Billy Preston: That's the Way God Planned It
Tuesday 21 December
1:30pm - 2:00pm
BBC Radio 4
Rick Wakeman explores the life and music of fellow keyboard player Billy Preston, the so-called fifth Beatle, who collaborated with some of the biggest names in pop, including Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Eric Clapton and Aretha Franklin. Featuring contributions by Jools Holland, Bill Wyman and Pete Townshend, this documentary also explores the secret that Preston spent his life suppressing - one that his former manager Joyce Moore believes fuelled his personal problems.
The original single of ‘Get Back’ was credited to The Beatles and Billy Preston, apparently the only Beatles record ever to have a joint credit. But I’ve lost count of the people I’ve heard called the ‘fifth Beatle’ – everybody from George Martin to George Best; from Mal Evans to Murray the K; even the bullfighter El Cordobes, if memory serves me. Wikipedia even has a long article on the subject.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.examiner.com/bob-dylan-in-national/bob-dylan-and-billy-preston-who-did-not-play-on-blood-on-the-tracks
ReplyDeleteI solved the mystery last September :-D
The Fifth Beatle - that's what he's most famous for, surely?
ReplyDeleteBilly Preston was a terrific artist in his own right, who's career goes right back to the mid-'60s. Simply judging him by some of the people he worked with (and he did a lot more with the Stones than the Beatles) does him a massive disservice.
ReplyDeleteDid you listen to it? Cos that's exactly what it was about. Rather moving too
ReplyDeleteI did indeed. Such a sad story in so many ways.
ReplyDelete