Anybody see this? It aired July 25. I had seen the promos, but never found out when it was airing and so I missed it. It's a bit sad. Billy seemed like such a happy, joyful person and yet.....he had demons, like Donny Hathaway, he was gay and felt trapped because of many of the more traditional attitudes within the African-American community about homosexuality. Billy had also been molested as a child and his mother never accepted him....
Really sad. BTW, Unsung is an excellent series.

July 18, 2011 in Radio News, Music Industry News

Without question, TV One has a HUGE hit with UNSUNG. I got a raw unedited copy of Billy Preston yesterday and I HOPE they don’t change the final edit because this has to the best UNSUNG I have seen… thus far.

It is silently and collectively engrained in our (black) culture that if we ignore certain things it will enable us to maintain our OWN level of sanity… even when it has to do with someone harming our children… but what about the child’s sanity?

Billy Preston’s mother refused to accept what Billy had confessed to her as a child, he told her that he was being molested by a man. His mother’s refusal to accept the news categorically (and ironically) weighed heavier than the molestation itself by destroying Billy’s self worth well into the realm of his adulthood and massive success. He hid a great amount of pain and self hatred behind a huge gapped-tooth smile by being completely disconnected from himself, his success and the world for his entire 50 year career. Every manager and booking ripped him and paid him pennies where he should have been making thousands but he didn’t have the business savvy (and/or gumption) to fight. He finally turned to hardcore drug use in an attempt to merge all the parallels in his life, of course to no avail. The drugs only exacerbated the situation.

There was not one person in this show that did not end up in tears while talking about Billy and his concerted and feigned efforts to conceal an extremely sad, complicated and difficult life.

Billy’s career began in the church and by the time he was 10-years-old he was playing the organ as a guest on the short-lived Nat King Cole show (the show was cancelled because white sponsors refused to advertise on the highly rated show by the black singer). Billy and Nat were very close but Ray Charles was Billy’s true mentor. He took Billy on the road with him and Billy also toured and performed with major rock acts that few if any black acts got to tour with including members of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

Billy branched out and formed a group with three men in the late 60s/early 70s and I was shocked to hear (and the fact TV One did not edit it out) one of the men openly admit that when he first met Billy, Billy had asked him if he could give him some head. He said he was shocked because Billy was so masculine that Billy made HIM feel like HE acted like a girl. He had no idea Billy was gay. Preston admitted he would never openly come out because the black church and the music industry (and black people) would have turned against him. He was not the first black singer to be in this position (and he won’t be the last).

Billy’s tenure on Motown where he sang the massive hit with the late Syretta Wright (an ex wife or girlfriend of Stevie Wonder who was once considered to replace Diana Ross in the Supremes) was MISERABLE. He HATED being on the label and the massive extremely somber love song, “With You I’m Born Again” was a single that had been sitting on the shelf at Motown for quite some time and was a far cry from Billy’s (then) modern day Little Richard gospel/rock persona. Billy desperately wanted to leave Motown and go back to A&M records.

Billy would have lived but his massive addiction to drugs which finally ended up with a foray into the cheap street drug crack, ultimately took his life when he was still using it in huge amounts even AFTER receiving a successful kidney transplant. There are some people who commit suicide immediately and others who do it over a period of years, but it’s ultimately the same thing. I will let you get the rest of the story from the show. It is a must-see. The Show airs July 25 on TV One. Check local times for listing.

Kev Ross

Posts Related to UNSUNG REVIEW: Billy Preston... One Very Sad Show



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2011-11-17 06:37 by stupidguy2.

Oh man...and I love Billy Preston too. Would've loved to have seen this as well.

Haha wow..well here it is!

Hail Billy Preston!!
A wonderfull musician and a beautifull man. Never appreciated how Jagger/Richards ignored him after the midseventies, probably his drugsproblems. I wish I would have been old enough to try to sort him out, when he was living here in Amsterdam. I knew he was living here, being a Stonesfan, but at that time, Amsterdam was a no go area for an adolascent. And then, he had great friends, according to this documentary, who where not able to help him. Bless his soul.

Thanks for the link, always like Billy's funky clavinet and organ...so much more interesting and creative than the bland playing by the bearded tree hugging one.

Wonder if Mick knew he was gay during the 1976 "dancing"...He clearly fell out with Keith who said he was glad the "facile" musicians were gone in 1978. With the SG release it would have been nice of Mick and the boys to acknowledge his hand in "Miss You" since it's supposed to have started as a jam with Billy during the El Mocambo dates.

He seemed to be in a decent shape for the George Harrison tribute concert, was he still really on crack at the time?

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gotdablouse
He seemed to be in a decent shape for the George Harrison tribute concert, was he still really on crack at the time?

Yeah, I felt the same way. I'm shocked to hear that he was not well at all during those years. I guess it goes to show you that you never know... Nice that they put together a documentary about him...he's often overlooked in the grand scheme of things.

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gotdablouse
Thanks for the link, always like Billy's funky clavinet and organ...so much more interesting and creative than the bland playing by the bearded tree hugging one.

Wonder if Mick knew he was gay during the 1976 "dancing"...He clearly fell out with Keith who said he was glad the "facile" musicians were gone in 1978. With the SG release it would have been nice of Mick and the boys to acknowledge his hand in "Miss You" since it's supposed to have started as a jam with Billy during the El Mocambo dates.

He seemed to be in a decent shape for the George Harrison tribute concert, was he still really on crack at the time?

Its sad because at the time - SG era - the Stones were on shaky ground with Keith's problems. I imagine the last thing Jagger needed was another liability, so I can see how they just moved on.....still sad though.
Billy worked with Jagger on Wandering SPirit (IMO, he gave songs like OUt of Focus real resonance) and then again for B2B...so it was nice to see that Jagger still had an appreciation and respect for Billy.
To be fair, Jagger has mentioned Billy's contribution to Miss You several times, in the RS interview and Wyman has also mentioned it. I would like to see a more definitive aknowledgment for the SG deluxe edition. WHen Billy died, the Stones were on tour, and i was hoping the Stones would play "Nothing from Nothing" or some kind of tribute.
About his homosexuality, I can't imagine Mick and and the Stones didn't know, remember Jagger's comment during the Mocambo show? SOmething about Billy and pretty/young boys? It seemed like private joke.
Billy seemed close to Jagger, at least as a musician, artist. I remember reading an account from Rose Taylor's brother about how they would all be at David Bowie's house in the early 70s and Billy would be sitting at the piano and playing.
And Bianca used to dance on stage during Billy's sets...and don't forget Taylor's huge afro when he would sit in on his sets. The Stones seemed to genuinely like Billy. As for Keith, that's another story. Hard to say what Keith's relationships were with people during that period because Keith, bless his heart, was a mess. I don't know how present Keith was back then.
They knew. I mean, its not something the Stones would care about anyway...



Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 2011-11-18 00:54 by stupidguy2.

I'd never seen this, Jagger's comment on Billy's death.


Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger said: "Billy was a fantastic and gifted musician... a superb singer in both recording sessions and on stage.

"He was great fun to be with on stage when touring with us and I will miss him a lot."

The documentary can't be much more depressing than the Harry Nillson one I just watched.

You mean, Who is Harry Nilsson... (And Why Is Everybody Talkin' About Him?) ?

Yeah that's a good one. Well they are both sad tales...not one beating out the other. I wish though that someone would make the Preston story into a feature docuementary like Harry's.

True. And Billy was on a lot more important recordings than Nilsson.

I have a confession: WHen I think of Nilsson, I only think of 'I Can't Live...if living is without youuu...'
or the theme to the "Courtshipt of Eddie's Father", and "Everybody's Takin"
Good songs. I know he did stuff with Lennon and was a fixture in the LA studio scene in early 70s...but I never really delved into him being that.

My favorite line from that documentary was when after a very large shockwave came through after the earthquake, during Harry's funeral, the person standing saying the eulogy said "That was Harry arriving in heaven and finding out that the bar is closed."

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stupidguy2
I have a confession: WHen I think of Nilsson, I only think of 'I Can't Live...if living is without youuu...'
or the theme to the "Courtshipt of Eddie's Father", and "Everybody's Takin"
Good songs. I know he did stuff with Lennon and was a fixture in the LA studio scene in early 70s...but I never really delved into him being that.

The two albums, Nilsson Schmilsson and Son of Schmilsson are just joyous albums. The second one being slightly weaker than the first but it's hard when the first one is such the perfect album that it is. Hope you look into it!

I'll never forget being backstage at Keith's LA gig (Main Offender tour).
For some strange reason my friend and I got backstage where there were two sort of areas, one for...whoever, and the other for Keith, the band and the more-important people. We noticed Billy, just standing there, all by himself. He couldn't get backstage to where Keith was hanging out. Then Fred Sessler came out, all drunk, did a figure-of-eight around the area, saw Billy and yelled "Billy!" had a brief conversation with him, and then Billy left, all by himself.

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Justin
My favorite line from that documentary was when after a very large shockwave came through after the earthquake, during Harry's funeral, the person standing saying the eulogy said "That was Harry arriving in heaven and finding out that the bar is closed."

Did you notice they kind of fudged that whole EQ thing? They made it seem like he died at the same time as the Earthquake. Then I saw on his tombstone that he died January 15th, two days before the quake. (I know because I went through the quake).

I never gave Nilsson much of a listen. I can see where he had a really good voice, but I don't connect with it. Thought of him as a popster, with that Put The Lime In The Coconut song.

We have all kinds of celebrity graves here in L.A. Nothing sobers you up about death than coming across an extremely famous person's headstone. Billy's in a wall with a very modest marker. I'm sorry he didn't get to be open about his life. I always enjoy watching That's The Way God Planned It on the Bangladesh DVD.

Very nice documentary. Thanks!

The description of his death is indiscreet and voyeuristic.

@tomk - interesting and sad story, thanks for sharing. I seem to remember Billy Preston was at his lowest in the early 90s, isn't that when he went to jail, will have to look it up.

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stupidguy2

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gotdablouse
Thanks for the link, always like Billy's funky clavinet and organ...so much more interesting and creative than the bland playing by the bearded tree hugging one.

Wonder if Mick knew he was gay during the 1976 "dancing"...He clearly fell out with Keith who said he was glad the "facile" musicians were gone in 1978. With the SG release it would have been nice of Mick and the boys to acknowledge his hand in "Miss You" since it's supposed to have started as a jam with Billy during the El Mocambo dates.

He seemed to be in a decent shape for the George Harrison tribute concert, was he still really on crack at the time?

Its sad because at the time - SG era - the Stones were on shaky ground with Keith's problems. I imagine the last thing Jagger needed was another liability, so I can see how they just moved on.....still sad though.
Billy worked with Jagger on Wandering SPirit (IMO, he gave songs like OUt of Focus real resonance) and then again for B2B...so it was nice to see that Jagger still had an appreciation and respect for Billy.
To be fair, Jagger has mentioned Billy's contribution to Miss You several times, in the RS interview and Wyman has also mentioned it. I would like to see a more definitive aknowledgment for the SG deluxe edition. WHen Billy died, the Stones were on tour, and i was hoping the Stones would play "Nothing from Nothing" or some kind of tribute.
About his homosexuality, I can't imagine Mick and and the Stones didn't know, remember Jagger's comment during the Mocambo show? SOmething about Billy and pretty/young boys? It seemed like private joke.
Billy seemed close to Jagger, at least as a musician, artist. I remember reading an account from Rose Taylor's brother about how they would all be at David Bowie's house in the early 70s and Billy would be sitting at the piano and playing.
And Bianca used to dance on stage during Billy's sets...and don't forget Taylor's huge afro when he would sit in on his sets. The Stones seemed to genuinely like Billy. As for Keith, that's another story. Hard to say what Keith's relationships were with people during that period because Keith, bless his heart, was a mess. I don't know how present Keith was back then.
They knew. I mean, its not something the Stones would care about anyway...

Thanks for elaborating, I really wish we could get notified of replies via email, almost missed this one!

Didn't know Mick had discussed the birth of Miss You, maybe it will be in the extra stuff of the rerelease. I'll have to give Mocambo another listen. It does seem like Mick gave Billy some work whenever he recorded in LA. I remembered his playing on Out of Focus of course, but not on B2B, Out of Control maybe ?