It’s just a “wee” bit of an understatement to call this a Billy Preston performance (William Everett Preston – September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006). There’s got to be 50 people up there with him. I suppose YouTube put it up in my recommendations as I had listened to his “back in the day” performances of ‘Will It Go Round In Circles‘ and ‘Nothing From Nothing‘. I remember even in my limited musical appreciation I had thought, “Boy that guy’s really good!”

So I see the thumbnail for this video and I’m thinking, okay its 30 years later and its probably a “be polite” effort to give the old boy one last shot at the spotlight. Ha! The concert it seems was a tribute from all the musician friends of of the then recently deceased George Harrison.

You had luminaries no less than Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton playing with other stars that I’m sure are just as famous within the industry. You have like 10 guitarists, 5 drummers, 5 keyboardists and on and on, making for one hell of a performance.

But it wasn’t even the spectacle of it with all the celebrities backing him that drew me to it. It was the richness of Preston’s voice. I had thought he had a wonderful voice in the early 70’s, and he did. But what he did at this performance when he is age 56 was just amazing. I frankly don’t even know what word to use to describe the fullness of his sound. I thought I knew words, but I don’t know that word.

[“The Concert for George was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London on 29 November 2002 as a memorial to George Harrison on the first anniversary of his death. The event was organized by Harrison’s widow, Olivia, and son, Dhani, and arranged under the musical direction of Eric Clapton and Jeff Lynne. The profits from the event went to the Material World Charitable Foundation, an organization set up by Harrison.”]

“Why is Billy Preston called the 5th Beatle ? He was called the Fifth Beatle, because he the only non-member ever to be credited on a Beatles recording.”