DM's Beatles forums
Beatles forums => News => Topic started by: adamzero on June 06, 2006, 05:25:57 PM
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Let it Be
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,198353,00.html
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I'll miss him.
(http://www.beatles.com/hub/gfx/articles/letItBe/Billy%20Preston%20on%20keyboards.jpg)
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Thank you, Billy... Rest in peace.
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AN INCREDIBLE TALENT - INCREDIBLY SAD NEWS
That's the way God planned it
Thanks Billy
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See'ya 'round Bill.
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I didn't see a topic about this yet, sorry if it's already somewhere...
Apparently he died today of a kidney disease after having been in a coma since November.
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'Fifth Beatle' Billy Preston dies at 59
Manager: Preston had chronic kidney failure
Tuesday, June 6, 2006; Posted: 2:26 p.m. EDT (18:26 GMT)
Manage Alerts | What Is This? PHOENIX, Arizona (AP) -- Billy Preston, the exuberant keyboardist who landed dream gigs with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and enjoyed his own series of hit singles, including "Outta Space" and "Nothing From Nothing," died Tuesday at 59.
Preston's longtime manager, Joyce Moore, said Preston had been in a coma since November in a care facility and was taken to a hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona, Saturday after his condition deteriorated.
"He had a very, very beautiful last few hours and a really beautiful passing," Moore said by telephone from Germany. "He went home good."
Preston had battled chronic kidney failure, and he received a kidney transplant in 2002. But the kidney failed and he has been on dialysis ever since, Moore said earlier this year.
Known for his big smile and towering Afro, Preston was a teen prodigy on the piano and organ, and lent his gospel-tinged touch to classics such as the Beatles' "Get Back" and the Stones' "Can't You Hear Me Knocking?"
He broke out as a solo artist in the 1970s, winning a best instrumental Grammy in 1973 for "Outta Space," and scoring other hits with "Will It Go 'Round In Circles," "Nothing From Nothing" and "With You I'm Born Again," a duet with Syreeta Wright.
He also wrote Joe Cocker's weeper, "You Are So Beautiful," and co-wrote with Quincy Jones the score for 1970 movie "They Call Me Mr. Tibbs." Other achievements included being a musical guest on the 1975 debut of "Saturday Night Live," and having a song named after him by Miles Davis. Among his film credits: "Blues Brothers 2000" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."
Preston's partnership with the Beatles began in early 1969 when friend George Harrison recruited him to play on "Let It Be," a back-to-basics film and record project that nearly broke down because of feuding among band members. Harrison himself quit at one point, walking out on camera after arguing with Paul McCartney.
Preston not only inspired the Beatles to get along -- Harrison likened his effect to a feuding family staying on its best behavior in front of a guest -- but contributed a light, bluesy solo to "Get Back," performing the song with the band on its legendary "roof top" concert, the last time the Beatles played live. He was one of many sometimes labeled "The Fifth Beatle."
Preston remained close to Harrison and performed at Harrison's all-star charity event, "The Concert for Bangladesh" and at the "Concert for George," a tribute to Harrison, who died of cancer in 2001. He played on solo records by Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon.
Preston also toured and recorded extensively with the Rolling Stones, playing on such classic albums as "Sticky Fingers" and "Exile on Main Street." In the mid-'70s, he parted from the Stones, reportedly unhappy over not getting proper credit for "Melody" and other songs. He reunited with the band in 1997 on its "Bridges to Babylon" record.
His sessions credits included Aretha Franklin's "Young, Gifted and Black," Bob Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks" and Sly and Family Stone's "There's a Riot Goin' On," three of the most acclaimed albums of the past 35 years.
The Houston native earned his performance chops at age 10 playing the keyboard for gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, and at 12 portraying a young W. C. Handy in the 1958 biopic "St. Louis Blues."
He toured with mentors and fellow piano greats Ray Charles and Little Richard in the early 1960s, first encountering the Beatles while on the road in Germany.
Preston had numerous personal troubles in recent years. In 1992, he was given a suspended jail sentence, but ordered incarcerated for nine months at a drug rehabilitation center for his no-contest pleas to cocaine and assault charges.
Five years later, he was sentenced to three years in prison for violating probation. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to insurance fraud and agreed to testify against other defendants in an alleged scam that netted about $1 million.
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oh sh*t, really? i cant believe that really, i mean, i think i saw the bangladesh program on tv a while ago and they interviewed him and i thought how young and fit he looked, i actually he thought he was about 35 or something (apart from the odd gray hair), so his deaths really sad and random..i had no idea he had kidney problems poor guy.........am gonna be listening to get back all of tonight now.
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billy go round in circles billy fly high like a bird in the sky......bye bye billy we love you...there aren't enough words to convey that thill a beatles fan gets when they listen to you impovise on the guys recordings....thanks says it best.....rest gentle master of the 88s......
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I've just heard myself - really shocked
Rest in peace Billy
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So sad...
I just saw him at Beatlefest in '04.
He was such an open, welcoming guy. He let you get right in there and say hello.
Thank you, Billy... you will be sorely missed.
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I feel saddened by the news of Billy's passing. I knew he was in failing health for quite awhile, but he always stayed so active. I had the honor of speaking with him at a Beatlefest about 3 years ago, and what a nice man--totally unaffected by who he was and what he'd accomplished.
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my heart has just sunk on reading the news...bummer man....he was working on a beatle project I believe?
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I was speechless. I heard about this last night on another messageboard.
And he died in Scottsdale, Arizona. That's right across town from me. I live in Phoenix, technically.
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I came here the minute I found out.
RIP Billy. We loved ya.
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The great singer-songwriter and performer Billy Preston, the real "Fifth Beatle" has died after a long illness as a result of malignant hypertension that resulted in kidney failure and other complications. As a result of a medical insult he'd been in a deep coma since last November 21st, but was still struggling to recover. He died at Shea Scottsdale Hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona where he'd lived for the last couple of years.
RIP... :'(
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What is a 'medical insult'?
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What is a 'medical insult'?
Yeah, I was wondering about that too.
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Looking back on Billy: http://www.whatgoeson.com/story.20060607.html
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I agree, JR, re. "medical insult." I guess dying is the ultimate medical insult, but who knows? I've read there was some argument in the family over Billy's care and the best place for him to be (LA vs. Tucson) before his death. Roger Friedman (of Foxnews of all places) wrote some pretty good recent columns on Billy (and Little Richard) and seems to be championing "forgotten artists." Sorry I don't have links.
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I gave him a shout of repect at the Isle of Wight fezzie gig.
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I have to say, having the priviliege (of just being at the right place at the right time), and speaking briefly with him, Billy Preston was the essence of being a Gentleman-that's what he was, a gentle man. Perma-grin on his face, and was just a great guy. Loved people. He was great. I didn't know this until he passed, but he wrote "You Are So Beautiful", obviously made famous by Joe Cocker. The band is getting bigger up there.