Billy Preston died last week.  I heard about it the day before I left for L.A.  Many of you might not recognize the name.  He was the only "outsider" to be billed as recording with The Beatles, but his career was bigger than that.  As a child, he appeared as W.C. Handy in a biography about the musician (playing Handy as a child).  Later, he would perform with greats like Ray Charles, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, The Jackson Five, Sly and the Family Stone, Barbara Streisand, Sammy Davis Jr., and Quincy Jones.  He co-wrote You Are So Beautiful which was a hit for Joe Cocker. 

I'd heard Billy was ill a few years ago while he was touring with Eric Clapton.  He suffered from kidney disease and had received a transplant, but his health didn't improve all that much.  He was well enough to perform at the Concert for George which Clapton organized in honor of the late George Harrison.  Billy performed George's My Sweet Lord and was wonderful.

Recently, one of our local PBS stations showed part of  The Concert for Bangladesh the first benefit rock concert.  The event was organized by George Harrison at the request of Ravi Shankar.  Billy got so carried away by the music at one point, he got up from his keyboard and danced.  It's a wonderful moment of pure enjoyment.  The concert is available on DVD now.  I highly recommend it to anyone who recognizes the names George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Leon Russell and Eric Clapton.  There are tons of others involved in the project (including Shankar himself who performs on sitar... some of you may be familiar with one of his daughters, Norah Jones).

Billy had been in a coma since November and died June 6.  Billy was 59.  Somewhere, the music is making him dance again.