When I read this original post yesterday, I thought "wait a minute" -- I'd been pretty sure it was on the single of Get Back in 1969 that Preston became the first artist credited alongside the Beatles. Today's Times obituary confirmed this (while mentioning he did perform on Let It Be as well).
Preston is one of those musicians who perhaps don't come immediately to mind, but, once his memory is evoked, you realize how much pleasure he gave you along the way. I know ever since I heard about this, "I got a song it ain't got no melody" has been running through my head.
RIP Billy Preston
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Keyboards star Billy Preston dies
US singer and song-writer Billy Preston has died at the age of 59 in Arizona after a long illness.
A former teenage keyboard prodigy, Mr Preston was one of the few musicians to play with both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
He contributed to The Beatles' Let it Be, and Rolling Stones records including Exile on Main Street.
Mr Preston later had a string of hit singles in his own right, winning a Grammy for the song Outta Space.
Mr Preston had been in a coma at a health centre in Scottsdale, Arizona, since last November after suffering kidney failure.
Solo hits
Mr Preston, who was born in Texas, spent most of his life in the entertainment industry in a career that spanned five decades.
As a teenager he played keyboards for the likes of Little Richard and Ray Charles.
Mr Preston became the only person to be given a label credit alongside The Beatles after his work on the song Let it Be, as well as the Abbey Road and White Album recordings.
Mr Preston's fame was galvanised with a string of Number 1 hit singles of his own, including Outta Space, Will It Go Round In Circles, Nothing From Nothing and Space Race.
A prolific writer, he also wrote You Are So Beautiful, a major hit for his friend, British blues singer Joe Cocker.
And he collaborated with superstars such as The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, The Jackson Five, Sly and the Family Stone and Barbra Streisand.
US singer and song-writer Billy Preston has died at the age of 59 in Arizona after a long illness.
A former teenage keyboard prodigy, Mr Preston was one of the few musicians to play with both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.
He contributed to The Beatles' Let it Be, and Rolling Stones records including Exile on Main Street.
Mr Preston later had a string of hit singles in his own right, winning a Grammy for the song Outta Space.
Mr Preston had been in a coma at a health centre in Scottsdale, Arizona, since last November after suffering kidney failure.
Solo hits
Mr Preston, who was born in Texas, spent most of his life in the entertainment industry in a career that spanned five decades.
As a teenager he played keyboards for the likes of Little Richard and Ray Charles.
Mr Preston became the only person to be given a label credit alongside The Beatles after his work on the song Let it Be, as well as the Abbey Road and White Album recordings.
Mr Preston's fame was galvanised with a string of Number 1 hit singles of his own, including Outta Space, Will It Go Round In Circles, Nothing From Nothing and Space Race.
A prolific writer, he also wrote You Are So Beautiful, a major hit for his friend, British blues singer Joe Cocker.
And he collaborated with superstars such as The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, The Jackson Five, Sly and the Family Stone and Barbra Streisand.
"...it is the weak who are cruel, and...gentleness is only to be expected from the strong." - Leo Reston
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster
"Cruelty might be very human, and it might be cultural, but it's not acceptable." - Jodie Foster