Karl 
BILLY PRESTON, whose keyboards improved the worlds of gospel, soul, funk, rock and pop music, died yesterday in Scottsdale, AZ at 59. His best-known performance is probably on a London rooftop with the Beatles in what was their last concert, which was filmed for Let It Be. You can hear his signature piano on the video of “Get Back,” a song he also sang lead on when he played the title character in the awful movie of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He began playing piano while sitting on his mother's lap at age three, accompanied gospel legend Mahalia Jackson when he was ten, and toured with Little Richard and Ray Charles in his teens. He never left gospel entirely, as you can see him with Aretha Franklin and Little Richard, paying tribute to Marion Williams. Among his voluminous session credits is Franklin's Young, Gifted and Black.
Preston met the Beatles in '62, when they were opening for Little Richard in Germany — which is where he also met Sam Cooke, who signed him to a recording contract. Although he started recording solo in the 60s, he also played in the house band for ABC's Shindig, where you can see him back Jackie Wilson on “I'm So Lonely.” He was later invited to sit in with the Fabs, playing keyboards on Let It Be, The White Album and Abbey Road. Indeed, he is credited with keeping the Beatles together during the Let It Be period, earning the title of “Fifth Beatle” that DJ Murray the K had bestowed on himself. The Beatles' 1969 single of “Get Back” is credited to “The Beatles With Billy Preston,” the band's only shared label credit.
He worked on post-Beatles efforts by John (“God”), Ringo and especially George — Preston was the first to record Harrison's “My Sweet Lord,” as seen in this video. He was also among those who played George's Concert for Bangladesh, including his own “That's The Way,” where he's backed by George, Eric Clapton and others. He also went on to play on significant songs and albums, including: Rolling Stones' albums like Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street, and It's only Rock'n Roll; Sly & the Family Stone's There's a Riot Goin' On; and Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks.
His own hits included the Grammy-winning instrumental “Outa-Space” in 1972 and the No. 1 pop singles “Will It Go Round in Circles” (1973) and “Nothing From Nothing” (1974). He also wrote (with Bruce Fisher) “You Are So Beautiful,” which you can see him play with Joe Cocker and Patti LaBelle at the Apollo. He was the first musical guest on Saturday Night Live in 1975. Sadly, the 80s found Preston in trouble with the law and with drugs. His final days found him playing Gospel-tinged organ on the acclaimed Neil Diamond comeback album, 12 Songs and getting out of his sickbed just long enough to play clavinet on “Warlocks” for the Red Hot Chili Peppers' current No. 1 album Stadium Arcadium. Although he checked himself into a rehab clinic, he slipped into a coma last November and never recovered. I would bet there will be more streaming from the Hype Machine by the time you read this (see also Heart on a Stick and Lil Mike’s), but none more apt than Cable and Tweed posting Preston's “I'm Really Going to Miss You.”
TWO HAPPIER NOTES: I have a new car that I can drive right to the subway. And congrats are due Amber Taylor, who has figured out what she's doing with the next part of her career.
ART BRUT is profiled in London's Guardian: “Rick Rubin, David Johansen and Madonna are fans. Though Art Brut are treated in England as a silly band who don't have proper songs and fail to fit into any relevant boxes, they are staggeringly hip elsewhere. Art Brut's American fans see them as natural heirs to the melodic punk of the Buzzcocks, the Television Personalities and the Replacements, and celebrate Argos's lyrics for their perceived Englishness…” Stream three from MySpace; you'll be glad you did.
THE NEW YORK DOLLS frontman David Johansen tells Harp how a one-off reunion turned into an ongoing front-burner project: “Basically, we found out it was a riot to be playing again. The sound we made when we started is kind of like a happening sound now, and for me, personally, I think it’s important for people to take what they know and discard it every couple of years and look at life from a different angle—otherwise it gets stale.” You can check out “Pills,” “Dance Like A Monkey,” “Jet Boy and the demo for “Seven Day Weekend” via the Hype Machine. The article also covers Towers of London, “one of the post-millennial generation’s most staunch carriers of the Dolls' torch.”
BONO is getting plenty of new song material by crashing his daughter's piano lessons.
RADIOHEAD frontman Thom Yorke explains why he made a (don't call it a solo) album.
JAY FARRAR: The Son Volt frontman talks to Harp about the usual topics — songwriting, Uncle Tupelo, etc. — but also is embarassed by the moment really he started to figure out how to play.
FATBOY SLIM, a/k/a Norman Cook (ex-Housemartins bassist) is asking fans to contribute their juggling video to this clip of Chris Bliss for the video of “That Old Pair of Jeans.” It's okay, I guess, but I'll still take Christopher Walken tap-dancing through “Weapon of Choice.” And if you haven't seen that, I'll be here when you get back.
THE CUTOUT BIN: When I'm looking for things on the Hype Machine to add to a blurb here, I often make other finds along the way. So here's a random sampling of songs that didn't find their way into regular blurbs: The Beatles' “That Means A Lot (Take 2)”; Little Richard's “The Girl Can't Help It”; Richard Hawley's “Baby, You're My Light”; Fred Neil's “Everybody's Talkin'”; Wall of Voodoo's Mexican Radio”; Off Broadway USA's “Stay In Time”; Brendan Benson's “Folk Singer”; The Ramones' cover of the Beach Boys' “Surfin' Safari”; and Styx's “Come Sail Away” and “Mr. Roboto.”
THE DECEMBERISTS' major label debut, The Crane Wife, is coming out October 3rd. And the band will be playing the Telluride Bluegrass Festival on the 16th. No, really.
THE KOOKS have topped the NME chart with “She Moves In Her Own Way.” The song is not streaming from MySpace or (as I write this) the Hype Machine, though you can hear them cover Gnarls Barkley's “Crazy.”
KAISER CHIEFS frontman talks to NME about being struck by a car: “It will teach me to leave Hard-Fi early.”
PETE DOHERTY UPDATE: The troubled singer denies injecting drugs on a flight to Barcelona: “If they found a syringe, they can produce it in court.”
BRADGELINA: Hello! magazine is among those claiming to have the official pics of the baby. And People reportedly paid 4.1 million for the rights. This pic, floating around the Internet, must be the real deal as corporate lawyer-types contacted a site I won't link so as not to be noticed (I think it's fair use, but why hassle with threats by e-mail). That the baby was unveiled on June 6, 2006 should not be seen as an omen, should it?
NICOLE KIDMAN is reportedly taking all sorts of measures to keep the press away from her rumored wedding to country crooner Keith Urban — no printed invites, plans to supply the press with official photos and video, etc.
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN was shocked to learn that three separate witnesses in Mexico have spotted her missing boyfriend, who was thought to have fallen overboard during a deep-sea fishing trip nearly a year ago. Faking death is a sign that he's just not that into you.
GARFLECK: Jennifer Garner has reportedly dropped out of the movie version of Dallas after hubby Ben Affleck's ex-fiancee, Jennifer Lopez, joined the cast.
THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY is reaching out to the NASCAR circuit. Can Days of Thunder II be far behind?
THANDIE NEWTON, as a young actress, fell for the old auditioning the fake orgasm trick.
HEATHER McCARTNEY claimed that the re-discovered Lover's Guide for which she posed as a model was “educational,” so London's Sun defended calling it porn by publishing even more pictures from the book. Because the Sun would not have held back photos to stretch the story out over several days. After all, this is professional journalism.
THE FRENCH HOTEL: TMZ asks, “What's Paris Smoking?” This is pretty much my reaction every time I see her, but TMZ is concerned about a particular video. Her rep says it's a hand-rolled tobacco cigarette, 'cause she's a cowboy, baby.
OPRAH has become a wedding crasher. What would Stedman Graham say? Should he be looking for The Break-Up?
JESSICA SIMPSON is already regretting the breakup with Nick Lachey, according to Star magazine (so who could doubt it). According to the ubiquitous “source close to the star,” her motto has become, “You don't know what you have until it's gone.” I would almost feel sorry for her, but then I read that she asked Pam Anderson, “”How did you guys run so slowly in the show's opening scene. You know, where you're running down the beach?” and the feeling quickly passes.
LINDSAY LOHAN is dating several men who live overseas, according to her rep. That's some good PR, there. As is a new song called “Please, Please, Lindsay, Please.”
ALEX TOTH, a maverick comic artist who got his start during the Golden Age of comics and later designed classic Hanna Barbera adventure cartoons such as Jonny Quest, The Superfriends and Space Ghost, died at his drawing table. He was 77.
SUPERMAN RETURNS: Director Bryan Singer is selling the film as a tribute to Lois Lane. Singer admits the one common theme of his films is “the notion of identity,” and multiple identities, which he ties to his own background… as an adoptee. Apparently, with hundreds of millions spent on the movie, someone has decided it's not a good idea to talk about the gay angle. A “chick flick” is much easier to market.
CHARLIZE THERON wishes she had x-ray vision to see people naked. And not necessarily attractive people, either, just “people on the street.” Be careful what you wish for.
IRAQ: An Iraqi army division has taken over from US forces in patrolling part of Anbar province, the first transfer on that level in the western heartland of the Sunni Arab insurgency. Interim oil minister Hashem al-Hashemi said Iraq's total oil production reached 2.1 mpd in April, the highest level since the 2003 fall of the old regime. A military court cleared three British soldiers of killing an Iraqi teenager who drowned after allegedly being forced into a canal.
COVERING UP AN INVESTIGATION OF A MASSACRE? The United Nations has ordered staff in East Timor not to co-operate with Australian Federal Police investigating the massacre of 12 unarmed Timorese officers by renegade soldiers.
CANUCK TERROR BUST: one of the suspects in an alleged bomb plot in ontario is accused of wanting to storm Parliament, behead the prime minister and attack a number of sites, his lawyer says. Tactical-squad Mounties learned how to properly handle Korans prior to arresting 17 terrorism suspects last weekend — and made sure there were clean prayer mats on hand for their suspects when they were sent to jail cells.
D-DAY PLUS ONE: I'm kicking myself for not mentioning that yesterday was the 62nd anniversary of the Normandy invasion. So here are the speeches from Gen. George S. Patton (parts of which movie buffs will recognize) and Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, a piece from famed WWII journo Ernie Pyle, and the 40th Anniversary speech from Pres. Ronald Reagan, remembered for his description of “the boys of Pointe du Hoc.”
GO SOOTY! Our site admin Lance fwded me the classic tale of the guinea pig who escaped from his pen and tunneled into a cage of 24 females. He became a father of 43 and a minor celebrity. It's an oldie, but a goodie… and never featured here, so I wouldn't want anyone to have missed it.
RAT-INFESTED HOUSE is condemned, but the homeowner who fed them didn't want to move, out of concern for her dogs.
BUSY BEAVERS spread water downstream from the Colorado River with the efficiency of a massive once-every-200-years flood.
A SMALL DOG was saved from the jaws of a coyote by a man in Croton-on-Hudson, NY.
EVERYONE LOVES A PONY, but the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is urging a district attorney in southern Alabama to vigorously prosecute Henry Lewis, who allegedly “loved” one to death.
