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Interesting what if for The Beatles
Posted on 6/29/18 at 6:44 pm
Posted on 6/29/18 at 6:44 pm
I was watching the rooftop concert from Let it Be last night and I noticed how well Billy Preston fit in with the band. Especially on "Don't Let Me Down"
George Harrison got Preston to play with them because he wanted the other three (actually John) to rehearse and take the public performance seriously.
Preston had a very upbeat and positive personality and all four Beatles enjoyed being around him.
Preston had a progressive early funk style that meshed very well with Paul's bass playing
So the what if is: What if the rehearsals with Preston lead to The Beatles making Preston one of the band officially and they put out another album together?
what if Preston softened up some of the animosity building up in the band?
after Let It Be was released they took a break and then got back together to make an album with Preston
Paul could have still put out his solo album but he might have waited to work on it/release it if he was in the studio working on new Beatles material with BP
Would the Beatles have continued to progress musically and adopted some of BP's mojo to make an album with more soul?
we'll never know
George Harrison got Preston to play with them because he wanted the other three (actually John) to rehearse and take the public performance seriously.
Preston had a very upbeat and positive personality and all four Beatles enjoyed being around him.
Preston had a progressive early funk style that meshed very well with Paul's bass playing
So the what if is: What if the rehearsals with Preston lead to The Beatles making Preston one of the band officially and they put out another album together?
what if Preston softened up some of the animosity building up in the band?
after Let It Be was released they took a break and then got back together to make an album with Preston
Paul could have still put out his solo album but he might have waited to work on it/release it if he was in the studio working on new Beatles material with BP
Would the Beatles have continued to progress musically and adopted some of BP's mojo to make an album with more soul?
we'll never know
5
Posted on 6/29/18 at 8:35 pm to supatigah
Preston was great when he played with George for the Dark Horse tour.
The other thing we'll never know is how great that live album could have been if the police had let them finish that rooftop concert.
The other thing we'll never know is how great that live album could have been if the police had let them finish that rooftop concert.
Posted on 6/29/18 at 9:09 pm to supatigah
quote:Maybe they would have started cruising for boys the Preston did
What if the rehearsals with Preston lead to The Beatles making Preston one of the band officially
Posted on 6/29/18 at 11:48 pm to Kafka
Dude, come on man
How would you react if you came home and Sly Stone was balls deep in the love of your life
Might make you suck dick too
How would you react if you came home and Sly Stone was balls deep in the love of your life
Might make you suck dick too
Posted on 6/29/18 at 11:49 pm to OldTigahFot
Agree, they wasted a lot of time playing some tracks over again a few times
Posted on 6/30/18 at 8:32 am to supatigah
There was too much creativity within the Big 3 to continue.
George needed to be heard and Paul's ego wasn't going to stay in check to make it happen.
What I wonder is had John lived (and cutting solo albums while still in a group became acceptable) if they would have reunited to make a Beatles album every few years while maintaining their solo careers. It would have required treating Harrison as an equal which McCartney never appeared to do even in later life, so I have my doubts.
Posted on 6/30/18 at 10:31 am to supatigah
My speculation, based on John not being murdered, is they would have toured again with a keyboard player playing the effects they had begun using in the studio. Live sound techniques had progressed significantly by the 80’s and they could perform any of their songs and hear themselves on stage. I also think the constant screaming would have gone away.
Posted on 6/30/18 at 10:44 am to midlothianlsu
Agreed
I was wondering more about the style influence billy Preston might have had on them over a longer period of time of putting an album together
I was wondering more about the style influence billy Preston might have had on them over a longer period of time of putting an album together
Posted on 7/2/18 at 3:37 am to supatigah
BP was simply a sideman that helped the overall sound of the band live. Now what I do find interesting though, as with many things, the Beatles set a standard by hiring Preston to join them live.
In the years that followed, one big act after another would follow suit. The Stones with Chuck Leavell being the one that comes to mind right off. It became sort of a rite of passage or a way of saying......we've made it, we've arrived, we can now afford to pay for the level of musicianship we can't recreate live on our own.
BTW, I don't find anything wrong with it. Imagine how much better LZ would have sounded live with a full time keys player and a rhythm guitarist.
In the years that followed, one big act after another would follow suit. The Stones with Chuck Leavell being the one that comes to mind right off. It became sort of a rite of passage or a way of saying......we've made it, we've arrived, we can now afford to pay for the level of musicianship we can't recreate live on our own.
BTW, I don't find anything wrong with it. Imagine how much better LZ would have sounded live with a full time keys player and a rhythm guitarist.
This post was edited on 7/2/18 at 3:40 am
Posted on 7/2/18 at 9:44 am to geauxbrown
quote:
Imagine how much better LZ would have sounded live with a full time keys player and a rhythm guitarist.
To be fair, it would have made much more sense to hire a touring bass player for Zeppelin. JPJ added so much in other ways, various rhythm parts - recall that live he would often play a guitar or other stringed instrument and then do the bass part with pedals.
So, a utility guy that would do the primary bass and maybe add rhythm on some songs (where JPJ would play bass) and have JPJ be the primary keys/rhythm guy would have made more sense, musically.
Posted on 7/2/18 at 10:01 am to geauxbrown
quote:
BP was simply a sideman that helped the overall sound of the band live.
I am going to politely disagree with you. Musically maybe BP was "simply a sideman" but professionally and personally he was a breath of fresh air in a band on the verge of collapse. It is quite possible we would not have Abbey Road and Let it Be if not for BP coming in, staying in London for 6 months and keeping the band toegther long enough to finish the last two albums.
LINK
quote:
Billy Preston first met the Beatles in Hamburg in 1962. Preston was playing keyboards for Little Richard, and the Beatles were huge fans. Harrison, the youngest of the Beatles and only 18 at the time, bonded with the 15-year-old Preston, and they remained life-long friends.
Harrison went to see a Ray Charles show in London, where Preston was playing as a sideman. Harrison got the idea to recruit Preston to play with the Beatles on the Get Back project. Preston’s contributions to the project were more than musical.
Harrison likened Preston’s effect to a feuding family staying on its best behavior in front of a guest – hoping that bringing in an outsider would make the others “be nice” and make the Get Back set a happier place to be.
"It was a struggle for (the Beatles)," Preston recalled about the Get Back sessions in 2001. "They were kind of despondent. They had lost the joy of doing it all." The combination of Preston’s sterling musicianship and his happy, open demeanor and spirit did the trick, and he has been credited with no less a feat than keeping the band together for a time.
During a Get Back meeting on January 26, the idea came up for the Beatles to give a live performance the next week on the roof of the Apple office building. So, around noon on a cold and windy London rooftop, January 30, 1969, with Preston on keyboards, the Beatles began what was to be their final live performance. Preston contributed tasty, soulful and jazzy keyboard accents to the 42-minute show, with his solo on the song “Get Back” a particular highlight.
Preston remained close to Harrison, and besides his contributions to Let It Be (as the Get Back film and album came to be titled) and Abbey Road, he performed at Harrison’s 1970 all-star charity Concerts for Bangladesh. Preston also served as sideman on solo records by Harrison, Starr and Lennon. He was also signed to the Beatles' label, Apple, and made two albums produced by Harrison: 1969’s That's the Way God Planned It and 1970’s Encouraging Words.
Preston paid tribute to his dear friend when he performed at the tribute concert held in Harrison's honor on November 29, 2002, the first anniversary of Harrison’s passing. In 2004, Preston told the Chicago Sun-Times that musically, his favorite moment ever was “on the roof for Let It Be.” Preston passed away in 2006.
LINK /
quote:
John Lennon was in favour of making Preston a full member of the band; Paul McCartney disagreed, saying there was little point as the band was close to splitting.
Nevertheless, he worked with The Beatles from 22-31 January 1969, playing Fender Rhodes electric piano and a Lowrey DSO Heritage organ.
Preston performed with The Beatles during their 42-minute performance on the rooftop of Apple, on 30 January 1969, which was the band's final public performance.
In April 1969 the Get Back single was credited to "The Beatles with Billy Preston", as was its b-side, Don't Let Me Down.
Billy Preston also played on The Beatles' Abbey Road album. He performed on the songs I Want You (She's So Heavy) and Something, though he was not credited.
Posted on 7/2/18 at 2:55 pm to supatigah
quote:
I am going to politely disagree with you. Musically maybe BP was "simply a sideman"
Yes, I agree. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression. Overall BP was a master musician but had the ability to simply be a "sideman" if asked to be so. No doubt he had an impact on the band from a musical standpoint, just as quality sidemen do the same today.
Posted on 7/2/18 at 2:57 pm to Ace Midnight
quote:
So, a utility guy that would do the primary bass and maybe add rhythm on some songs (where JPJ would play bass) and have JPJ be the primary keys/rhythm guy would have made more sense, musically.
Absolutely, I like your idea much better. I always like to throw keys in just to "fatten" things up without creating too much clutter. I'd like to believe if they had stayed together, we would eventually saw that.
I believe the Who did this as well at some point with a key player who also doubled on rhythm guitar.
Posted on 7/3/18 at 1:39 pm to geauxbrown
quote:
I believe the Who did this as well at some point with a key player who also doubled on rhythm guitar.
The Who needed a lead player, not a rhythm. There I said it (with all due respect.)
Posted on 7/3/18 at 1:48 pm to supatigah
quote:
Agree, they wasted a lot of time playing some tracks over again a few times
Take a listen to Glyn Johns' raw "Get Back" album if you ever have a chance. His was the first rough cut before Spector ruined the actual "Let It Be" album.
People have claimed that McCartney was kind of leading the band at this time, but if you listen to the original album in its entirety, you'll notice it was still Lennon's band. He's the main director of the album. And Preston's playing is way out front on Johns' mix. They should have left it alone.
Posted on 7/3/18 at 3:05 pm to hogcard1964
I read up on beatles bible about the controversy surrounding Spector's version of the long and winding road
LINK /
I listened to the let it be naked version on youtube and the differences are stark
LINK /
I listened to the let it be naked version on youtube and the differences are stark
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