William Everett Preston was an American keyboardist, singer and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, the Everly Brothers, Reverend James Cleveland, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. He gained attention as a solo artist with hit singles "That's the Way God Planned It", the Grammy-winning "Outa-Space", "Will It Go Round in Circles", "Space Race", "Nothing from Nothing", and "With You I'm Born Again". Additionally, Preston co-wrote "You Are So Beautiful", which became a No. 5 hit for Joe Cocker.
"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" is a song originally performed by Motown recording act the Undisputed Truth in 1972, though it became much better known after a Grammy-award winning cover by the Temptations was issued later the same year. This latter version of the song became a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Family Affair" is a 1971 number-one hit single recorded by Sly and the Family Stone for the Epic Records label. Their first new material since the double A-sided single "Thank You "/ "Everybody Is a Star" nearly two years prior, "Family Affair" became the third and final number-one pop single for the band. In 2021, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song 57th on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The cover version by John Legend, Joss Stone, and Van Hunt, won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at 49th Annual Grammy Awards.
I Wrote a Simple Song is the sixth studio album by American soul musician Billy Preston. Released in November 1971, it was his first album for A&M Records and marked the start of a run of commercial success in the United States that lasted through to the late 1970s. The album includes the hit single "Outa-Space", which won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance of 1972. Preston included a live version of the instrumental "The Bus", as part of a medley with the Beatles' "Day Tripper", on his 1974 album Live European Tour.
Dennis James Coffey is an American guitarist. He was a studio musician for many soul and R&B recordings, and is well known for his 1971 Top 10 hit single "Scorpio".
"Kodachrome" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the lead single from his third studio album, There Goes Rhymin' Simon (1973), released on Columbia Records. The song is named after Kodak's now-discontinued reversal film brand, Kodachrome.
"Love the One You're With" is a song by American folk rock musician Stephen Stills. It was released as the lead single from his debut self-titled studio album in November 1970. The song, inspired by a remark Stills heard from musician Billy Preston, became his biggest hit single, peaking at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1971. David Crosby and Graham Nash, Stills's fellow members of Crosby, Stills & Nash, provide background vocals on the song. Also providing the backups are Rita Coolidge, her sister Priscilla Jones, and John Sebastian. They all sing the "Do Dos" that come before the instrumental portion and the outro. The song was also recorded by the Isley Brothers, The Meters, Bucks Fizz, Luther Vandross, Bob Seger and Richard Clapton, among others.
"Will It Go Round in Circles" is a song by American soul musician Billy Preston from his 1972 album Music Is My Life. It was written by Preston and Bruce Fisher and released as a single in March 1973. The record topped the Billboard Hot 100 and sold over a million copies. This was the first of two number one hits for Preston as a solo performer, the other being "Nothing from Nothing", although he is also credited on the Beatles' 1969 hit "Get Back".
"I'm Sorry" is a 1960 hit song by 15-year-old American singer Brenda Lee. The song was written by Dub Allbritten and Ronnie Self. It peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in July 1960. On the UK Singles Chart, the song peaked at No.12. AllMusic guide wrote that it is the pop star's "definitive song", and one of the "finest teen pop songs of its era". In 1999, the 1960 recording by Lee on Decca Records was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
"Freddie's Dead" is a song by Curtis Mayfield. It was the first single from his 1972 soundtrack album for the film Super Fly. The single was released before the Super Fly album, and before the film was in theaters. The song peaked at #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the R&B chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 82 song for 1972.
"I'll Be Around" is a song recorded by the American R&B vocal group The Spinners. It was co-written by Thom Bell and Phil Hurtt and produced by Bell.
"Midnight Rider" is a song by the American rock band the Allman Brothers Band. It was the second single from their second studio album, Idlewild South (1970), released on Capricorn Records. The song was primarily written by vocalist Gregg Allman, who first began composing it at a rented cabin outside Macon, Georgia. He enlisted the help of roadie Robert Kim Payne to complete the song's lyrics. He and Payne broke into Capricorn Sound Studios to complete a demo of the song.
"Green Onions" is an instrumental composition recorded in 1962 by Booker T. & the M.G.'s. Described as "one of the most popular instrumental rock and soul songs ever" and as one of "the most popular R&B instrumentals of its era", the tune is a twelve-bar blues with a rippling Hammond M3 organ line by Booker T. Jones that he wrote when he was 17, although the actual recording was largely improvised in the studio.
Treat Him Right is the debut studio album released by American country artist Barbara Mandrell. The album was released September 9, 1971, on Columbia Records and was produced by Billy Sherrill. It contained a series of singles Mandrell had released between 1969 and 1970 and would be the first of a series of albums recorded at the Columbia label.
"Up In Heah" is a song written by Tina Turner and Leon Ware. It was released as a single by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner on United Artists Records in 1972.
"Space Race" is an instrumental track by Billy Preston, released as a single in 1973 on the A&M label. It was taken from Preston's 1973 album Everybody Likes Some Kind of Music, and "Space Race" was awarded a gold record.
"Peter Gunn" is the theme music composed by Henry Mancini for the television show of the same name. The song was the opening track on the original soundtrack album, The Music from Peter Gunn, released by RCA Victor in 1959. Mancini won an Emmy Award and two Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Arrangement. In 2005, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
"Here We Go Again" is a country music standard written by Don Lanier and Red Steagall that first became notable as a rhythm and blues single by Ray Charles from his 1967 album Ray Charles Invites You to Listen. It was produced by Joe Adams for ABC Records/Tangerine Records. To date, this version of the song has been the biggest commercial success, spending twelve consecutive weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at number 15.
"That's the Way God Planned It" is a song by American musician Billy Preston and the title track to his 1969 album of the same name. Issued as a single, the song was Preston's first release on the Beatles' Apple record label, following his guest role on the band's "Get Back" single. The lyrics to "That's the Way God Planned It" partly reflect the long musical apprenticeship Preston had served since childhood, mentored by artists such as Sam Cooke and Ray Charles, while musically the track combines the gospel tradition with rock. Produced by George Harrison in London, the recording also features contributions from Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Ginger Baker and Doris Troy. Having been edited down to three minutes for its single release, the full version appeared on the album, as "That's the Way God Planned It ".
"I Wrote a Simple Song" is a song by American soul musician Billy Preston that was first released as the title track to his album of the same name in November 1971. It was written by Preston and his regular collaborator, Joe Greene. The song was also Preston's first single on A&M Records, following the end of his tenure on the Beatles' Apple record label. In the United States, it peaked at number 77 on the Billboard Hot 100. Radio programmers there soon favored the B-side, the instrumental "Outa-Space", which had been Preston's choice for the lead side. "Outa-Space" became a breakthrough US hit for Preston and his first RIAA-certified gold single. The single was released in Britain on January 21, 1972.
