Genius of Billy Preston (Vinyl record album review)

Album name: Genius of Billy Preston

Artist name: Billy Preston

Year: 1975

Number of discs: one

Label: Springboard International Records

Collection: Friedman

Buy it on Amazon: $15.00

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

My familiarity with Billy Preston begins and ends with the Beatles‘ Get Back documentary that I watched in late 2021.

What I expected

Soul and, since this record is from 1975, also funk.

What it was actually like

This was fine, but I didn’t find it that impressive. All of the songs were instrumental, and I kind of got the impression that it might have been released on a lark, as if Preston was laying down some tracks for fun, got a few other musicians to pitch in, and then just went ahead and put it out there without going through the trouble of locating a suitable vocalist[1]. None of the songs was bad at all, though, especially for anyone who enjoys soaring organ solos.

Low Down slower and more bluesy than the rest, with extensive harmonica. You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling was pretty entertaining, but it was a shame to hear it with no vocals at all. Also, it was used in the movie Top Gun, which I reviewed (negatively) last summer.

Weirdly, Shazam identified almost every one of these songs as Billy’s Bag.

Grade

3/5: interesting, but not for me

References[+]

References

↑1 | Though admittedly my impression of Preston from Get Back, which documented him getting to play on Let It Be more or less entirely on the basis of being an old friend of the Beatles who happened to be physically present in London at the exact moment that they were coming apart at the seams while trying to make the record, is that he was the kind of guy who just wanted to play some music and having a good time doing it.