Billy Preston

The REAL 5th Beatle + Moves with Jagger - That's the Way God Planned It

Billy Preston is credited on the single “Get Back” - The Beatles with Billy Preston. It’s a musician’s dream come true. He’s the only one who’s played live with both The Beatles and The Rolling Stones !

In my opinion, he is the musician who helped keep those LET IT BE sessions together and now Billy Preston is the subject of a newly released feature documentary entitled THAT’S THE WAY GOD PLANNED IT. It’s playing in select theaters now, and I am so happy my local arthouse, The Belcourt, is one of those select theaters. You will find me there this weekend.

In 2022, I reviewed the miniseries GET BACK, for chickfactor. As a survivor of producing pop culture television stunts myself, my weariness about these kinds of programs is all over the page in that review, BUT for me, Billy Preston was a highlight, and it seems like The Beatles themselves loved playing with him.

I could do without the commentator in the clip below, but the Beatles themselves do express their love and respect for Billy. The clip does contain some fabulous archival footage as well - in particular, Billy dancing on stage with Mick Jagger.

”He’s the guy - and that solves a lot.”

Billy Preston toured with The Rolling Stones in 1973, 1975, and 1976, acting as both an opening act and a featured keyboardist/vocalist during their sets - and I saw the 1975 Tour of the Americas, which was the first tour with Ronnie Wood. They played five nights at the Forum, and I saw four of those shows. Check this out (another thrill to find a show I attended on YouTube) for the entirety of the performance of Billy and Mick dancing.

I may be old, but I truly saw ALL THE GREAT CONCERTS.