The moment an 11-year-old Billy Preston duetted with Nat King Cole
Billy Preston is the thinking man’s Fifth Beatle. Sure, you’ve got your George Martin and your Brian Epstein, but I’m sure there are still a few Beatlemaniacs convinced they peaked with Pete Best. Billy Preston did something that all those other candidates couldn’t, though. He made late-period Beatles, in their moustachioed, paisley blazer clad, working alone in separate studios glory, actually stand the sight of each other.
Not only that, but he also made them play live again and strongly considered bringing him into the band full-time. To say these were herculean tasks doesn’t cut it. Instead, we should start calling the 12 Labours of Heracles “Prestonian”.
Despite all that, it’s still selling the man short to judge the man’s entire legacy by his association with The Fab Four. The reason they brought him into the group for the Get Back sessions was his stellar track record as a sideman throughout the 1960s. He played with Sam Cooke, Jimi Hendrix, and Ray Charles and did so before he turned 21. But his feats went back further than that. When he was 16, he joined Little Richard’s band as an organist and was first brought to the attention of the nation as a child prodigy at the age of 11.
In 1956, Nat King Cole was given a variety series on NBC, the first of its kind to be hosted by an African-American. It was only on the air for a year but gave the world this charming clip of Cole duetting with Preston on the Fats Domino classic ‘Blueberry Hill’. King kicks off the track before taking over the keys, and Preston performs straight to the camera with the second verse.
The pre-teen holds his own with the King, and the two of them finish off with a final verse sung together. Cole then gives Preston his flowers after the studio applauds them both, saying, “You have a very excellent career ahead of you” to his young co-star. He wasn’t wrong.
Preston’s daughter spoke of that performance years later, commending Cole for how much of the performance he gave to her father, who was 26 years his junior. Even after his work with The Beatles, the 1970s were very successful for Preston. He continued his work as a sideman, contributing to George Harrison’s ‘All Things Must Pass’, co-writing the Joe Cocker classic ‘You Are So Beautiful’ and becoming a de-facto Rolling Stone for their imperious run from Sticky Fingers to Black and Blue. He achieved all this while also helming a successful solo career of his own, with two number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 in the form of ‘Will It Go Round In Circles’ and ‘Nothing From Nothing’.
The legacy Preston left is complicated. His 1980s and ’90s were clouded by drug addiction, legal battles and troubling behaviour in his personal life. The work from his prime spoke for itself, though, allowing for a late-career renaissance in the 2000s. He appeared at the 2002 Concert For George Harrison with a spectacular performance of ‘My Sweet Lord’ and even guested on the 2006 Red Hot Chili Peppers album Stadium Arcadium. His ongoing health issues led to his passing in June 2006, but it’s clear that he held that appearance with Nat King Cole as one of the most cherished of his entire life. After all, it’s probably not for nothing that Preston named his daughter Natalie.
