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Topic: Billy Preston - What was his story? Return to archive Page: 1 2
June 15th, 2005 06:41 AM
corgi37 This could be some where here, but i am too dumb (read" lazy) to look for it. I have never really read much on why Billy suddenly wasnt in the loop anymore. I sort of read it was down to song writing credits for Miss You, but i aint sure. Or, was it simply they had used him up.

Either way, anyone know the real reason he vanished from the Stones camp? I mean, the guy virtually took over their sound for much of the 70's.
June 15th, 2005 06:58 AM
scratched In his 'All The Rage' book (p266), Ian McLagan describes his own negotiations for playing keys on the '78 US tour and how Billy Preston got one over on the Stones on the previous US tour. I get the feeling that Billy burned his bridges with this:

"Jane handed me the papers, and after looking at them briefly I said I'd sign it after my lawyer had looked it over. Mick wasn't pleased, as he had apparently assumed I'd sign it without reading it. I was insulted, and he was angry, and like a petulant child, he pouted and said: "Oh you're not going to be like Billy, and hold us to ransom, are you?"
This was the second time I'd been compared to Billy Preston, but neither had anything to do with music. Freddie Sessler explained later that the Stones had finished the 1975 tour before Billy Preston had signed a contract, so when the live album, Love You Live, acme out with him on every track, he was in a position to bargain and eventually got a percedntage of it."
June 15th, 2005 07:55 AM
Gazza He's obviously a good negotiator as he got a (unique) co-credit on a Beatles record too.

the "Get Back" single is the only Beatles record that lists another artist ("The Beatles with Billy Preston")
June 15th, 2005 07:55 AM
Mel Belli Money must've been a big part of it. But, generally, he just got too big for his britches, or his afro. He'd demand having his boyfriends set up in the front row each show. He wanted, and got, solo spots ... I guess the hard feelings faded eventually, since Billy turned up on "Wandering Spirit" and "Bridges to Babylon."
June 15th, 2005 03:08 PM
T&A his contribution to MJ's Out of Focus makes for one of the best cuts any of the Stones (group or solo) has done in 30 years, IMO. Just an amazingly swinging track....
June 15th, 2005 03:51 PM
The_Worst
quote:
Mel Belli wrote:
He'd demand having his boyfriends set up in the front row each show.



Boyfriends?!?! So he's gay? Not that there's anything wrong with that...
June 15th, 2005 03:52 PM
gotdablouse "Boyfriends" ? huh ! Hadn't heard that yet, he did get in trouble in the 90s for hanging too close to "young people" it seems.

Still that guy is a fabulous musician and he is amazing in the "George Harrison" tribute on MSLord, probably has a toupet now though !

I think he ended up getting on the wrong side of Keith (like Clifford did in the 90s) who said at the time SG was released that they had gotten rid of the "facile musicians".
June 15th, 2005 04:12 PM
FPM C10
quote:
gotdablouse wrote:

Still that guy is a fabulous musician and he is amazing in the "George Harrison" tribute on MSLord...




Yes, he is very good on that. He's also good on Clapton's "Me & Mr. J" album.

His brief solo in "I Got The Blues" is so tasty it almost makes up for his later excesses (read: cockdance...)
June 15th, 2005 04:29 PM
doo doo doo Dude
quote:
FPM C10 wrote:
His brief solo in "I Got The Blues" is so tasty it almost makes up for his later excesses (read: cockdance...)



The cockdance alone was reason enough to fire Billy...{{shudder}}
June 15th, 2005 05:52 PM
J.J.Flash
quote:
The_Worst wrote:


Boyfriends?!?! So he's gay? Not that there's anything wrong with that...



WTF?!?!?!

**********************BLANK FRIGGIN' STARE*****************

Never heard this before.......

June 15th, 2005 09:57 PM
Soldatti Billy did a great job on Wandering Spirit and Saint Of Me, recently.
June 16th, 2005 11:10 AM
corgi37 He's on Saint of me?

Man, its been so long since i read the liner notes of a new Stones cd.
June 17th, 2005 12:25 AM
glencar That guitar wrangler of Keith's got a songwriting credit on BTB.
June 17th, 2005 01:30 AM
Soldatti
quote:
corgi37 wrote:
He's on Saint of me?

Man, its been so long since i read the liner notes of a new Stones cd.




He plays keyboards on that tune, including the opening lines.
June 17th, 2005 04:15 AM
pdog
quote:
corgi37 wrote:
This could be some where here, but i am too dumb (read" lazy) to look for it. I have never really read much on why Billy suddenly wasnt in the loop anymore. I sort of read it was down to song writing credits for Miss You, but i aint sure. Or, was it simply they had used him up.

Either way, anyone know the real reason he vanished from the Stones camp? I mean, the guy virtually took over their sound for much of the 70's.



All I know is, Billy was damn cool and I think fit in well with the band in the mid seventies. I couldn't picture him on tour in 78 or 81.
June 17th, 2005 06:57 AM
telecaster All I know is he didn't save his money from the records or he wouldn't have tried to burn down his house for the insurance money.

I believe it is called arson

See Chubb Insurance vs William Preston

Boy be in a heep of trouble
June 17th, 2005 05:25 PM
gypsy
June 17th, 2005 06:01 PM
gustavobala the teeths are the same!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



June 18th, 2005 03:25 AM
glencar
quote:
telecaster wrote:
All I know is he didn't save his money from the records or he wouldn't have tried to burn down his house for the insurance money.

I believe it is called arson

See Chubb Insurance vs William Preston

Boy be in a heep of trouble



I know someone who works for Chubb. Billy'll "moonwalk" his way out of this one.
June 18th, 2005 06:55 PM
Angiegirl
quote:
telecaster wrote:
All I know is he didn't save his money from the records or he wouldn't have tried to burn down his house for the insurance money.


I read somewhere that he's into Scientology .
He was on Jools Holland's Later on BBC2 yesterday, missed it though. Anyone here who saw it?
June 18th, 2005 09:09 PM
Soul Survivor All I know is that this guy has played for pretty much every rock band.
June 18th, 2005 11:50 PM
glencar
quote:
Angiegirl wrote:

I read somewhere that he's into Scientology .
He was on Jools Holland's Later on BBC2 yesterday, missed it though. Anyone here who saw it?



BBCAmerica used to show that fine program but they haven't done so for quite some time. If I could find the interest to post an emoticon, it'd be that angry one.
June 20th, 2005 11:50 AM
jb I would say his tenure with the stone(73-77) was pretty extroadinary. Watching LA 75, it's amazing how he had his own set with Keith, Ronnie and Charlie backing him...while Mick prances around..that was pretty good contract negotiations if you ask me...could you ever see that happening again with any other performer...LOL His contributions to the Stones were probably greater than those to the Beatles aided by his touring with them. I didn't know Billy was "gay" or the reference to his boy friends opening/sitting front row? He obviously has had many problems since his days with the Stones..both legal and personal, but i would take Billy over Chuck on his worst day.
June 21st, 2005 04:09 PM
texile hell yeah t&a - out of focus is the best thing jagger OR richards have done since some girls.........beautiful.
at least he had a style and a personality unlike clifford and all those other session fuckers they use now - billy added something, like him or not.
June 21st, 2005 04:19 PM
Nellcote In hindsight, I think his contributions were best in the studio.
His stage presence in retrospect is somewhat of a circus.
I'd take Stevie Wonder singing Uptight, then merging into Satisfaction from '72 then Outta Space anyday.
June 21st, 2005 04:22 PM
mac_daddy
quote:
Nellcote wrote:

I'd take Stevie Wonder singing Uptight, then merging into Satisfaction from '72 then Outta Space anyday.



me, too.

how about the ike and tina revue opening, instead of the billy preston band..?
June 21st, 2005 05:01 PM
texile yeah but still, billy earned his keep in the studio....
shine a light is billy, right?
organ on you got the blues...
that funky intro on heartbreaker....
and yes, mick says he and billy got miss you together during the el mocambo gig in 77 while they were waiting for everybody else to show up...
the whole song, so billy has his place in the stones history.
June 21st, 2005 05:04 PM
Moonisup I've seen him in 2004 with Eric C, where he was very dominant on his Hammond, but in a good way, not in a Chuck way!
But he did things with litlle kids right? or that was the rumour, just likke waddy wachtel
June 21st, 2005 05:42 PM
jpenn11
quote:
mac_daddy wrote:
me, too.

how about the ike and tina revue opening, instead of the billy preston band..?



Actually, even I would rather listen to the god squad with Mick Taylor than Ike and Tina, although they are a close second. (And that god squad opener had the beneficial effect of loosening up Taylor's fingers.)

On the organ or piano, Billy can do whatever he wants. However, in my view Billy's synth in '73 was not preferable to Chuck.
June 21st, 2005 06:22 PM
texile i like mac in the some girls era - billy would have been too busy.......but still, he's BILLY!
what about waddy?
holy shit, my first guitar hero - when he was with linda ronstadt.........
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