Billy Preston & Abbey Road

mikestop · Post by **mikestop** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 6:34 am

I was wondering if anyone knew if Billy Preston was brought in after the "Get Back" sessions to do any tracks on the Abbey Road album??
Thanks!!

RutleDirk · Post by **RutleDirk** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 11:02 am

I believe so. Particularly, there's some very nice organ on "I Want You..." I think that's Billy.

glass_onion · Post by **glass_onion** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 2:45 pm

i always thought that was paul

qmoder · Post by **qmoder** » Mon Aug 08, 2005 5:53 pm

Paul is good but he's no Billy Preston on keys.

revolver323 · Post by **revolver323** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 3:11 am

Everything I've found points to Billy playing Hammond B3 on Let It Be & Abbey and maybe even on some of the White Album. Of course he played electric piano as well. The organ fills on "Sun King" sound like his style.

lennonon · Post by **lennonon** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 7:17 am

There's no mention of Billy and Abbey Road in Lewisohn's book The Complete Beatles Chronicle.

Scastles · Post by **Scastles** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 8:12 am

Not only was Preston on it but a fella by the name of Mike Vickers played the Moog,

Abbey Road by The Beatles

* Reviews * Credits *

REVIEWS
The last Beatles album to be recorded (although Let It Be was the last to be released), Abbey Road was a fitting swan song for the group, echoing some of the faux-conceptual forms of Sgt. Pepper, but featuring stronger compositions and more rock-oriented ensemble work. The group was still pushing forward in all facets of its art, whether devising some of the greatest harmonies to be heard on any rock record (especially on "Because"), constructing a medley of songs/vignettes that covered much of side two, adding subtle touches of Moog synthesizer, or crafting furious guitar-heavy rock ("The End," "I Want You (She's So Heavy)," "Come Together"). George Harrison also blossomed into a major songwriter, contributing the buoyant "Here Comes the Sun" and the supremely melodic ballad "Something," the latter of which became the first Harrison-penned Beatles hit. Whether Abbey Road is the Beatles' best work is debatable, but it's certainly the most immaculately produced (with the possible exception of Sgt. Pepper) and most tightly constructed. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide

CREDITS Paul McCartney Bass, Piano, Vocals, Guitar (Bass), Guitar
George Martin Producer
John Lennon Guitar, Guitar (Rhythm), Vocals
Mike Vickers Moog Synthesizer
Geoff Emerick Engineer
Phil McDonald Engineer
Ringo Starr Drums, Vocals
Ian MacMillan Photography
George Harrison Guitar, Vocals
Billy Preston Organ

Released: 1969

Tag all your own MP3 files with album covers easily with MUSICMATCH Jukebox Plus!

Copyright © 2001-2004 Musicmatch®, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.
Portions of content provided by All Music Guide © 2001 AEC One

mikestop · Post by **mikestop** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:19 am

I haven't been able to find anything about Billy playing prior to "Get Back" or on Abbey Road except for the above post. It does seem that the Mike Vickers mentioned above was a member of "Manfred Mann" and is mentioned on a few sites as either playing or programing the Moog on Abbey Road. Not knowing anything about the Moog, I'm not sure if Playing & Programing mean the same thing??

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:39 am

Mike: I took a music composition class during my college years (1979-1983). We had a collection of obsolete keyboards and 4-track machines to work with. Our old Moog was an upright panel board with a separate keyboard. We used patch cords to link the various synth modules to create sounds. I think they were called voltage control oscillators (VCO's). There were no programmable devices in the dark ages, just patch cords!

revolver323 · Post by **revolver323** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 9:54 am

Program indeed! In 1972 our keyboardist had one of the huge Moogs like Keith Emerson first toured with. You had to run patch cords -- no presets. It looked like one of Alexander Graham Bell's original switchboards. Sounded great, but he never did learn to program it correctly and used probably 1% of its potential. He also insisted on playing it like an organ, which is not what you do on a mono synth. The Minimoog was a great leap forward but still had no presets. By the early '80s, they had the Moog Source, which had dozens of touchpad presets.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 10:09 am

By using the term 'programming', I think they are crediting Mr. Vickers with selecting and patching together the various VCO's, to blend various waveforms to create sounds. If I recall correctly there was a sawtooth wave, a ring oscillator, and few other VCO choices to select from. The Moog is still 'played' or triggered from the keyboard, but I'm sure most musicians in 1969 would have been totally perplexed by a Moog mono synth. I'm sure it took a lot of time and experimentation to get effects useful enough to grace a Beatles album.

wolfgang · Post by **wolfgang** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 11:10 am

Randy, to grace Maxwell's Silver Hammer?
Or to grace Abbey Road with Maxwell's Silver Hammer?
O.K., Lennon used the noise generator for I want you. Great!
But, as a lead instrument, to me, the moog was only a gimmick.
I should love the moog, because I am one of the last "analog" electronical engineers, all these VCOs and VCFs, but I don't, musically.

randyz · Post by **randyz** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 11:37 am

Wolfgang: I didn't mean to imply that I'm a fan of old Moogs or any synth for that matter. In fact I dislike them all. While 'Maxwell's Silver Hammer' doesn't count as great art in my book, 'Here Comes The Sun' certainly does. And taken as whole, most people would count 'Abbey Road' as a great album. I don't think it was great because of the Moog bits. In fact, I'm sure the Moog could have been replaced in every instance by other instruments without hurting any of the songs. Please don't count me as a synth proponent!

Scastles · Post by **Scastles** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 11:58 am

I wish they would have by-passed all of the add on's on Abbey Road, including Preston. AB is not one of my favorites, although there is some astounding work by the group, excluding the studio musicians, Preston and the Moog.

revolver323 · Post by **revolver323** » Tue Aug 09, 2005 12:01 pm

I agree that the Moog was just an interesting toy on "Abbey Road," but Walter/Wendy Carlos made the Moog sound good in "Switched on Bach." I like the first two ELP albums a good bit, and I also like what Rick Wakeman did with only the Minimoog on "Fragile" and "Close to the Edge." I saw ELP on their first American tour, in a small theater, and when Emerson leapt into the audience with the Moog ribbon controller on the second song, the audience went nuts.