Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Billy Preston


The music world has lost a great keyboard player and song writer on June 6. Do you really know just how far reaching his tunes were and the influences he had on so many? He played and recorded with the Stones, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, The Beatles, Sly, Aretha, Dylan, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Neil Diamond, Luther Vandross, Elton John, Gladys Knight, Enrique Iglesias, Ray Charles and Little Richard. I know that sounds like a run on sentence, but it's only the most famous listed. I haven't even mentioned his songs like "Will it Go Round in Circles" or "Nothing from Nothing". NPR's "All things considered" has a short, but great audio documentary on him. Billy Preston's own website has some audio and video links as well.
Check out his hair. That's a visual I'll never forget. He was only 59 years old.