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Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned It (2024)

I am trying to recall the last time that I saw a feature-length documentary that invigorated, entertained, provoked and moved me across the full spectrum of emotional responses. To borrow a line from George Harrison – it’s been a long, long, long time. And that is why I am grateful for the arrival of Paris Barclay’s “Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned It,” a production of remarkable grace and power that deserves to be considered as the best film of the year.

Billy Preston occupied a complex position in the popular music of the 1960s and 1970s. He was a creative genius in his own right, scoring several classic Top 10 hits along with several awards and the honor of being the first-ever musical guest on “Saturday Night Live.” He also has the distinction of being the only person to share a credit with the Beatles during their musical reign – the 1969 “Get Back” was released as a work by “The Beatles with Billy Preston.”

Yet during his lifetime, Preston often seemed to be more celebrated as a collaborator with other icons rather than a standalone star. His work with Beatles is well-documented – he was the only person outside of the band who performed in the legendary rooftop concert – and he toured with Little Richard and Ray Charles in his teen years and then with the Rolling Stones in the 1970s. He was part of George Harrison’s “Concert for Bangladesh” and provided keyboard accompaniment for such diverse talents as Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand and Johnny Cash.

But who was Billy Preston? He gave very few in-depth interviews during the course of the career – the film uncovers a British television chat from the early 1970s, snippets of pleasant conversations with Merv Griffin and Dinah Shore on their respective talk shows, and a couple of late-life interviews recorded before his untimely death in 2006 at the age of 59. If one only knew Preston from his on-stage ebullience, it would be easy to imagine that he was the most carefree and rollicking person on the planet. In reality, Preston spent a lifetime trying to contain emotional pain and inner demons.

He was a child prodigy at the keyboard, gaining notice within the Black church environment before being directed into secular entertainment. Preston appeared on Nat King Cole’s television variety show at the age of 11 in 1957 and played the younger version of Cole’s character in the 1958 film “St. Louis Blues.” At the age of 15, his mother allowed him to tour Europe with Little Richard – during a performance in Hamburg, he met a poor and scruffy quartet from Liverpool and was able to secure them free steaks and Cokes – seven years later, he was on a London rooftop with them.

Preston should have become a big star in his late teen years when he was a regular on the popular TV show “Shindig,” playing the organ while the show’s curvaceous female dancers gyrated to his music. And his star should have ascended when the Beatles’ Apple Records released his album “That’s the Way God Planned It.” If overnight fame was delayed, Preston was patient and the 1970s proved to be a wildly successful decade for him via a deal with A&M Records that unleashed his power as a singer, songwriter and instrumentalist.

Sadly, Preston’s star waned in the 1980s, and by mid-decade his career slumped to the point that he wound up as the on-screen musical director and comedy relief of David Brenner’s ill-fated talk show “Nightlife.” Drug and alcohol addiction exacerbated his turmoil, with erratic and dangerous behavior that found him spending more time in court (and, later, behind bars) than in a recording studio.

The film makes no apologies for his bad behavior, yet it also offers a sincere consideration of two difficult issues that Preston kept hidden up until the end of his life – his suffering as a victim of sexual abuse during his youth and his efforts to conceal his homosexuality, which he feared would destroy his career if that became public. The details of the former are sketchy, but the Preston friends and associates interviewed on camera acknowledged Preston’s homosexuality by recalling he was unable to hide his sexual orientation from those closest to him.

“Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned It” has original interviews with Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, George Harrison’s widow Olivia and several members of Preston’s inner circle of friends and family. The film’s one mistake might be the inclusion of an interview with Billy Porter, who didn’t know Preston but who offers personal opinions of homosexuality in the Black church environment that might be better served in another film.

“Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned It” also presents a wonderful surplus of Preston recordings and television appearances – many of which are not easily available for online viewing. When Preston flashed a smile during a song and ran his fingers across the keyboard, the world immediately became a better place. This film also makes the world a better place by creating a worthy tribute to a great talent and a truly fascinating personality.