. It was at the time that the Beatles were big and we said, we’re gonna have four cats. We’re gonna be the black Beatles, except we’re gonna call ourselves The Sons of Ray. It was gonna be me, Sly, Larry Graham and Freddie (Stone). At the time, I was on Capitol Records and I was working with Ray and I told Ray about Sly and he got excited that we were going to form a group and name it after him. So I got Ray to produce the session. But it so happened that Sly was late, he showed up to the session late and I was so hurt because here we’ve got Ray Charles waiting on Sly! I think Sly was a little scared to be in the presence of Ray. We did do the session but nothing came of it. After that, Sly went on back and formed the Family Stone and he called me to come up there and work on his project.

JG: That was you playing the electric piano on “Family Affair?” I love that.
BP: Yeah, that was me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

JG: Have you seen Sly lately?
BP: No. Not too many people have seen Sly lately. I want to see him. I hope that he gets it together to the point he’ll come back and we’ll get to play some more. I talk to Rose (Stone). I haven’t spoken to Freddie recently, I’ve tried to call him a couple times. You know, he’s a pastor now. I’m happy for him. But I haven’t seen Sly. I always ask Rose how he’s doing. He seems to be okay, but he’s not… there’s something happening with him, I don’t know.

JG: How well did you know another musical idol of mine, Donny Hathaway? I know that he redid a couple of your songs. [1971’s “Little Girl” and 1973’s “Lord Help Me”]
BP: Yeah, he did the heck out of them. I didn’t really know Donny that well. We met in New York and hung out a few times. I really didn’t spend a lot of time with Donny. Donny was kind of a different, really strange person.

JG: How so?
BP: I think he was really introverted. So he wasn’t really an open type cat. We sat one time and we talked but we didn’t hang out or anything. But he was a genius, really something else.

JG: So what are you working on now, that we can look forward to?
BP: I’m getting ready to do a pop album. I’ve been doing a lot of gospel, that’s my roots. Me and my sister started a gospel label. We’re working on different projects there. I have Lucinda Tatum, who’s a great narrator and we did a project a few years ago called Words and Music, so we’re working on her next album. My sister’s kids have a group too. I also work at church with my sister, she’s the minister of music at Brookins AME. I play the organ at the church. It’s a joy because all these years, we’ve worked at different churches, but we’ve never worked together at the same church.

JG: Do you think there’s anything about you that’s been misunderstood?
BP: Yeah, but it’s all a growing process and you live and learn. You make mistakes and you just get up, you don’t stay down. You just have to regroup and start over or do whatever’s necessary. I’m grateful for the experience of whatever I’ve had to go through. I’ve gotten stronger by all of it. And I thank God that my gift is still there and my mind and my spirit. So it’s okay.

JG: How were you able to maintain in light of your more serious legal issues? [In the 1980s and 90s, Preston was convicted of insurance fraud and battled drug and alcohol addiction.]
BP: Well, through God. Through my spiritual experience. Really getting back to my purpose, what God put me here for. It really grounded me. It separated me from everything, so it had to ground me. I had nothing but myself and the Lord to deal with, so that really did me good.

JG: Did you have any points where you felt like, “Well, maybe this is it? I can’t go back.”
BP: Well, I don’t want to go back. There’s nothing I want to go back to. It’s always about what’s ahead. What’s past is past. I’m not trying to recapture the past and go back and do the things I did before. Even though I still sing the same songs forever. But I’m reaching for the future. I don’t live in the past.

JG: Okay, I just need to know where in the world did you come up with “Outa-Space”?
BP: Yes. (laughs) There was a new instrument that had just come out, the clavinet. I rented it for the session. And I was just playing it, I put a wah-wah pedal on it. I was just playing around. And I just came up with this little groove. Just automatically, the band caught on to it. We took one take of it and that’s the record.

JG: Wow.
BP: It was just one take, man. It was magic. That’s what happened with “Space Race”, the synthesizer had just come out. I rented it for the session and we came up with this little tune and it was a classic. The world of music is just so exciting right now because of the technology and the new instruments they’re making now. I’ve got a guy in there now, wiring up some stuff for me. Music is just a wonderful thing and there’s always something new to look forward to.

JG: How did you get cool with The Beatles?
BP: I met the Beatles in 1962. I was on tour with Little Richard. It was supposed to be a gospel tour but it turned out to be rock and roll. I went with him and played rock and roll for the first time. The Beatles were a supporting act on the show. So we became friends then, and then we started hanging out. They asked me about America. I didn’t see them again until I was on tour with Ray Charles in England and George Harrison came to the show. He sent a message for me to come by the studio the next day. I went by and they were all there recording and everything, so they said, “C’mon and play.” So I sat in and they asked me to come back and help them finish their album. I did three albums with them: The White Album, Abbey Road and Let It Be. That was a great experience, they treated me like a member of the family. We became like brothers. It opened a new avenue for me because it was the first time that I ever got to sing on a record, the first time I ever got to co-produce a record. So, it was a great experience.

JG: How close do you think you came to actually being a member of the group?
BP: I was. I was actually a member. Had they stayed together, I probably would’ve been out there with them. But they had stopped touring at that time. The last time we performed together was on the roof of Apple. I was kind of upset about it. (laughs) It would’ve been really nice. But by my being there with them, I understood all the hassles that they were going through, you know, with their business and money missing. And it seemed like, “God, if the Beatles aren’t being treated right, then what hope could I have?” They were kind enough to let me out of the contract because they were having so many problems.

JG: I saw a quote that Andy Summers of the Police said about Miles Davis, where he said that you could basically trace the history of black music through following Miles’ career. As I was looking at your career, I was thinking that someone could say the same thing about you. Out of all those people that you’ve played with, who awed you the most?
BP: Who awed me the most? I don’t know. A lot of people admire me and that’s a great thing. I’ve admired Ray Charles and, in fact, you mentioned Miles Davis, I met him once at a press conference and he came in and took me out to his car and played me a track called “Billy Preston.” I was blown away! That was a great honor for him to do that. I don’t know, it’s guess it’s a mutual admiration society amongst artists and musicians. We all appreciate each other for what we do. It’s not a competitive thing. It’s just appreciating each other.