From the Concert for George in 2002, on the 1st anniversary of Harrison’s death – a rousing version sung by Billy Preston:
Paul McCartney, piano
Ringo Starr, drums
The late Billy Preston, lead vocal and keyboards
Eric Clapton, 12-string acoustic guitar
Jeff Lynne, acoustic guitar
Tom Petty, acoustic guitar
The late Ravi Shanker from Encinitas, percussion
Albert Lee, electric guitar
Marc Mann, lead guitar (from Oingo Boingo and ELO)
Dhani Harrison, acoustic guitar
Five minutes of magic! Mahalo, Jim! And Dhani Harrison on guitar. In an article I just read, he said: “My dad use to say,’You look more like me than I do.'”
Thanks for this Jim! I am digging it.
Beautiful song. Great way to wake up in the morning.
Billy Preston was known as the fifth Beatle and had his own career, but I didn’t know how many other bands he played with:
The Rolling Stones (five albums!)
The Beach Boys
Little Richard
Sam Cooke
Ray Charles
Eric Clapton
Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band
The Band
The Red Hot Chili Peppers
Joe Cocker
Sly and the Family Stone
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Preston
Preston is one of several people sometimes referred to by outsiders as a “Fifth Beatle”. At one point during the “Get Back” sessions, John Lennon even proposed the idea of having him as the “Fifth Beatle” (to which Paul countered that it was bad enough with four). Preston first met The Beatles as a 16-year-old in 1962 while part of Little Richard’s touring band, when their manager Brian Epstein organized a Liverpool show, at which the Beatles opened. The Washington Post explained their subsequent meeting:
“They’d hook up again in 1969, when the Beatles were about to break up while recording the last album they released, Let It Be (they would later record Abbey Road, which was released prior to Let It Be). George Harrison, a friend of Preston, had quit, walked out of the studio and gone to a Ray Charles concert in London, where Preston was playing organ. Harrison brought Preston back to the studio, where his keen musicianship and gregarious personality temporarily calmed the tension.”
Preston played with the Beatles for several of the Get Back sessions, some of the material from which would later be culled to make the film Let it Be and its companion album, during which he joined the band for its rooftop concert, its final public appearance. “Get Back”, one of the album’s singles, was credited to “The Beatles with Billy Preston”, the only time such a joint credit had been given on an official Beatles-sanctioned release (as distinct from an unsanctioned reissue of some Hamburg-era recordings on which they were the backing group for Tony Sheridan). The credit was bestowed by the Beatles to reflect the extent of Preston’s presence on the track; his electric piano is prominent throughout and he plays an extended solo. Preston also worked, in a more limited role, on the Abbey Road album, contributing to the tracks “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” and “Something.”
Thank you, Jim, for sharing this with us. My favorite song from my favorite Beatle. Fabulous.